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"My father was a master mechanic; I grew up with a screwdriver in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other."
- Frank Herbert
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| General Products Hull | ||
| Nearly indestructible outer skin for spaceships; pick your hull size and put what you want inside. |
The puppeteers of Ringworld are a remarkable race; their caution bordering on paranoia led them to develop some of the safest products for even the most hazardous pursuit - space travel.
| "Nothing, but nothing, can get through a General Products hull. No kind of electromagnetic energy except visible light. No kind of matter, from the smallest subatomic particle to the fastest meteor. That's what the company's advertisements claim, and the guarantee backs them up. I've never doubted it, and I've never heard of a General Products hull being damaged by a weapon or by anything else." |
| From Neutron Star,
by Larry Niven. Published by Worls of If in 1966 Additional resources -
|
There are four hull types:
SF fans have read this idea before; see the crystal sphere from the 1931 story Emperor of the Stars.
More information is provided in Ringworld (1970):
General Products, the puppeteer-owned trading company, had sold many diversified wares in known space; but its fortunes had been founded on the General Products hull...
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Neutron Star
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Neutron Star
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
General Products Hull-related
news articles:
- Fishbowl Spaceship From Armadillo Aerospace
| China Wants To Build Mega Space Ships |
| Dream Of Building Your Own Rocket? |
| Used Dragon Cargo Spacecraft Will Fly Again |
| Laser-Powered Spacecraft To Explore The Solar System |
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'The pokkecon rang again. *The coffee’s for him?* Tsuyoshi said.'
The Jetsons imagined so much future.
'Rod placed the brain inside the panel... the horse raised its head, wiggled its ears, blinked twice, gave a tentative whinny.'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'
'But then... not every bulldozer operator works on the Moon.'
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.'
