Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"If you have a gut response to a story, you are not responding to something new ..you are really responding to a story you were told when you were six or seven…"
|
Okay, Verne and others have discussed getting to the moon. But once you are there, how are you going to get around?
This is not as far-fetched as you think. Skiing on sand is done right here on Earth - it's all the rage in Dubai.
(Sand skiing on the dunes of Dubai) Spend the morning skiing down the high dunes, with refreshments. On the way back to Dubai, enjoy dune bashing and camel riding. Robert Heinlein also described moon skiing, an Eagle scout badge requirement, in his 1949 story Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon, published in Boy's Life.
(Cover of 'Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon' by Robert Heinlein)
(Moonskis in 'Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon' by Robert Heinlein)
(Pulling a toboggan on the moon in 'Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon' by Robert Heinlein)
(Side-step uphill skiing from 'Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon' by Robert Heinlein) Apollo 17 geologist Harrison "Jack" Schmitt actually lamented "too bad I don't have my skis!" from the mountaneous Taurus Littrow Valley. Eventually, he perfected a kind of "lunar cross-country style" that worked like this:
"In the moon's low gravity, you can ski above the moondust--and I did. Imagine swinging your arms and legs cross-country style. With each push of your toe, your body glides forward above ground. Swing, glide, swing, glide. The only marks you leave in the moondust are the toe-pushes."
(Skiing on the Moon [Ulrich Lotzmann]) In his award-winning novel Dune, Frank Herbert spends a lot of time talking about how the native Fremen needed to walk across sand dunes so as not to attract the planet's giant sand worms. I wonder whether the sound of schussing would have been safe... Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Moon Skis-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
SpaceX Intros Extravehicular Activity Suit
'Provision had been made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the moment we had passed beyond the atmosphere.'
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
|
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
||