 |
Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
 |
Spaceflight Club For Space Enthusiasts
The Spaceflight Club has been organized by Space Adventures, a private space experiences company.
The club will make sure members get the tools, experience and training they need to be ready for
commercial space travel.

(From SpaceShipOne Landing)
“The dawn of private reusable launch vehicles is upon us. SpaceShipOne is a true triumph, when
ambition, hard work and amazing technologies have demonstrated to the world that anything is
possible,” said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. “Space Adventures'
SPACEFLIGHT CLUB enables private citizens to work toward their own dream of spaceflight. The Club
is the answer to many who question, now that SpaceShipOne has flown successfully, how can I be a
part of private suborbital flight history?”
(From Space Adventures Unveils Spaceflight Club)
Science fiction fans may recall both the enthusiasm and sense of adventure from the Jules Verne
Classic From the Earth
to the Moon, in which the Baltimore Gun Club (at the behest of its president, Impey
Barbicane) organized its members to send a projectile to the Moon.
"There is no one among you, my brave colleagues, who has not seen the Moon, or, at least, heard
speak of it... It is perhaps reserved for us to become the Columbuses of this unknown world. Only
enter into my plans, and second me with all your power, and I will lead you to its conquest, and
its name shall be added to those of the thirty-six states which compose this Great Union."
"Three cheers for the Moon!" roared the Gun Club, with one voice.
...It is reserved for the practical genius of Americans to establish a communication with the
sidereal world. The means of arriving thither are simple, easy, certain, infallible-- and that is
the purpose of my present proposal."
A storm of acclamations greeted these words. There was not a single person in the whole audience
who was not overcome, carried away, lifted out of himself by the speaker's words!
"I ask myself whether, supposing sufficient apparatus could be obtained constructed upon the
conditions of ascertained resistance, it might not be possible to project a shot up to the moon?
..by incontrovertible calculations I find that a projectile endowed with an initial velocity of
12,000 yards per second, and aimed at the moon, must necessarily reach it. I have the honor, my
brave colleagues, to propose a trial of this little experiment."
Nothing can astound an American. In America, all is easy, all is simple; and as for mechanical
difficulties, they are overcome before they arise. Between Barbicane's proposition and its
realization no true Yankee would have allowed even the semblance of a difficulty to be possible. A
thing with them is no sooner said than done.
Story from Zero G Flights Could Bolster Space Tourism, Research Industries at Space.com. To speak with a Space Adventures' Agent, call 1-888-85-SPACE if in the US, or +1 (703) 524-7172 if international.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/26/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.
| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 3 )
Related News Stories -
("
Space Tech
")
Will Space Stations Have Large Interior Spaces Again?
'They filed clumsily into the battleroom, like children in a swimming pool for the first time, clinging to the handholds along the side.' - Orson Scott Card, 1985.
Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...'
Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri
'This was their world, their planet —
this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.' - Nat Schachner, 1934
The First Space Warship For Space Force
'Each of the electrical ships carried about twenty men...' - Garrett P. Serviss, 1898.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
|
 |
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.'
Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
More SF in the News Stories
More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
|
 |