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" I think that computers today allow us one last opportunity to provide something like a level playingfield in America."
- William Gibson
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| Granton Motor | ||
| Spacecraft propulsion system based on gravital radiation. |
The author of this story presents another variation on the idea of a gravity-based propulsion system.
| So they built the Granton motor... It was a beautiful little thing, though, when Granton had finished; compact and efficient, and almost indestructible. The principle of it was simple: gravital radiation.
Granton had never been able to understand why gravitation had always been called a "pull"; every phenomenon known concerning the force of gravity would fit as well into the framework of a repulsive theory. He had gone on that principle: that gravity is not a pull, but a pressure pervading all space. The Granton motor was attuned to the matter-radiations of the earth, and it was insulated against the influences of the other worlds of space. It acted as a super-transformer unit, infinitely sensitive in its receiving cells to the pressure of the earth; the result was tremendous propulsive power. In operation tests it proved to be nearly ninety-nine percent efficient - as close to perfect as any manbuilt mechanism could come; harnessed to a space ship, it would be just about the ideal thing for interplanetary travel. |
| Technovelgy from Into the Meteorite Orbit,
by Frank K. Kelly. Published by Teck Publications in 1933 Additional resources -
|
You might want to compare this pseudoscience of spacecraft propulsion with some similar gravity-related systems - apergy (1880) and Cavorite (1901).
Compare to these propulsion systems: Light Pressure Propulsion (1867),
apergy (1880),
Beam-Powered Propulsion (1931),
Granton motor (1933),
Vibration-Propelled Cruiser (1928),
geodynes (1936),
ion drive (1947),
Planetary Propulsion-Blasts (1934),
stardrive (1953),
solar sail (light sail) (1962),
Lyle drive (1961),
laser cannon (1966),
Bussard ramjet (1976),
asymptotic drive (1976),
Interstellar Laser Propulsion System (1985).
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More Ideas
and Technology from Into the Meteorite Orbit
More Ideas
and Technology by Frank K. Kelly
Tech news articles related to Into the Meteorite Orbit
Tech news articles related to works by Frank K. Kelly
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| Capturing Asteroids With Nets |
| Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed! |
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