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"[Science fiction is ] That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Lyle Drive | ||
| Propulsion system for use inside the solar system. |
| The Federation Ship Champion, manned by an all-male crew of eighteen experienced spacemen and carrying more than that number of male pioneers, made the crossing under Lyle Drive in only nineteen days. The Champion landed just south of Lacus Soli, as Captain van Tromp intended to search for the Envoy. |
| From Stranger in a Strange Land,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Putnam in 1961 Additional resources -
|
Heinlein does not provide a description of how this propulsion system works (at some point, the Champion is described as "floating silently and effortlessly upward" from the surface of Mars); however, he compares it to the method still in use today:
An earlier description of this notion can be found in The First Martian (1932) by Eando Binder:
He even drew plans of the basic principles of such an
engine, estimated the amount of radioactive material
needed, and worked out the propulsion of the ship.
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).
At that time, only eight Terran years after the founding of the first human colony on Luna, any interplanetary trip made by humans necessarily had to be made in weary free-fail orbits, doubly tangent semi-ellipses--from Terra to Mars, two hundred fifty-eight days, the same for the return journey, plus four hundred fifty-five days waiting at Mars while the two planets crawled slowly back into relative positions which would permit shaping the doubly-tangent orbit-a total of almost three Earth years.
The inconceivable distance
to be traversed, the enormous energy required to transport a heavy machine from planet to planet, and the all-powerful force of gravity, seemed insurmountable
objects to even the most broadminded and optimistic
thinkers. Feeble attempts were made even in 1931 to
leave this speck of the universe and soar to other worlds,
but constant failures dulled the ardor of those who
wished to connect our world with the others which
acknowledge the same central sun...
Although the fatalities far exceeded these probable successes, the hope
of interplanetary travel was still uppermost in our minds.
We know now, that our failure can be attributed to the
unfortunate lack of radioactive elements, and not to the
lack of ingenuity or inventiveness. It was only too true.
as Professor Billings stated in 1945, that the only type
of engine which could possibly transport a heavy machine from our earth to some planet, would have to be
the atomic-energy engine, which, with a minimum of
fuel and the very necessary radioactive element, could
develop an unlimited amount of energy.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Stranger in a Strange Land
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Stranger in a Strange Land
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Lyle Drive-related
news articles:
- 30-Day Trip To Mars?
| Japan's LignoSat Space Wood Satellite And Dan Simmons' Treeship |
| Is It Time For Lunar Farside Telescopes? |
| Spaceflight Vertigo Solved By NASA Releasing The Kraken |
| Lunar Pogo Stick - Retro Technovelgy From 1968 |
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