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"I think we're still on that topic, still trying to figure out what computers are, how they change us, why we use them."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Pilot Beam | ||
| A signalling device that space craft in orbit descending to Earth could home in on and land. |
Very early description of this useful idea.
| “Anything else before we clear?”
asked Lazarus. “Oh, yes — Zack,
we’d better arrange a place for me
to ground, or. I may shorten a lot of
lives with my blast.”
“That’s true. I’ve planned on it. Make your approach from the south. I’ll have your berth marked in the usual fashion.” “Better give him a pilot beam to come in on, too,” Ford warned. “Why?” asked Lazarus. “I don’t need one. I could set her down on the top of the Washington Monu- ment.” “Not tomorrow night you couldn’t. Don’t be surprised at the weather.” |
| From Methuselah's Children,
by Murray Leinster. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1941 Additional resources -
|
Here's the landing sequence:
He wheedled her in, cut his last
jet as she scraped, and slapped a se-
ries of levers; the great cargo ports
rumbled open, and the rain beat in.
Compare to the space-beacon from Exploration Team, the 1956 story by Murray Leinster.
The thought was cut short by an
urgent signal from his board; he had
picked up Barstow’s pilot beam.
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