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"Conspiracy theories are big because they're comforting. Any conspiracy is infinitely less multiplex than the real deal, which is multiplex to the point of being unknowable."
- William Gibson
 |
| Rocket Engine Moves Moon | ||
| Using the propulsive mechanism of a space ship to move a small moon or asteroid. |
Every early use of this idea.
| “All about us was the sable sky flashing
with icy stars — myriad legions of them
stretching into the endless vastness of the universe. They beckoned to us-— beckoned to
that burning spirit of adventure that is ever
the possession of a strong, virile race. Could
we resist this chance to explore and learn?
No!
“On each moon we built an immense driving mechanism of the same type used in our space ships. Then, one day, the tiny satellites tore loose from their orbits and after joining into a cluster began to rush with almost the speed of light out into interstellar space. Behind us always there trailed a long train of faintly-luminous gases ejected from the propelling machinery. That glowing appendage gives the swarm of moonlets the appearance of a true comet, and there is little wonder that your savants mistook it for such. “Thus we became the Daans or Nomads. For more than a million of your years we have been racing madly toward nowhere, visiting worlds, experimenting and amassing knowledge. To what ultimate purpose is it all? Though I am perhaps older than your first human ancestor, I am no nearer to the answer of that question than you." |
| Technovelgy from The Space Dwellers,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Wonder Stories in 1929 Additional resources -
|
Compare to ship pushes moon from Buck Rogers, 2430 AD (1929) by Philip Nowlan (w/D. Calkins) , the asteroid rocket from Salvage in Space (1933) by Jack Williamson, planetary propulsion blasts from Thundering Worlds (1934) by Edmond Hamilton, moving a planet from Triplanetary (1934) by EE 'Doc' Smith and move an asteroid from Misfit (1939) by Robert Heinlein.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Space Dwellers
More Ideas
and Technology by Raymond Z. Gallun
Tech news articles related to The Space Dwellers
Tech news articles related to works by Raymond Z. Gallun
| 'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...' |
| Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket |
| ESA's Draco To Study Heat Of Reentry |
| The United States Space Academy Is Official |
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'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
