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"I forged a concept which is relatively simple and possibly unique in theology, and that is, the irrational is the primordial stratum of the universe."
- Philip K. Dick
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| Braking Disks | ||
| Used when the ship is falling through a planetary atmosphere. |
| "We must put out the braking disks, doctor!" called the engineer.
As viewed from the outside, there now came from the nose of the ship (which pointed backward) a cable, on which there were arranged certain distances thin metal disks, which were bent somewhat backward like cones, the result looking like the familiar tufts on the tail of a child's kite. One after another these disks glowed brightly and were worn away and burned by air resistance and the resulting heat, along with their cable, which burned like a candle wick. But new disks kept coming out on more cable. In this way it was possible to convert the tremendous force latent in the motion of the ship into air whirls and heat in a gradual fashion, and by sacrificing the metal disks the ship itself was saved from burning. |
| Technovelgy from A Daring Trip To Mars,
by Max Valier. Published by Wonder Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the ablative heat shield from Triplanetary (1934) by EE 'Doc' Smith.
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'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'
