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"The science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the world around you, and take it apart into its components. Then you take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones, start it up and see what happens."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Solar-Powered Electric Helicopter | ||
| An electric helicopter, with sun cells. |
An early mention of this idea, the first I know about.
| Denn stepped on the starter, and began turning over the compact, efficient little sun-engines of the helicopter...
Power fed into the ship’s six lift propellors from hidden photo-cell storage units. Through the glass roof of the cabin he could detect the spinning blur of' the metal “props”, could catch the rising whine of the trembling engines. Then they were in the air, rising straight up from the light-jeweled darkness of the Chicago of A.D. 2163. |
| Technovelgy from Into the Meteorite Orbit,
by James Patrick Kelly. Published by Teck Publications in 1933 Additional resources -
|
Not quite enough power to get to space:
He also mentions "sun-mirrors", writing "Those miles of sun-mirrors south of Capetown..."
Oh, all my life I’ve thought about it, and planned — and dreamed ... To be the first to go out across space! It would be worth living for! And why hasn’t it been done? Because men have always been afraid; afraid to face the thought of going out into infinity alone ! They’ve been contenders with their rocket-ships and their ’copters and their sun-motors...
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and Technology from Into the Meteorite Orbit
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Tech news articles related to Into the Meteorite Orbit
Tech news articles related to works by James Patrick Kelly
| Hybrid Wind Solar Devices |
| BeamBike Solar Power Canopy For Electric Bikes |
| REALLY Remote Control Excavators |
| Your Solar Electric Paint Is Ready, Larry Niven |
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
