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"It wasn't until I was past forty that it bacame clear that I was going to be quote, successful, unquote."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Sounding Projectile | ||
| Provides a way to tell whether there’s a soldid surface on a cloudy planet. |
In the 1930's, little was known (or correctly inferred) about the planets. Obviously, Saturn is intensely cloudy. But can you find a solid surface?
| His hands clutched a switch. A slight movement shot a sounding projectile from a point on the undersurface of his craft. It darted down, and in a few seconds burst into a clouded patch of incandescence. That meant that it had struck something firm enough to discharge its percussion cap. |
| Technovelgy from Mad Robot,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1936 Additional resources -
|
See the article on Impactor Determines Composition from The Mechanical Monarch (1958) by E.C. Tubb.
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| NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander |
| NASA's Psyche Mission To Metal Asteroid Launches Thursday! |
| Space Weather To Universe Weather |
| That's MOXIE! Terraforming Mars Baby Steps |
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'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
