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"The primary attraction [of writing sf] is the sheer pleasure of creating something from whole cloth."
- Dan Simmons

Ten Million Mile Searchlight  
  You need to see where you're going.  

One of the many precursors to the idea of laser light.

Even to the last moment when she settled into her dock upon Inferno, the Planetaria was controlled by the force originally set in motion. And, though the dock was still invisible, Inferno, with her lava rocks and salt seas, was unfolding momentarily.

Donald shuddered with horror as he saw that hideous coast, studded with crater-pits, in the light of the ten million mile searchlight at the Planetaria’s nose.

That concentration of a searchlight into a single beam that suffered no absorption outside the limits of atmosphere had been one of the innumerable discoveries that had made interplanetary travel possible.

Technovelgy from Revolt on Inferno, by Victor Rousseau.
Published by Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories in 1931
Additional resources -

This is also a precursor to the idea of a long-range sensor scan. Fans of Star Trek: TOS have been eagerly awaiting long range sensor scans that can detect the components of an atmosphere without needing to send crew members in red shirts to gather samples.


(Spock long range sensor scan)

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Revolt on Inferno
  More Ideas and Technology by Victor Rousseau
  Tech news articles related to Revolt on Inferno
  Tech news articles related to works by Victor Rousseau

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