Lawrence R. Wright
Purchasing Analyst
Andrews Office Products Div. of USOP
larry.wright@usop.com (new)
Ph. 301.386.7923 Fx. 301.386.5333
Steve Laifman wrote:
> Since there is no "up", up there, the bubbles can't 'rise'.
Then I bet Champagne would look really strange.
> Like fluids? Hydrogen Peroxide liquid through a platinum
> screen generates plenty
> of steam. Your steam rocket will do the job. Hey, that's
> 40's technology.
Didn't I read that those Thunderballesque jet packs had a
operating duration of 30 seconds or so? Boy, talk about brake fade...
:^)
> Your Consulting Rocket Scientist - BTDT
You can imagine who I had in mind when I posed the question.
Hey, some things will remain a constant. There's no reason to
suspect that collecting cars, including Tigers, will cease to be a hobby
in the future; and the temptation will ramain to incorporate newer
technologies as they become available (who in 1964 would have suspected
aftermarket fuel-injection kits?). Furthermore, car enthusiasts are by
definition more intelligent than the average citizen, and will be on the
wave front of space exploration & colonization.
In the near future, say the next 75 years or so, things will
progress somewhat slowly. The cost of the modifications to the cars will
probably dictate that for a while beyond-Earth car enthusiasm will
continue to be surface based; we'll still rely primarily on wheels.
Also, until the cost-per-pound to get stuff out of our gravity well,
smaller and lighter cars will be the norm for spacefaring gearheads. For
years, the top entries at the Olympus Mons hillclimb will be Lotus
Europas, Matra D'jets and Panhard Dyna Juniors. Rootes will still be
represented, but by Imps. Aerodynamic aids will either have to be
ignored, or of vast size; the latter might be prevalent as racers try to
find traction in low-gee environments. By 2065, the Imp club of Mars
might invite Rosemary Smith up (if she hasn't already moved there) for
the centennial of her Tulip Rally victory; by that time
classic/celebrity races will be held every year at the time of the
Helium Grand Prix.
Tigers and Alpines can come later, as it becomes cheaper to move
the heavier cars up there, and reaction power plants become affordable.
Either liquid fuel engines (hey, we already have two fuel tanks, eh?) or
the Laifman Modulatable solid-fuel engine can be rear-mounted. I look
forward to the first images of the flames jetting back from the
tailfins! By this time, nobody will forget to install _all_ of the
firewall and trunk-floor plugs, for obvious reasons.
This later era could be the swan song of TSD rallies, except for
the ground-bound types. Route instructions would get tougher as most of
the landmarks are moving -- although a good club good could issue
corrected distances for each entrant, figuring T +n minutes times the
speed of the planet or asteroid. You sure better stay on-time and
on-course. Then as the serious rocketheads approach relativistic times,
TSD calculations become mindnumbing, and few but the diehard rallyists
show up.
By this time, cheap and plentiful conversions are available to
adapt the sidepod mounted engines from Galileo-class shuttlecraft to
classic cars. The supplier will have an extensive HyperNet site with
detail installation instructions, including hours of video and moving
ghost drawings to show how it all goes together (Now you _know_ it's
fantasy). Traditionalists will have the side pods chromed and refer to
them as "lakes pipes", but will fool no one. You'll be able to tell them
by the black leather pressure suits.
Closer to home, lunar craters will be the scene of a resurgance
in high-bank "circle track" racing, their natural shape lending
themselves to the sport. Few Sunbeams there, save the very early Grand
Prix cars and the like, when they hold Brooklands Day.
Car shows will still be a staple, although lunar and Martian
event will be indoors because of dust. Sunbeam enthusiasts will have to
belong to even _more_ clubs to keep up with events, and to attend
Sunbeams United Interplanetary, Californians will finally have to
consider driving as far East as, say, Iowa.
Once matter transmitters are invented, many will predit the
demise of personal transportation in general, and classic car ownership
in particular. Nope. Mounting a receiver where once there were fuel
tanks means fuel can be "beamed" on board as needed; trip range becomes
infinite, and a long-standing safety issue is finally laid to rest. Also
the AAU (Automobile Association of the Universe) can retire its
extensive fleet of tow vehicles, and promise pick-up of stranded cars in
seconds.
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