Into the Comet

Into the Comet

Infobox short story |
name = Into the Comet
author = Arthur C. Clarke
country = United Kingdom
language = English
genre = Science fiction
published_in = Fantasy and Science Fiction
publication_type =
publisher =
media_type =
pub_date = October, 1960

"Into the Comet" is a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke. It was originally published in Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1960. It is one of several stories by many science fiction authors in which problems are solved by reverting to 'primitive' technology. The story was also published as "Inside the Comet".

Plot summary

The plot concerns a journey by a spaceship to enter through the layers of gas surrounding a comet and observe the nucleus at close range. This part of the mission is successful, but the ship's computer develops a malfunction and they are unable to compute the required orbit to escape the comet.

George Pickett, a part-Japanese journalist on board the ship, recalls the use of the abacus used by his granduncle, a bank teller, and persuades the ship's astronomer to give it a try. Once convinced, the astronomer create a production line of the crew, using abaci to carry out the calculations that the computer would normally do.

The procedure is successful and an orbit is calculated to bring the ship within radio range of Earth.

References

*Clarke, Arthur C. The Best of Arthur C Clarke; 1956 - 1972. Published 1973


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Comet (comic magazine) — For other uses of Comet in comics, see Comet (comics). The Comet was a British comic magazine, launched by Cheshire based publisher J. B. Allen on 20 September 1946. When the publisher was taken over by the Amalgamated Press in May 1949, Leonard… …   Wikipedia

  • Into the Electric Castle — Infobox Album | Name = Into The Electric Castle Type = studio Artist = Ayreon Released = August 30, 1998 Recorded = The Electric Castle Studio Genre = Progressive metal Length = 1:44:47 Label = Transmission Producer = Arjen Lucassen Reviews = *… …   Wikipedia

  • Heart of the Comet — is a novel by David Brin and Gregory Benford about human space travel to Comet Halley published in 1986. Its publication coincided with the comet s 1986 approach to the Earth.As an example of the hard science fiction subgenre, the story is meant… …   Wikipedia

  • Night of the Comet — Original 1984 theatrical poster Directed by Thom Eberhardt Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • Moomins and the Comet Chase — Official logo Directed by Maria Lindberg Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby — Conceptual artwork of the CRAF spacecraft The Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) was a cancelled plan for a NASA led exploratory mission designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s, that planned to… …   Wikipedia

  • The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke — infobox Book | name = The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke title orig = translator = image caption = Dust jacket from the 1st edition author = Arthur C. Clarke illustrator = cover artist = Blacksheep country = United Kingdom language =… …   Wikipedia

  • The Best of Arthur C. Clarke — infobox Book | name = The Best of Arthur C. Clarke: 1937 1971 title orig = translator = image caption = author = Arthur C. Clarke illustrator = cover artist = country = United Kingdom language = English series = genre = Science fiction Short… …   Wikipedia

  • Comet (programming) — Comet is a web application model in which a long held HTTP request allows a web server to push data to a browser, without the browser explicitly requesting it.[1][2] Comet is an umbrella term, encompassing multiple techniques for achieving this… …   Wikipedia

  • The Magnetic Telescope — is the sixth of the seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character of Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This animated short was created by the Fleischer Studios. The story runs about… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”