Sunjammer

Infobox short story |
name = The Food of the Gods
author = Arthur C. Clarke
country = United Kingdom
language = English
genre = Science fiction
published_in = Boys' Life
publication_type =
publisher =
media_type =
pub_date = March, 1964

"Sunjammer" is a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke. It was originally published in "Boys' Life" in 1964. It has also been published under the title "The Wind from the Sun".

Plot summary

John Merton, a spaceship designer, develops and promotes a lightweight spacecraft with a large area of solar sail, to be powered entirely by radiation pressure — the so-called wind from the sun. The sun-yachts start their journey in Earth's orbit, and, pushed simply by sunlight, can achieve a speed of two thousand miles an hour within a day.

The concept leads to the development of the sport of sun-yacht racing, and after several years of refining his ideas, Merton competes in what will be his final race. His hopes for victory rest on the low mass of his craft which he has made possible through advances in automation enabling him to fly it solo.

Soon, all but two of the competitors have dropped out, mainly due to damaged craft, and it is a straight race between Merton's craft and "Lebedev", entered by a Russian crew from the University of Astrograd. Although the "Lebedev" is lagging Merton's yacht, its senior pilot delivers a surprise blow by announcing that he plans to jettison his co-pilot in an escape capsule now that the earlier, navigationally intensive part of the race has finished.

Merton responds by recalculating his expected margin of victory and realises that the race is now going to be neck-and-neck at the finish line. At this point news arrives of a massive, and potentially deadly, solar flare. The race has to be abandoned, and there is no winner, though Merton abandons his craft with its sail still fully extended in order to ensure that it will be blown into interstellar space.

ee also

*Mike Oldfield used the title "Sunjammer" for the fifth movement of his "Tubular Bells II" album. Oldfield has also used other Arthur C. Clarke titles as basis for his music, such as "Songs of Distant Earth" for his "The Songs of Distant Earth" album.

References

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

External links

* [http://www.planetary.org/solarsailcd/ The Cosmos 1 CD] , launched with Cosmos 1, includes the full text of "The Wind from the Sun" and other solar sail writings.
* [http://240plan.ovh.net/~upngmmxw/imag/bd/bd_a.htm The Wind From The Sun / Sunjammer] comic strip version, by Olivier Boisard.