Thursday, July 15

The Science in Science Fiction or Beam me up Scotty

Mercury’s exosphere is a tenuous atmosphere of atoms and ions derived from the planet’s surface and from the solar wind.
Taken from an article I was reading about the Messenger Probe. A space craft destined to orbit and study the first of our inner planets, Mercury. Reminds me of a book I read long ago by Arthur C Clarke titled "The Wind From the Sun." A collection of short stories, the title story is about space craft with giant sails to collect power of movement, much like a wind sail; from the light of the sun. I find it odd, the first time I read the book was in Middle School as a leisure read and later in high school was a subject read in a class called "the science in science fiction." I have been a space buff for most of my life and the only mention of "solar wind" was in this science fiction short story. Only recently have I been reading of this phenomenon in scientific accounts. In class it was discussed as a theory, I admit I read more about space now, with the internet at my disposal. I do find it interesting how science fiction does seem to become fact. Jules Verne's writings of nuclear submarines, and the cell phone of old does resemble the "communicator" from the old Star Trek series. Just a thought. How long before we can transfer matter into energy and back into matter?

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