heinleinblog

Remember the ornithopters that welcomed Zeb, Deety, Jake and Hilda to Barsoom in “The Number of the Beast?”

Well, they’ve made one that really works:

Yesterday Dr. James DeLaurier, an aeronautical engineer and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies, fulfilled a lifelong dream, seeing his manned mechanical flapping-wing airplane, or ornithopter, fly — a dream first imagined by Leonardo da Vinci.

And with the successful flight DeLaurier has been lucky enough to touch what many describe as the Holy Grail of aeronautical design, achieving a place for himself, his team of volunteers and students in aviation history.

The flapper, as it’s affectionately known, sustained flight over about a third of a kilometre for 14 seconds at about 10:20 a.m. before being hit by a crosswind and almost flipping over, damaging the nose and front wheel on the runway at Downsview Park.

If you read into the article, you find that the flapping wings get a boost from a rocket. I dunno. Strapping a rocking to an ornithopter kinda sounds like strapping a warp drive to covered wagon.

Privately-funded ventures into space was the theme in many of The Master’s works, shich “The Man Who Sold the Moon,” “Destination: Moon” and others. And the Heinlein Prize was created to encourage private ventures into space. So it seems natural to give the very first prize to this man:

The trustees of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust have announced the first winner of the Heinlein Prize: Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. Dr. Diamandis will receive a $500,000 award, a gold Heinlein medallion and a replica of the Lady Vivamus sword (from Heinlein’s novel Glory Road) at a ceremony to be held in Houston, Texas on July 7, 2006.

Dr. Diamandis is a leader in the area of commercial space exploration. In the past twenty-five years he has started more than a dozen space organizations. In 1980, he founded the Students for the Exploration and Development in Space; it is now the largest student-based space organization in the world. The best-known of these is probably the X Prize Foundation; its $10 million Ansari X Prize helped to jumpstart the commercial spaceflight industry.

[snip]

“There is no question that Heinlein’s work has inspired and driven me during my career. His novella, The Man who Sold the Moon, is my favorite story. In fact, I flew it as personal cargo aboard SpaceShipOne during the winning Ansari X PRIZE flight on October 4th, 2004.â€? (The Heinlein Prize)

The Master’s name is invoked in an LA Times article about some folks who think the secret to long life is injecting Human Growth Hormone:

Turney, now 75, has since changed his name to Lazarus Long, after an immortal character in Robert Heinlein sci-fi novels. He says he has injected growth hormone to slow aging longer than any other human and that, except for a recent surgery to remove blood clots from his head, he feels great. He is vigorous enough, in fact, to lead his own virtual country, a libertarian paradise dubbed New Utopia that he likes to say is located on an offshore reef near Belize.

Though he suffered a setback in 2000 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stopped him from selling bonds to finance his “nation,” he holds the title of Prince Lazarus and governs from his Florida apartment. He owes it all, he says, to growth hormone. “I am convinced if I had not begun taking it I would be dead by now. I am here to tell you everybody I know of who has taken it has benefited.”

Tell you what, “Prince Lazarus,” if you life past 100 (something folks are doing a lot of these days, even without HGH, then call me. If you’re that old and you aren’t sitting there wearing diapers and drooling, I might stop and consider that you might, just might, be onto something.

But I do like the phrase “immortal character.” Heh.

Robert A. Heinlein was born on this day 99 years ago in Butler, Mo. That means we have just 365 days to go until the Heinlein Centennial.

Before than happens, Variable Star, a based on an outline by Heinlein and finished by Spider Robinson, will be published in October 2006.

The plot: “In the late 23rd century, eighteen-year-old Joel Johnston flees a broken heart and the enmity of the world’s richest man by boarding a 20-year-long sublight expedition to a distant star. He comes of age during the flight, changing from a confused youth to a man of substance, allowing him to cope, and help lead the colonists through several crises. And then the worst possible disaster strikes…”

The Master’s name is used to describe the Great Basin:

Today there are likely more scorpions, spiders and snakes living in the Great Basin than people. If you’re fortunate, you will cross paths with bizarre-looking reptiles and bugs that could have crawled out from the pages of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. Much of the scenery is harshly unappealing, a face only a mother could love, but those who slow down enough may discover an unheralded beauty equal to any scene imaginable.

Methinks the writer is confusing the book with that God-awful abomination of a movie. But thanks for the plug anyway.

It’s called “The Virginia Edition: The Virginia Edition: The Definitive Collection of Robert A. Heinlein” and it’s a whopper of a set:

This historical project will consist of forty-six titles spanning the entire writing career of Robert A. Heinlein. The Virginia Edition will contain all of Heinlein’s novels and short stories. It will also include all of his non-fiction titles along with the vast majority of his interviews, social commentaries, speeches and articles. Finally the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust has agreed to allow us to include several volumes of Heinlein’s letters and personal correspondence

The project apparently benefits the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust and the Butler Library Foundation. The set is going to be printed on high quality paper, and they are going to make only 5,000 of ‘em. The prices start at $2,200 and end at $4,100 for a leatherbound set.

Wow. The money goes to good causes, but it’s just a smidge out of my price range. Somehow, I think I’m going to stick to the paperback versions. But when I finally get that lottery check from Nigeria I’ve been expecting, I’m make this first on my list. They sure would look nice adorning the walls of my trailer.