Comments on: I'm flyyyyyyyyinnnnng....

I'm flyyyyyyyyinnnnng....

freebird — Wed, 23 Jul 2003 20:59:46 -0800

Yet another part of Kim Stanley Robinson's wonderful Mars Trilogy is now a reality.

By: freebird

freebird — Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:37:24 -0800

well okay, still need less gravity and more wind. But still...oh and there's silly JS and Flash and stuff on that last link.

By: Grod

Grod — Wed, 23 Jul 2003 22:06:32 -0800

Hmm, last link has lots of pretty flashy things, quite exciting, but low on content, first link is good though.

By: skallas

skallas — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 01:11:37 -0800

Now that's a crappy website. Unskippable flash intro and just enough content to tell you next to nothing about the product? Yeah, good luck with business guys.

By: evening

evening — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 05:10:06 -0800

this would be cool. hopefully the terraforming part of his story won't come true.

By: BT

BT — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 05:13:45 -0800

Dang. I was really hoping for the immortality drugs. But I guess this is OK...

By: Tubes

Tubes — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 06:30:35 -0800

good luck with business guys - skallas They'll be fine. Skydivers love new gear, crappy website or no.

By: pjgulliver

pjgulliver — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 07:01:27 -0800

A little bit red there, aren't we evening? Hazzah for Sax, John, Frank, Maya, etc.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 07:18:37 -0800

I was with Robinson until he dissed Pushkin about halfway through Blue Mars. Now I'm want to send him to Mercury, where the tyrants will beat some remedial reading into him.

By: evening

evening — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 07:58:38 -0800

no, I'm more golden/mediterranean colored. oh, right...

By: Dantien

Dantien — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 09:00:44 -0800

Dont spoil Blue Mars for me Mr. Hat. I'm starting it Saturday.

By: disso

disso — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 10:52:07 -0800

The big trick KSR keeps pulling is: present all opinions as equally valid. Enjoyably postmodern, to me; I'm never bothered when a character I love comes out with an opinion I loathe (like when Nadia suddenly insists on having a death-penalty). Have fun reading Dantien! Lots of interesting and challenging and enigmatic stuff in Blue Mars... Oh and those birdsuits, they'll need some smart stiffening, servo's and AI. Maybe some small balloon to tow you up instead of a big airplane.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 11:02:22 -0800

Lord, Just reading the first paragraph of the Popular Science article gave me vertigo. Looks like fun for those who can deal, though.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 11:30:52 -0800

disso: The Pushkin dis is not put in a character's mouth; it's unmistakeably the author's opinion, especially since it's completely tangential to the novel, just an offhand remark about names of craters (so don't worry, Dantien, I'm not spoiling anything for you—enjoy the book!).

By: Songdog

Songdog — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:17:29 -0800

KSR's fourth volume, The Martians, is an interesting accompaniment, though differing in significant ways from the trilogy proper. It's got lots of fun Martian mountaineering, though! And if you're into that, try Antarctica. BT - I thought maybe this would be about space elevators, but a longevity breakthrough would've hit the spot!

By: kindall

kindall — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 13:07:06 -0800

"William Speed Weed"?

By: mkn

mkn — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 16:06:50 -0800

Check this video -- which I saw a month ago. Insane!

By: bshort

bshort — Fri, 25 Jul 2003 11:45:55 -0800

I've actually seen these suits in action. A couple of years ago I went skydiving (my first time) and one of the uber-experienced guys (he had done hundreds of jumps) was wearing one. It turns out that it reduces your terminal velocity from about 120MPH to around 60MPH, and in doing so, it almost doubles the amount of time that you're in free-fall. Its really not that groundbreaking; It just increases your drag and slows you down. Its not like it allows you to fly up or anything.