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'Imperial Earth' by Arthur C. Clarke (1975)

Book

'Imperial Earth' by Arthur C. Clarke

To traverse the 500 million mile distance between Saturn's moon Titan and Earth for a diplomatic visit in the 23rd century, Arthur C. Clarke's protagonist, Duncan MacKenzie, embarks on the S.S. Sirius, a powerful interplanetary craft capable of making the journey in 20 days. (NASA's Cassini probe took seven years to cover the same distance.) In his acknowledgements, Clarke's noted the source of his fictional craft's great speed: "I am indebted to Dr. Robert Forward of the Hughes Research Laboratory, Malibu, for introducing me to the fascinating concept of mini-black-holes, and for making such encouraging noises about the somewhat outrageous propulsion system of S.S. Sirius that I am almost inclined to patent it..."

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