The Time Machine and the time projector do not move. They do not go anywhere. They stay where they are on the Earth's surface - despite the Time Traveller's reported, and unaccountable, sensation of headlong motion. Poul Anderson's Martin Saunders, enclosed in his time projector, has merely the familiar experience of sitting or walking around inside a vehicle while it is in transit. He see grayness, not accelerated events, through the single porthole.
When either of these temporal vehicles "arrives," it is still where it was. Only time has passed. This contrasts sharply with what happens to Dan Broderson's spaceship, Chinook, when it has followed a path around a T machine. Chinook is still in space although in a very different part of space, in a different planetary system, or even further afield. To explore a planetary surface, assuming the existence of a suitable nearby planet, some crew must descend in a space boat. They cannot just do the equivalent of stepping off the Time Machine or out of the time projector.
For their first four "jumps," see here.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And of course Anderson was aware of the need for these space travelers to first examine new planets before setting foot on them. Testing for things like a breathable atmosphere and tolerable temperatures.
Ad astra! Sean
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