Re: Hockey, Curling and other sports (some futuristic)

On 26 Feb 2002, Flak Magnet wrote:

> Some yahoo is going to try this:
>
> Suiting up and going outside with a harness and a cable-winch with a
> radio remote.  He'll epoxy/laser-weld or otherwise attach the winch to
> the outside of the ring of the station and let himself out on the
cable,
> slowly increasing the "pull" of the centrifical force because he'll be
> swinging in an ever increasing circle... Then he'll winch himself back
> in and tell his buds how much it rocked...
>
> Hey, if people pay 40 dollars for a bungee-jump, they'll pay to swing
on
> a cable in space...
>

In a short story I read a long time ago, the main character did just
that
and then cut the cable at precisely the correct moment to give himself
the
velocity boost to catch up with a small spacecraft that was running away
from the station (it had applied its thrust and was coasting towards its
destination, a small asteroid not too far away).  I think it was titled
"Papa was a Catcher", but I'm not sure, and I can't remember the author.
It's in a collection of short stories I have at home, called "Cities in
Space", IIRC.