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"Everything starts as somebody's daydream. And, when you're daydreaming, it is science fiction. It's when you start work out how you put it together, true science fiction becomes real science."
- Larry Niven
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| Astrogator | ||
| A person who acts as navigator for s space ship. |
This appears to be the first instance of this word.
| Surely a complete faith in the laws of mathematics and astronomy must be the first requisite of the interplanetary astrogator. For as his little craft is lost in the immensities of space, and he sees the fiery sun on his left, waiting to snatch him, Venus, lost in the sun’s glare, will not even be in sight. He must realize then that he is staking his life and that of his crew on the knowledge that Venus will be at an appointed place to meet him. He must indeed have a sublime faith in the inflexibility of heavenly mechanics and of the power of his craft!
He will find, as day after day passes in the changeless skies, that doubts will arise as to whether Venus will meet him at all. The earth will have shrunk to a ball, then a disk, and finally to only a point of light in the heavens The emptiness will seem infinite. The astrogator will take observation after observation of the stars, check and recheck his speed and course, and wait feverishly for the first glimpse of emerging Venus. Doubt will change to fear, and then to terror, as the weeks bring only increasing loneliness and monotony. A hundred times he will believe himself lost, and, like the first navigator of the Atlantic, he will be besieged by a panic-stricken crew demanding that he turn back before they perish miserably in this infinite space. |
| Technovelgy from The Conquest of Space,
by David Lasser. Published by Not Known in 1931 Additional resources -
|
Compare to astronaut from The Death's Head Meteor (1930) by Neil R. Jones, space pirate from Evans of the Earth-Guard (1930) by Edmond Hamilton, spacedog from A Question of Salvage (1939) by Malcolm Jameson, space marines from Misfit (1939) by Robert Heinlein, rocketeer from Sunward Flight (1943) by Leo Zagat and space cadet from Sunward Flight (1943) by Leo Zagat.
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'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
'We had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect.'
'Detailed plans for the construction of the Gundstetter-Halone warp drive were flowing.'
'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
