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Spaceships Should Last So Long
So far, spaceships seem to be almost temporary creations; even reusable ships like the SpaceX Dragon capsules and boosters have only seen limited action.
You'll need reliability for those truly long-haul space voyages.
— Bill Christensen (@Technovelgy) July 22, 2022
AFAIK, the first use of "generation ship" was in E.C. Tubb's "Star Ship", in New Worlds Science Fiction in 1955.
Not the first reference to the idea, though. See the references and quotes:https://t.co/ar6vFjdpJy pic.twitter.com/418hODKCOP
As far as I know, the first use of "space-ship" occurred in John Jacob Astor, IV's 1894 novel A Journey in Other Worlds
"What sort of space-ship do you propose to have?" asked the vice-president."As you have to pass through but little air," said Deepwaters, "I should suggest a short-stroke cylinder of large diameter, with a flat base and dome roof...
(Read more about Astor's space-ship)
Of course, you want to know about ships that last a long time, hundreds and even thousands of years. As I tweeted above, for that you'd need generation ships, which were also called multi-generation space vessels, as in The Return of the Murians (1935) by Nat Schachner:
THE SPACE VESSEL was traveling swiftly. Behind it stretched the vast, frightening reaches of interstellar space...For over five thousand years they had Voyaged on and on, steadily, ceaselessly, two hundred and fifty miles a second, eighty billion miles a year.
Thanks of course to Yossi for alerting me on Twitter.
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