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"I can remember when the first pulsars were discovered. I was able to go and sit down and listen to graduate students talking about what their theories, to explain what pulsars really were."
- Vernor Vinge
 |
| Space-Tanned | ||
| The characteristic darkening of the men of the spaceways. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of this phrase.
| Hilary’s space-tanned features hardened; the light gray of his eyes darkened. |
| Technovelgy from Slaves of Mercury,
by Warren Hammond. Published by Astounding Stories in 1932 Additional resources -
|
If you find yourself present at a murder on a space ship, you might well be brought before the captain - a space veteran who has spent many hours gazing out the glassite windows of his ship, exposed to the ravening electromagnetic radiations of the spaceways. As in Edmond Hamilton's 1936 story Murder in the Void:
There is another illustrative use in Static, a short story by Kent Casey in May, 1938 Astounding:
(For those who don't know, a "shavetail" is a newly minted second lieutenant, deriving for the word for a newly broken-in pack mule.)
Edmond Hamilton used a variant on this idea in his 1940 story Revolt on the Tenth World:
When they entered the lighted cabin of the craft, which was crowded with piled sacks and metal cases, a wiry old Earthman got up, stretching and yawning. His sparse hair was pure white, his face bronzed and seamed like leather by long exposure in space to unsoftened radiation.
By the time Robert Heinlein uses it in his 1941 novel Methuselah's Children it has lost its hyphen - see space tanned.
On the other hand, maybe Venusians tan more easily than Earthmen...
Half an hour later, in the captain's office, the veteran, space-tanned Venusian who was master of the Vulcan faced Rab Crane.
Young shavetails* - hadn't even got a space tan yet - insisted on being chummy...
Jimmy Crane’s voice was hoarse with passion, his worn, space-bronzed young face quivering...
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| The First Space Warship For Space Force |
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'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
