Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"But the problem with reincarnation is that it's hard to imagine what the storage medium for past lives would be. Not to mention the input-output device. I hesitate to rule it out completely, but I'd need pretty definite proof."
- Arthur C. Clarke
 |
| Spaceplane | ||
| A craft able to land on Earth and take off directly for space. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of the word "spaceplane" in science fiction.
| WHAT COULD IT HAVE BEEN?
I CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT, ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ON THIS PLANET WON'T PERMIT SUCH A THING. EITHER SOME POWERFUL BEINGS FROM SPACE, PERHAPS FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE, ARE ENGAGED IN CONQUEST --- OR --- BUT I WON'T THINK OF THAT! ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!
 (Spaceplane from 'Zarnak' by Max Plaisted) YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, VAECO. I'M LEAVING IMMEDIATELY IN MY SPACEPLANE! |
| Technovelgy from Zarnak,
by Max Plaisted. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1937 Additional resources -
|
Here is the first panel in which it appears:
(Spaceplane panel from 'Zarnak' by Max Plaisted)
Compare to the space shuttle fro Hell Ship of Space (1940) by Frederic Arnold Kummer, Jr., the shuttle from Stars are Styx (1950) by Theodore Sturgeon, the shuttle ship and Winged Rocket Shuttle from Heinlein's 1951 novel Between Planets, the JAL shuttle from Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer and the Clarke Spaceplane from A Quantum Murder (1998) by Peter F. Hamilton.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Zarnak
More Ideas
and Technology by Max Plaisted
Tech news articles related to Zarnak
Tech news articles related to works by Max Plaisted
Spaceplane-related
news articles:
- Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
| Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles |
| Centipede Robots Down On The Farm |
| Vipera Electric Skis From Frigid Dynamics |
| Pivotal Blackfly Electric Aircraft Lifts And Hovers |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
