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

"I prefer working by artificial light."
- Isaac Asimov

Space-Armor  
  Special shielding worn against rays and explosives.  

This is a very early use of this phrase.

It must have been over two hours later that a huge torpedo set in motion by the forces of the Black Emperor, struck the ship. The explosion rolled her completely over, and tore a jagged though not disabling hole in her side. The air puffed out from the control room compartment, but the men who labored so feverishly there, were clad in heavy space armor, and aside from being badly bruised they were unhurt.
Technovelgy from Revolt of the Star Men, by Raymond Z. Gallun.
Published by Wonder Stories Quarterly in 1932
Additional resources -

For example, here is how the phrase was used by Doc Smith in his 1934 novel Triplanetary. In the novel, "space armor" is often used interchangably with "suit of space" (space suit); it is also written with a hyphen as "space-armor." Smith does distinguish an "emergency suit" from space armor.

As seen below, space armor does have its limits.

Through the aperture thus made Costigan could plainly see the pirate in the space-armor of the chief engineer - an armor which was proof against rifle fire and which could reflect and neutralize for some little time even the terrific beam Costigan was employing... The officer touched a trigger, there was a double report, ear-shattering in that narrowly confined space, and the pirate's body literally flew into mist as a half-kilogram shell tore through his armor and exploded.

I think that McDermott and Miller deserve a tie for first use of this term, because they use it in The Duel on the Asteroid, which appeared in Wonder Stories, January, 1932:

And he would fall with the same near-weightlessness, would fairly drift through the airless void that surrounded this pocket-planet... Light as he was, the fall jarred him as would a twenty-foot drop in space-armor on Earth or Venus.

Compare to vacuum armor from Skylark Three (1930) by Doc Smith, Osprey space armor from Salvage in Space (1933) by Jack Williamson, Dirigible Space Armor (Working Space Suits) from Collision Orbit (1941) by Jack Williamson, and space armor from Cities in Flight (1957) by James Blish.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Revolt of the Star Men
  More Ideas and Technology by Raymond Z. Gallun
  Tech news articles related to Revolt of the Star Men
  Tech news articles related to works by Raymond Z. Gallun

Space-Armor-related news articles:
  - NASA's Meteorite-Resistant Fabric Perfect For Space Armor

Articles related to Warfare
'Warrior Suit' Combat Exoskeleton Project Still Alive
Sea Drones Attack Russian Fleet
Slaughterbot AI KIller Quadcopter Drones
Russia Working On Military Exoskeletons

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>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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

Science Fiction in the News

Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'

Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'

Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'

Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'

Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'

Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.

'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'

Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'

Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'

DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.