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"I can't tell whether or not there's going to be a Singularity. I don't really believe the rapture of the nerds stereotype..."
- Charles Stross
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| Shuttle | ||
| A space craft that travels point to point in space. |
As far as I know, the earliest use of the word "shuttle" in science fiction.
| "To the shuttle!” yelled Joslin. And indeed this seemed the only avenue to escape left open. Quickly the trap door to shuttle number one was banged open. The eight quickly entered and the door was once more bolted shut. A minute later they were flung free from the doomed vessel. Quickly the shuttle was reversed and turned away from the Barta. The last they saw of that wonderful ship, she was headed directly toward the blinding glare of the sun.
 (Shuttle from 'Liners of Space' by Jim Vanny) In due time the shuttle was picked up by a Venusian liner bound for the Earth. And although the great Barta itself was lost forever, the shuttle proved invaluable to the staff of Inter-Stellar Lines. |
| Technovelgy from Liners of Space,
by Jim Vanny. Published by Air Wonder Stories in 1930 Additional resources -
|
Theodore Sturgeon used this word in his 1950 story The Stars are the Styx:
See also references to shuttle ship and Winged Rocket Shuttle from Heinlein's 1951 novel Between Planets and JAL shuttle from Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer.
I WAS waiting in the entry bell when Judson arrived on Curbstone. Judson had nothing to do with that. I didn't even know he was on that particular shuttle. It's just that, aside from the fact that I happen to be Senior Release Officer on Curbstone, I like to meet the shuttles.
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| Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message |
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| Dream Of Building Your Own Rocket? |
| Used Dragon Cargo Spacecraft Will Fly Again |
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'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
'...it rears and spreads its fan. It can pick one man out of a crowd.'
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.'
'It was a pushpot, which could not possibly be called a jet plane because it could not possibly fly. Only it did.'
