spacefaring n.

the action of travelling in space

  • 1942 N. S. Bond Ballad of Venus Nell in Planet Stories Spring 60 page image Nelson S. Bond bibliography

    None but the most daring do any space-faring In those lethal, whirlagig niches, But spacemen all claim that the Bog is aflame With infinite, fabulous riches.

  • 1956 P. Anderson Margin of Profit in Astounding Sept. 55/1 page image Poul Anderson bibliography

    One good thing about spacefaring, you could set the artificial gravity low and feel almost young again.

  • 1959 A. B. Chandler Idol in Fantastic Aug. 58/2 page image A. Bertram Chandler

    I like to do my spacefaring in comfort, like a civilized man.

  • 1979 A. C. Clarke Fountains of Paradise 155 Arthur C. Clarke

    Into the automatic mines, production plants and zero-gravity assembly systems had gone much of the engineering genius of the human race, painfully acquired during two hundred years of spacefaring.

  • 1990 P. Anderson Inconstant Star in L. Niven et al. Man-Kzin Wars III (1992) ii. 181 Poul Anderson bibliography

    Planetsiders seldom had any notion of the complications in spacefaring.

Research requirements

antedating 1942
Earliest cite

N. Bond 'The Ballad of Venus Nell'
Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1942 cite for "space-faring" from Nelson Bond's "The Ballad of Venus Nell"

Earliest cite in the OED2 was a 1959 cite from Poul Anderson's "Virgin Planet"; updated to the 1942 Nelson Bond quote in OED3.

Last modified 2021-09-13 00:59:51
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.