spacecraft n.

any vehicle designed to travel in space

Science

Vehicles

  • 1929 N.Y. Times 13 Oct. x. 4/1

    If moon voyaging is ever to escape from the pages of pseudo-scientific thrillers, and until some one attains that other baseless dream of fictionists, the ‘nullification’ of gravity, space craft must depend for their motive power on rockets and nothing else.

  • 1930 P. F. Nowlan & R. Calkins Buck Rogers, 2429 A.D. in Mt. Pleasant Daily Times (Michigan) 7 Nov. page image Philip Francis Nowlan

    Wilma and I prepared to board the mysterious space craft we had met on our trip to Mars.

  • 1931 R. Z. Gallun Atomic Fire in Amazing Stories Apr. 67/1 page image Raymond Z. Gallun bibliography

    The ship is gaining altitude faster than I ever saw a space craft do before at the outset. But I suppose you have to expect such performance from any new invention of the Fallefs. Everything they produce is wonderful.

  • 1942 H. Cord & O. A. Kline Meteor-Men of Mars in Planet Stories Winter 114/2 page image Otis Adelbert Kline Harry Cord bibliography

    Unharmed the fugitives passed through the dilating door, and dipped down the side of the huge space craft.

  • 1963 J. G. Ballard Encounter in Amazing Stories June 98/1 page image J. G. Ballard bibliography

    It sounded fascinating, almost Swiftian in concept. This space-craft which arrives from Venus and the strange conversation the pilot holds with a philosopher he meets.

  • 1985 S. Sucharitkul Alien Swordmaster i. iii. 18 S. P. Somtow bibliography

    In the interior of another spacecraft, Visitors were collapsing, tearing off their human faces and showing the…horrors beneath.

  • 1990 R. L. Forward Rocheworld 8 Robert L. Forward

    Prepare for an authorized inspection of a foreign spacecraft.

  • 1991 O. S. Card Xenocide xviii. 383 Orson Scott Card

    I believe our history is older than the spacecraft that brought it here.

  • 1992 V. Vinge Fire upon Deep iii. xxxviii. 337 Vernor Vinge bibliography

    He had managed spacecraft and weapons that could have reduced the feudal empire below to slag.

  • 1993 Locus June 59/1

    Liss is a starshipper, a resident of one of the spacecraft that wander the inhabited galaxy.

  • 1995 C. Carter Truth is out There: Official Guide to The X Files The Episodes: Season 1 120 Chris Carter

    Soon, however, communication with the spacecraft is lost and Generoo’s car crashes as the strange face zooms in at her through the fog.

  • 2009 W. Barton Sea of Dreams in Asimov’s Science Fiction Oct.–Nov. 142 page image William Barton bibliography

    The magic of inertialess space drives, the magic of anti-gravity. Hardly anybody knew we hadn’t invented it, had found it in a derelict alien spacecraft…thirty-five years ago.


Research requirements

antedating 1929

Earliest cite

New York Times

Last modified 2020-12-16 04:08:47
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.