space burn n.

inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to the light of stars unfiltered by planetary atmospheres; cf. space tan n., space-burned adj.

  • 1937 H. Kuttner Raider of the Spaceways in Weird Tales July 64/1 page image Henry Kuttner bibliography

    Arn paled beneath his space-burn.

  • 1942 ‘D. Farnsworth’ Q Ship of Space in Amazing Stories Jan. 210/1 page image David Wright O'Brien bibliography

    He was a tall, black-haired, thick-shouldered fellow with a face that bore the leathery black wrinkles of space burn.

  • 1946 B. I. Kahn For the Public in Astounding Science Fiction Dec. 80/2 page image Bernard I. Kahn bibliography

    He’s got a socialite playboy for a medical officer. He couldn’t tell the difference between simple acne and malignant space burn.

  • 1956 ‘A. North’ Plague Ship ii. 23 page image Andre Norton bibliography

    His face under its thick layer of space burn was that of an adventurer.

  • 1957 H. Slesar 25 Words or Less in Fantastic Universe Apr. 82/1 page image Henry Slesar bibliography

    Do you know how many colonists have died up there? Did you ever hear of space-burn? Space-blindness? Do you know what a meteor strike can do to a man’s lungs?

  • 1964 R. F. Young The HoneyEarthers in Amazing Stories Aug. iii. 20/2 page image Robert F. Young bibliography

    ‘With such brisk blue eyes and such dark-gold tan, you could never seem old to anyone!’…‘That’s spaceburn. Dad used to be a spacer, and spaceburn never fades.’

  • 2008 R. A. Lovett Britney’s Labyrinth in Analog Science Fiction & Fact June 14/2 page image Richard A. Lovett bibliography

    On the vidscreen, Rudolph had a face to mach his nose…cheeks showing the mottled beginnings of lesions that would probably someday need the ministrations of an oncologist. Spaceburn? Or too many days on ozone-damaged sections of Earth?

  • 2011 ‘M. J. Locke’ Up Against It xxvii. 359 page image Laura J. Mixon bibliography

    ‘I only caught a glimpse. A young man, I think. A big white guy with a spaceburned face.’…Ian Carmichael. He was big, white, and blond, a biker with a spaceburn.

Research requirements

antedating 1937
Earliest cite

Henry Kuttner
Research History
suggested, and the 1937 Kuttner cite submitted, by Fred Galvin.

Last modified 2024-09-25 14:18:16
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.