SpaceX giddily promises humanity a permanent base on the Moon - can they pull it off?
As science fiction fans know, the word moonbase was coined by L. Ron Hubbard in 240,000 Miles Straight Up, published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1948.
Robert Heinlein ties with Hubbard on this one; RAH uses this phrase in Space Cadet, published that same year:
A cabal of high-ranking officers, acting from Moon Base, tried to seize power over the entire world. The plot would have been successful had not Lieutenant Dahlquist disabled every atom-bomb rocket at Moon Base by removing the fissionable material from each and wrecking the triggering mechanisms.
Hubbard does not get pride of place for earliest description of a lunar habitation. As far as I know, the moon dome from Ray Cummings 1931 novel Brigands of the Moon was the first scientifically accurate description in science fiction. See also moon-dome from Last Blast (1952) by Eric Frank Russell.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/6/2024)
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.' - Iain Banks, 1987.
ISS Plagued By Leak - Again!
'There were perhaps a dozen bladder-like objects in the tunnel...' - Robert Heinlein, 1948.
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 Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'