Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"This category [science fiction] excludes rocket ships that make U-turns, serpent men of Neptune that lust after human maidens, and stories by authors who flunked their Boy Scout merit badge tests in descriptive astronomy."
- Robert Heinlein

Orbital Retirement Hotel  
  A retirement home placed in low earth orbit.  

Suddenly, hitherto unheard-of sums of money became available for investment in civilian orbital stations. By the very end of the Second Millenium there were rudimentary retirement hotels a few hundred kilometers up...

There were those who worried that this was an imprudent investment of the limited wealth of the planet... It was foolhardy, they said, to permit an elite class to emigrate to space...

Hardly anyone anticipated the principal outcome, the transfer of a vivid planetary perspective to those who could do the most good. After some years, there were few nationalists left in Earth orbit.

Technovelgy from Contact, by Carl Sagan.
Published by Not known in 1985
Additional resources -

Compare to the New Moon Casino Satellite from One Against the Legion (1939) by Jack Williamson, the high orbit archipelago from Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988) by William Gibson, and the Freeside orbital resort from Neuromancer (1984) also by Gibson.

Thanks to Adi for suggesting this item.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Contact
  More Ideas and Technology by Carl Sagan
  Tech news articles related to Contact
  Tech news articles related to works by Carl Sagan

Orbital Retirement Hotel-related news articles:
  - Galactic Suites - LEO at $4 Million Per 3 Day Stay
  - Bigelow Prepares Inflatable Lunar Hotel

Articles related to Space Tech
JWST Finds Bucking Centaur 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
First Trips To Mars Announced By Elon Musk
Lava Tubes On Moon And Mars
SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'

Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'

Are The Thought Police Listening To Everyone All The Time?
'... they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to.'

Finally, Robot Conductors On Autonomous Buses
'Wardour Street,' he told the robot-conductor.'

RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'

Giant Robotic Hands At Gundam Next Future Science
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.'

JWST Finds Bucking Centaur 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
'... the glittering little rocket bolted to the black iron behind him.'

BeamBike Solar Power Canopy For Electric Bikes
'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'

California Fireman Arrested For Starting Fires
'Fire is bright and fire is clean.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.