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"Everything starts as somebody's daydream. And, when you're daydreaming, it is science fiction. It's when you start work out how you put it together, true science fiction becomes real science."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Airlock | ||
| An intermediate chamber between airless space and the interior of a space craft. |
How can you go between the void of space and oxygen-rich interior of your space craft?
| DuQuesne reported briefly to the two girls. All three put on space-suits and crowded into the tiny airlock. The lock was pumped down. |
| Technovelgy from The Skylark of Space,
by E.E. 'Doc' Smith. Published by Amazing Stories in 1928 Additional resources -
|
The phrase "air lock" and the basic purpose was first used in the mid-19th century in relation to sea-going vessels.
Not all airlocks and doors were tiny; this excerpt is from The Power Planet (1931) by Murray Leinster.
Those in the observatory felt a sudden savage suction
of air. It swayed them upon their feet.
“In a hurry,” said Jimmy Cardigan grimly. “The
Commander let in the air from the Planet instead of
the tanks. He’s in a hurry, too.”
This is perhaps the earliest usage of the phrase in science fiction. However, the idea was put forward much earlier; see the entry for the double-door vestibule from Astor's 1894 novel A Journey in Other Worlds.
Then there was the clank
of the airlock door — a vast circle a hundred feet across.
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Tech news articles related to works by E.E. 'Doc' Smith
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| Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand |
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Science Fiction
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'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
