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"the [science fiction] writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true...and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you."
- Frederik Pohl

Meteor Hulls Ship  
  A small meteor tears all the way through a ship  

An early description of the likely result of a meteor striking a spacecraft.


(Meteor hulls ship in 'Moon People of Jupiter' by Isaac Nathanson)

A cursory examination revealed that a giant meteoroid, no doubt weighing many tons, and perhaps moving as fast as we were, had struck the “Martian” almost amidships; and at the extreme velocities with which both bodies were traveling, had torn clear through and passed out on the other side, as if the armor-steel sides of the vessel were made of paper, leaving two great gaping holes. The propulsion machinery, as well as a portion of the gravity repulsion engines, were wrecked and melted by the force of the impact. Fortunate it was that our air-purifiers and cylinders of oxygen up forward were intact, as also our stores of power in the stern of the ship. The air-tight, multicellular structure of the "Martian” prevented the entire loss of air and heat through the huge gaping holes; as otherwise we should all have been suffocated or been immediately frozen from the exposure to the intense cold of outer space.

Technovelgy from Moon People Of Jupiter, by Isaac R. Nathanson.
Published by Amazing Stories Quarterly in 1931
Additional resources -

Here's another illustrated example of a meteorite striking a ship, from Liners of Space (1930) by Jim Vanny.

HEY charged on. And then, without warning, came a sudden strange sound from the detectors and Cameron’s warning shout. Frantically he fought with the control. Too late!

A blinding flash — a terrific impact — a deafening report within the car!


(Meteorite Impact from 'Liners of Space' by Jim Vanny)

The Swan was drifting aimlessly. The meteorite had only glanced off the cutter but had delivered a blow of sufficient force to disable the ship. A quick nspection showed that a large section of the nose together with part of the operating equipment had been torn away and the air in that compartment had escaped. The ship was helpless.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Moon People Of Jupiter
  More Ideas and Technology by Isaac R. Nathanson
  Tech news articles related to Moon People Of Jupiter
  Tech news articles related to works by Isaac R. Nathanson

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