Full record for ramscoop n.

Definition	a (theoretical) space propulsion method using electromagnetic fields to scoop up interstellar material as reaction mass and/or fuel
OED requirements	antedating 1965
Earliest cite	Larry Niven 'World of Ptavvs'
Comment	Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a reprint of Larry Niven's "The Warriors"; Mike Christie verified the cite in the 1966 first magazine appearance. Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 2000 reprint of Alastair Reynolds 1999 "Galactic North". Malcolm Farmer submitted a 1992 cite from Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep". Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1999 reprint of Stephen Baxter's 1998 "Saddlepoint: Roughneck". Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1996 reprint of Gregory Benford's 1995 "Sailing Bright Eternity". Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1990 reprint of Poul Anderson's "The Boat of a Million Years". Malcolm Farmer submitted a citation from a 1971 reprint of Larry Niven's "A Gift From Earth". Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1988 reprint of Gregory Benford's "Relativistic Effects". Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1993 reprint of Paul McAuley's 1991 "Eternal Light". Malcolm Farmer suggested Chris Boyce's 1975 "Catchworld", and Mike Christie located a cite in a 1977 edition. Mike Christie submitted a 1965 cite from Larry Niven's "World of Ptavvs".
Last modified	6 July, 2008

Citations for ramscoop n.

click here for more information about the citation list

1979 J. Varley Titan (1987) 19	A real big fusion ramscoop. The machinery is in the hub, electromagnetic field generators to funnel the interstellar hydrogen into the center, where it gets burned.
1992 V. Vinge Fire upon Deep i. vi. 40	The view closed on a decrepit vessel, perhaps two hundred meters long, wasp-waisted to support a ramscoop drive.
1999 A. Reynolds Galactic North in G. Dozois Mammoth Bk. Best New Sci. Fiction 13 (2000) 92	The ramscoops gasped at interstellar gas, sucking lone atoms of cosmic hydrogen from cubic metres of vacuum.
2000 K. MacLeod Cosmonaut Keep (2001) 47	He could have lived with a universe whose interstellar gulfs could be crossed only with generation ships, cold-sleep or ramscoops.
2005 C. Stross Accelerando viii. 385	Near the head, things are different: no huge claws there, but the delicately branching fuzz of bush robots, nanoassemblers poised ready to repair damage in flight and spin the parachute of a ramscoop when the ship is ready to decelerate.
2006 N. Asher Polity Agent ix. 213	The ship surfaced from U-space one astronomical unit out, and travelling at three quarters the speed of light, it used ramscoop to decelerate: opening out orange wings radiating from the abundant hydrogen being dragged in around it, soon followed by the sun-bright ignition of a fusion drive.