space crew n.

the crew of a spacecraft

  • 1939 ‘L. del Rey’ Luck of Ignatz in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 15/1 page image Lester del Rey bibliography

    In an emergency, no group of men on Earth can do the work that a space-crew can turn out in a scant half-hour, and these were all seasoned star-jumpers; to them the lack of gravity was a help rather than a hindrance in the swift completion of the work.

  • 1943 ‘A. Boucher’ One-Way Trip in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 87/2 Anthony Boucher

    ‘What I'd even like,’ Uranov went on heatedly, ‘is to work in a little propaganda at the end on this Martian business—show how a true living peace can function. You know, a sort of ‘Join the space crews and see another world’ whoozit. And, God, there is something you can get really excited about. To think of those—how many is it, near thirty now?—who've made the landing, accomplished man’s impossible dream, and died there, on a bitterer one-way trip than any criminal ever made, all because this peaceful world—’

  • 1952 W. Gibson War of the Moons in Fantastic Science Fiction Dec. 10/1 page image Walter B. Gibson bibliography

    Stark horror reflected itself on the tough, tawny faces of the space crew.

  • 1972 ‘A. Boucher’ Man's Reach in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Nov. 69/1 page image Anthony Boucher bibliography

    No space crew in history has ever mutinied, but few space crews have traveled with a contralto whose tremendous voice can fill and amphitheater—or a space liner.

  • 1999 L. T. Kepner Fat Guys in Space in Absolute Magnitude Summer 45/1 page image Linda Tiernan Kepner bibliography

    The Oma’s last survey of these asteroids had some equipment malfunctions, and some of the tests had to be redone—a perfect ‘milk run’ for a moderately-untrained, woefully unfit space crew. The job was routine; the crew were the experiment.

  • 2011 Fangoria (#300) Feb. 8/1

    A malevolent extraterrestrial attacks a space crew aboard their ship.


Research requirements

antedating 1939

Earliest cite

Lester del Rey, 'The Luck of Ignatz"

Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1943 cite from "One Way Trip" by Anthony Boucher (pseudonym of William Anthony Parker White)
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1959 reprint of Lester Del Rey's "The Luck of Ignatz": Mike Christie verified this in its original publication (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1939)

Last modified 2020-12-16 04:08:47
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.