Questions tagged [space-exploration]
Space Exploration is the idea of traveling through space, beyond a home planet's orbit to discover things unknown to the explorer. Use this tag for questions about space exploration in science fiction or fantasy, not for real life questions. For real life questions, visit our sister site Space Exploration at space.stackexchange.com.
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Short film about a man that goes to space for a long long time to search for life, and a robot (or the ship) takes care of him
The life-action short film (probably less than 30 minutes) starts with a scene where a kid falls (near a tree, I think), and his mother finds him (I think the kid passed out due to the fall). The kid ...
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Author and Title of a SF story from 60s, most probably read it in Fantasy and Science Fiction, possibly Analog or If
3 male astronaut-explorers land on a new planet about a mile away from an obviously artificial construct, a massive cube. Each starts setting up his equipment for the surveys they need to make. The ...
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Is A. C. Clarke's "Death and the Senator" really a jab at William Proxmire?
I've seen this claimed repeatedly, but no authoritative evidence, and I am not convinced. Was Proxmire really that famous as anti-space crusader by May 1961 (minus however long the story was in the ...
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Short story about a man trying to invent force field, but fails and someone else builds a better one
Short story could be from 1960-1980s. In English.
Scientists are frantically working in a lab trying to develop a impenetrable force field.
They have created one that does not use much power, but it ...
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Story-id: “Lost in Space” novel (posted on USENET in 87-88) with an engineer and an AI trapped on a interstellar freighter and the other crew dead
This is an incredible long shot, because I read this in the late 80’s in a USENET newsgroup and I have no idea if it ever appeared in print.
In schoolyear 87-88 I had newsgroup access via my ...
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What is the name of this (possibly 40 year old) Sci-Fi novel [duplicate]
my first question here, so forgive me if I do it wrong:
I would like to find the name of a Sci-Fi book I read over 30 years ago (possibly 40)
Author: he was some kind of military strategist i think. ...
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Book about two kids going to the moon with an old scientist
There was a children's book I used to have which I believe was about two kids who go to space and the moon (I think it's the moon) with an old guy (maybe a grandpa or just a crazy looking scientist) ...
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Story about a lone planetary explorer with a robotic assistant
I read this story in the late 60's. A man on a 6 month drunk is picked up by company agents and placed on a ship to some unexplored planet. You get the impression this has happened to him before. ...
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1960's-1970's (possibly older) sci-fi story about a man stuck on a inhabited planet with a twist [duplicate]
The story was about a man who crashed on a uninhabited planet and was wandering around for few years looking for another crashed spaceship to use its parts to repair his spaceship. He had a small ...
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Young adult sci fi book where a team of human explorers wind up stranded on a planet, while covertly surveilling a less advanced civilization
Some time in the future, an advanced civilization has found a marker left by precursors, pointing at habitable worlds. The first intelligent life they find by following the marker is humans.
They form ...
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Could Buzz Lightyear's crew ever have returned to the world before their accident?
In Lightyear, Buzz's primary motivation is to help the crew of the Turnip return to their lives before the crash. However, it's unclear if the crew ever could have gone back to "life as normal&...
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Why did Buzz Lightyear's crew have no other option except making their own fuel crystal?
In Lightyear, the crew of 'the Turnip' is stranded on a hostile planet after their ship's fuel crystal is damaged. The crew quickly throws all their resources into developing a new fuel crystal as ...
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Short story where interplanetary explorers find a strange planet that's weirdly suited for human life
I recall reading the story in a book that was part of a larger award anthology. The plot revolved around a small team of scientists (3-5) exploring planets searching for those potentially suitable for ...
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Is there an explanation for how Taylor returned to Earth?
Planet of the Apes (1968) spoilers
Cpt Taylor and his crew launched towards the Orion constellation and at some point of their journey they put themselves into artificial sleep. At the time Taylor ...
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Story about spacecraft crew losing consciousness as they get farther from Earth
I'm trying to recall a sci-fi short story that I once read, about a spacecraft that's attempting to travel farther from Earth than anyone ever has before. As it gets farther away, the crew start to ...
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Book about a world where things improve when being used [duplicate]
In the '90s, I read a book that about a world where things improve when being used.
In the book, people on Earth have some kind of device that remotely scans the universe, looking for worlds/...
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Sci-Fi story about people traveling through space in confined spaces then fighting once returning planet side
The story was more or less about 2 people being in space for a long period of time in a small space. They had been living like this for either many months to possibly even years. Towards the end of ...
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Trilogy in the 80’s about space travel to another world
Growing up in the 80's my mother introduced me to a trilogy she read. I don’t remember the name but they traveled to another world and worked to colonize it. 2064 or something idk. The books were ...
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Book about a female protagonist travelling through space with alien creatures called the Leviathan
The main character of the book was selected to travel space with these aliens that also were able to act as spaceships called the Leviathan. They were helpful to Earth in fixing its problems.
As they ...
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Short story- crashed pilot must run/jump around a small planet to catch the sun and charge her life supporting suit
I'm looking for a short sci-fi story of a pilot who crashed with her spaceship on a small, low gravitate planet or asteroid.
In order to survive she must run/jump around it to catch the sun and power ...
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What has been the first time that someone visited more than one galaxy beyond their own?
This Q&A site already has several questions regarding traveling to other galaxies than in the main setting.
What has been the first work where somebody has visited at least two galaxies beyond ...
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1980s or earlier sci-fi short story where a planet is calling to a woman and she becomes an astronaut to travel there
The story I'm looking for had a female protagonist, a young girl (unattractive and unloved) whose ambition is to become an astronaut and travel to the stars. There is a particular planet that is "...
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2
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explorers unwilling to return [duplicate]
Unusually for such a request, I think I know the title: “The Deserter”. Trouble is that ISFDB lists seven short stories with that title.
Setting is one of the cold planets. To explore it, people ...
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Looking for a novel about a mysterious sphere/cube shaped object
I read a story years ago that revolved around a mysterious ‘ship’ (it was a basic shape - I believe the name of the book was also around this shape) found in the universe. It had some species worried ...
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2
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Space exploration/RPG PC game where humanity is trapped in a space bubble
I've been trying to find a PC game that I played a demo for back in the early 90s (give or take).
It was a space exploration/RPG with sprite graphics and I think a top-down perspective. You fly ...
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1
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Novel: Earth fights galaxy-wide empire, loses, gets one seat in galactic senate/parliament
Read this novel circa late 1950s. Plot as follows from vague and imperfect memory. Earth is expanding into near stellar neighborhood. Finds planet that once held a now-vanished civilization, but which ...
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1
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Story from the 1950s/60s/70s featuring a dangerous water creature like a yellow hammerhead
Can anyone ID a short story (I think) from the 1950s/60s/70s about an expedition to a planet which is mainly water on the surface. One of the human visitors sees, below him in the water, something ...
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Why are Star Trek Federation ships white?
Does anyone know why Starfleet ships are so white? They are research vessels "seeking out new life" but trying NOT to be seen before first contact. Kalemene never would have seen “the Ground-shaker” ...
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2
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Book called "Thunderbird" by an author named Katy about space or flight
I read a book called Thunderbird by Katy something I have forgotten her last name. I vaguely remember it being about either space or flying or flying in space.
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Terrans land on a planet with cat-like aliens and start going missing, two of the crew are werewolves that think it is the perfect place
I just remember a glimpse from around 40 years ago. The story may be older.
An exploration space ship from Terra is landing on an alien planet. The Earthlings are coming in contact with the alien cat-...
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1
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Short comic about alien explorers visiting an abandoned world with giant statues that turn out to be alive but move very slowly
A sci-fi short story, probably part of a comic sci-fi/horror anthology. I remember seeing it when I was 13, but still remember the twist ending clearly.
Judging from the artwork, something around 60'...
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Novel - Accidental exploration ship, broadcasts a TV show to let people know what they find
Probably from the 70s or earlier. Paperback in English.
Space craft with a new drive that should be able to travel to other planets in solar system almost instantly, is over budget and behind ...
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Science fiction radio drama: aliens find Earth deserted [duplicate]
Anyone know of a radio drama about an advanced alien civilization visiting Earth (we don't know it's Earth until the end). Everything is deserted. They send down teams to investigate and one team ...
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Shape changer in space frontier story collection
It was one of the stories in a space frontier collection. A hunter was after the most dangerous game. When killed it had the shape of a small seemingly harmless wormlike creature. But the creature ...
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2
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Book: troubleshooter born into a desolate future world
I think the book or series is from the late 70s early 80s. It's based in the future; the character was born in a desolate world and grew up with an almost animalistic survivability. It was not by L.E....
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1
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Short story about aliens trading for hydroponics
I am looking for information on a short story that was written probably in the late 60's early 70's. This was part of a short story collection; I can't be certain but it was possibly edited by Groff ...
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Book where a space ship journeys to the center of the galaxy to find all the stars had gone supernova
Looking for the book where a space ship made from a giant atomic atom journeys to the center of the galaxy only to find all the stars had gone supernova.
A, Clark-Card-Heinlien-Bova?
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Anthology of SF short stories, one involving scientists discovering planet that produced every life form in existence
I think this anthology consisted of five short stories.
One was where explorers landed on a alien planet and were killed one by one by alien life forms. One of the forms mimicked the night sky and ...
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Graphic novel about exploring a different planet by French/Brazilian writer
I read one volume of this series in the late 2000s. The colours are very clear, with little shading, I believe the name of the novel is a one-word title (something like Nebula or the name of the ...
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SF short story about a starship that triggers a supernova when it goes FTL [duplicate]
I remember reading a short story a few years ago about a starship crew from Earth(?), in either their first (or a new model) FTL ship. The story opened with them in a new star system, which they had ...
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Old book about an alien encased in a deposit of diamond
I'm looking for the name of an old sci-fi book. In it, a spaceship’s crew goes to a planet to mine a large deposit of diamond. However, they find an alien entity encased in the diamond. They also go ...
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Book about persecuted group fleeing earth, finding and settling new planet, new life, get hunted down by earth persecutors
Read a book in the mid 2000s about a group that was persecuted, Christians I believe, that accidentally discovered FTL travel. They built a ship and left Earth. They discovered a new planet, and ...
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The Target who shot back: old sci-fi short story
This should be an easier one; I remember this one fairly clearly.
Years ago I read a story where a team of explorers are exploring a planet. They have a mother ship as home base, and the mission is ...
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1
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Short sci-fi story about a group of people space travelling to a distant planet, overtaken by a second group who left after them but were faster [duplicate]
Does anyone know this short story I read many years ago? It's about a group of people who decided to get to a distant planet on a spaceship that isn't very advanced. Some time after they started their ...
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Short story about mind-hijacking aliens (60s or 70s)
I'm trying to identify a short story that I read in a sci-fi anthology from the late 60s or 70s about an expedition to an alien world.
The spaceship encounters a civilization and sends one crew ...
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Illegal aliens, the string and little fruit?
In “Illegal Aliens” the assasin’s weapon of choice is a string and a little fruit. My question is this: how does the assasin use the fruit/string combo or even what the little fruits name is, if it’s ...
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1
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Short story about interstellar travel gone wrong
Trying to find a story I read a couple of years ago in an anthology, not sure when the story dates from but likely to be recent - the last decade or so.
The story has passengers travelling between ...
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How do Starfleet comm badges know how to connect between personnel?
How do Starfleet comm badges work as far as connections? One user taps their badge and says “me” to “receiving person”.
It’s obviously heard as an inter-comm on the ship, so I can understand how ...
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Sci Fi book about xenoarchaeology and a beetle like culture
Circa late 60s, 70s, or early 80s, written in English.
A group of Xenoarchaeologists are exploring ruins on a distant planet. The inhabitants were beetle like. One researcher (mentally unstable?) ...
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1
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Pre-1990 short story, Earth space probe (NASA?) lands somewhere like Titan and is found by a female alien
As the title says, this would have been pre-1990. A short story in which a space probe from Earth, presumably NASA, lands on a world like Titan and is found by a female member of the local species. I ...
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