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19-666: The earliest known use of the term "space marine" was by Bob Olsen in his short story "Captain Brink of the Space Marines" ( Amazing Stories , Volume 7, Number 8, November 1932), a light-hearted work whose title is a play on the song " Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines ", and in which the protagonists were marines of the "Earth Republic Space Navy" on mission to rescue celebrity twins from aliens on Titan . Olsen published

38-501: A novella sequel four years later, "The Space Marines and the Slavers" ( Amazing Stories , Volume 10, Number 13, December 1936), featuring the same characters using a spaceship with active camouflage to free hostages from Martian space pirates on Ganymede . A more widely known early example was E. E. Smith 's Lensman series . While the first story, Triplanetary and most later sequels ( Second Stage Lensmen , Children of

57-408: A shuttle spacecraft , shuttle ship , drop shuttle , drop spacecraft , or dropship , is a type of spacecraft described in theory and science fiction . Serving the same purpose as a ship's tender , it is a smaller vessel that is launched from a mother ship , and has the ability to transport people or cargo between ships, or to and from a planet's surface without being damaged or destroyed. It has

76-520: A gaming concept, space marines play a major role in the Warhammer 40,000 miniatures wargame, in which they are genetically altered super-soldiers and the most powerful fighting forces available to the Imperium of Man. In computer games, playing a space marine in action games was popularized by id Software 's Doom series, first published in 1993. It is a convenient game back-story as it excuses

95-460: A platoon of armed and armored Space Marines!". The phrase "space marines" appears in Robert A. Heinlein 's " Misfit " (1939) and is again used in " The Long Watch " (1949) which expands on a story from his earlier novel Space Cadet (1948), in all cases before Smith had used the phrase. Heinlein's Starship Troopers (1959) is considered the defining work for the concept, although it does not use

114-536: A secondary purpose as an evacuation ship if the mother ship is destroyed. While the Space Shuttle was envisioned to make this type of craft a reality and reduce the cost of going into space, it ultimately failed in its goal and expendable launch systems remained a more cost-effective option. The idea of a shuttle craft used for space travel first appeared in The Great Romance (1881), where it

133-640: The Star Wars franchise. There are numerous variations on the concept within the Star Wars Expanded Universe , but the main uses include use as: drop-ships, boarding craft, assault landing craft , and as non-combat personnel transports. The use of shuttle ships was proposed as a means for economical transport to Mars. People would ride a shuttle to a mother ship in orbit around the Sun , which would not need to slow down. This would increase

152-642: The Lens and The Vortex Blaster ) do not mention them, passing mentions of marines are made in Galactic Patrol ( Astounding Stories , September 1937–February 1938) and Gray Lensman ( Astounding Stories , October 1939–January 1940), and a more direct mention is made in First Lensman (1950): "Dronvire of Rigel Four in the lead, closely followed by Costigan, Northrop, Kinnison the Younger, and

171-630: The M41A Pulse Rifles the Colonial Marines in Aliens use (which are projectile weapons that use an electric pulse to shoot caseless ammunition ). If the marines' armour is particularly bulky, their weapons may be similarly scaled up such as in Warhammer 40,000 where Space Marines carry "boltguns," effectively rocket-propelled grenade launchers, as a standard firearm. The United States Air Force 's Project Hot Eagle considers

190-541: The mission, they may be deployed via dropship or another specialised insertion craft. Their battledress varies between media, ranging from equipment comparable to modern-day fatigues (or just being contemporary, such as the equipment of Colonial Marines in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica ) to environmentally sealed suits of powered armour . Equipment and weaponry is similarly varied, often incorporating various fictional technologies. Directed-energy weapons are common, though conventional firearms are also used, like

209-502: The presence of the character on a hostile alien world with little support and heavy weaponry. Some critics have suggested it has been overused to the point of being an action game cliché . In December 2012, online retailer Amazon.com removed the e-book Spots the Space Marine by M.C.A. Hogarth at the request of games company Games Workshop . They claimed the use of the phrase "space marine" infringed on their trademark of

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228-547: The term "space marine". The actors playing the Colonial Marines in Aliens (1986) were required to read Starship Troopers as part of their training prior to filming. Heinlein intended for the capsule troopers of the Mobile Infantry to be an amalgam of the shipborne aspect of the US Marine Corps relocated to space and coupled with the battlefield delivery and mission profile of US Army paratroopers . As

247-405: The term for their game Warhammer 40,000 . In February 2013, the row received a lot of publicity, with authors such as Cory Doctorow , Charles Stross and John Scalzi supporting Hogarth, and Amazon.com then restored the e-book for sale. In film and television space marines often appear in squads , while in video games the protagonist Marine is usually alone or in very small squads. Depending on

266-447: The use of spacecraft to deliver Marines to a target on the ground. "Within minutes of bursting into the atmosphere beyond the speed of sound – and dispatching that ominous sonic boom – a small squad of Marines could be on the ground and ready for action within 2 hours." Bob Olsen Alfred Johannes Olsen (April 12, 1884 – May 20, 1956), better known under his pen name Bob Olsen , was an American science fiction writer. Olsen

285-649: Was Zora Louise Olsen born 1923, their second daughter and third child was Joyzelle Kaza Olsen born in 1929, and their fourth child and second son was Kenneth Crimson Olsen born 1937. He moved to California and started the Olsen Advertising Agency, all the while writing stories for magazines like Amazing Stories . He built a home in Beverly Hills . Olsen often wrote humorous science fiction in Amazing Stories , from 1927 to 1936. He

304-631: Was called the Midge and was used to explore Venus . These types of craft later became a mainstay of science fiction. The use of the word "shuttle" was taken from nautical terminology. The idea was later used in Star Trek , where they are called shuttlecraft . Similar craft are also used by the Visitors in V , and a more military-styled version known as the UD-4 Cheyenne -class dropship

323-399: Was one of the first writers to use the phrase " space marine ". His large hobby granted him fame through the world of science fiction in his day, but that was not enough to support a family. Ray Bradbury , just a teenager at the time, visited Bob Olsen often for mentorship, friendship, as well as simply a sharing of ideas. Dropship (science fiction) A shuttlecraft , also known as

342-576: Was the son of Norwegian immigrants and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island . He attended Brown University , and achieved a Phi Beta Kappa and a masters in science in 1908. He later met his wife, Thula Crismon (1896–1957) in Salt Lake City, Utah while teaching science. He had five children, but one died at birth. His first son and first child was Bob Gillham Olsen, named after his father's pen name born 1919, his first daughter and second child

361-564: Was used in Aliens (1986), popularizing the use of the term to refer to shuttles that serve the same purpose as military transport aircraft . Usage in video games includes the drop shuttles from Mass Effect and the Pelicans and dropships from Halo , as well as the Terran dropship unit in the StarCraft series. Shuttlecraft have seen widespread use by all the major factions in

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