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A Generation ship is a fictional type of self-containing spaceship which is launched on a sub-light speed voyage into space. The original astronauts will not live to reach their destination, rather their many generations later descendants will.
Background
The term and concept was originated by Doctor J. B. Bernal in his 1929 work The World, The Devil & The Flesh, which explored the ramifications of the descendants forgetting the original purpose of the voyage.
In popular fiction
Robert A. Heinlein's 1941 story Universe and its sequel Common Sense (collected in 1963 as a novel entitled Orphans of the Sky) is the most famous usage of the concept in science fiction. A mutiny has divided the ship into two camps -- the scientists who live in comfort near the outer "lower" levels of the vessel, the "Muties" (mutants) who live in the central "upper" levels. An idealistic scientist finds that he must work with the two-headed leader of the Muties to set the ship back on its original course to Centauri.
Many other writers have used the conceit of a forgotten mission onboard a generation ship, including:
The concept was used as the basis for a third-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series entitled, For the World is Holow and I Have Touched the Sky.
Related Terms and Articles
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