This is why. First, the plural form "craft" is the correct, or at least the original, version. Out of the 5 or 6 online dictionaries I looked at, I think M-W is the only one that added the "usually". That doesn't mean "crafts" is equally good. I think it's just M-W recognizing that nobody's going to listen to them anyway.
Mainly, though, it comes from being a kid in the 1960's and a big space flight fan. Early on, NASA used the word "capsule" for the module which carried astronauts into space and protected them during descent and splashdown. According to The Right Stuff, the early test pilots/astronauts were concerned that they'd be considered merely experimental payloads like the chimps who flew before them, rather than pilots of their largely automated ships. So they were the first to push for a better name, and by the time of Apollo,"spacecraft" became widely used and accepted.
And you'd never, ever have heard Kronkite or the great science editor at NBC, Jules Bergman, say "NASA has launched a series of spacecrafts..." It'd be like saying "Let's go shoot us a couple of deers, eat a pile of shrimps, and sheer the sheeps." It makes my ears bleed.
No big deal at all. I realize that period authenticity isn't part of SR2. Cheers! 8)
Plus, have you ever heard of a "small craft warning"? It's plural.
5.2 years agoThis is why. First, the plural form "craft" is the correct, or at least the original, version. Out of the 5 or 6 online dictionaries I looked at, I think M-W is the only one that added the "usually". That doesn't mean "crafts" is equally good. I think it's just M-W recognizing that nobody's going to listen to them anyway.
Mainly, though, it comes from being a kid in the 1960's and a big space flight fan. Early on, NASA used the word "capsule" for the module which carried astronauts into space and protected them during descent and splashdown. According to The Right Stuff, the early test pilots/astronauts were concerned that they'd be considered merely experimental payloads like the chimps who flew before them, rather than pilots of their largely automated ships. So they were the first to push for a better name, and by the time of Apollo,"spacecraft" became widely used and accepted.
And you'd never, ever have heard Kronkite or the great science editor at NBC, Jules Bergman, say "NASA has launched a series of spacecrafts..." It'd be like saying "Let's go shoot us a couple of deers, eat a pile of shrimps, and sheer the sheeps." It makes my ears bleed.
No big deal at all. I realize that period authenticity isn't part of SR2. Cheers! 8)
5.2 years ago