Alternative to "manned" when referring to an extraterrestrial spacecraft?

Question

In this question about manned spaceships versus drones, a user (perhaps jokingly) pointed out that "manned" wouldn't technically be correct when talking about an extraterrestrial spacecraft:

By definition, they wouldn't be 'manned', but they might be 'aliened'.

Potential jokes aside, is there a more species-neutral adjective we can use here?

When looking at news stories, the first story to show up in ABC television networks list of "manned space flight" is about the successful return of a monkey. http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/science/manned-space-flight.htm — Keeta - reinstate Monica, Aug 24 '16 at 14:33
When I saw the title, I thought the complaint would be that women are left out. — GEdgar, Aug 24 '16 at 18:22
I have heard a suggestion which I am not interested enough to verify that the word "manned" in this context actually comes from the French "main" (pronounced man) meaning hand, and has nothing to do with the gender or indeed species of the crew. If that etymology is correct, then Manned is just fine. — Joseph Rogers, Aug 25 '16 at 09:00
I thought so, as I say I haven't verified it in any way, hence it's a comment rather than an answer — Joseph Rogers, Aug 25 '16 at 09:04
@JosephRogers I tried to search for it now. Could find no evidence. AFAICS, the etymology is simply from "man". — Fiksdal, Aug 25 '16 at 09:04
@JosephRogers definitely true of "manual" (as in manual labour, manual operation). I always laugh at the ignorance of those who insist that the word "manual" be replaced with a "gender-neutral term". — nigel222, Aug 25 '16 at 13:00
@JosephRogers I am not certain how you pronounce "man", but I am pretty sure it is far from how "main" is pronounced in French. The sound represented by "ain" is nasal and has no equivalent in English. — njzk2, Aug 25 '16 at 14:00
@njzk2 they are pretty similar when pronounced by an average British English speaker, but that may say more about the quality of my French accent than it does about the correct French pronunciation. The point I was trying to make is that it's a short sound like man in manual rather than the longer English word main — Joseph Rogers, Aug 25 '16 at 14:04
This question is possibly related. Some people consider "manned" as gender-neutral, you could also possibly treat it as species-neutral (this is debated in comments to that question, not everyone agrees). Alternatively, some of its answers might also be suitable for your question. — Bruno, Aug 25 '16 at 17:47
@Bruno But the argument there is that "manned" comes from "human", right? So how could it be species-neutral? — Fiksdal, Aug 25 '16 at 20:29
@Fiksdal I guess it depends on what you consider a "person". I'd suppose much of the evolution of the use of words related to "man"/"Man" in a gender-neutral way has more to do with making the difference between humans and (other) animals, with various attributes that humans have (e.g. more advance intelligence). It's likely that your alien pilots have some for of intelligence at least equal to that of humans. The choice of term may be partly "political", i.e. whether you choose to give those creatures personae and so on... — Bruno, Aug 25 '16 at 20:58
@Bruno While I think the word 'person' could certainly be applied to an intelligent extraterrestrial individual, I think the word "human" could not. Since the etymology noted in the argument you referred to is 'human' or 'man' rather then 'person', I don't think I get the reasoning when applied to extraterrestrials. I only get it when applied to female humans. — Fiksdal, Aug 26 '16 at 14:17
@nigel222 agreed: "manual" being rooted in the Spanish word "mano" which means "hand" (not "male" or "man"). For example, "mano a mano" means "hand to hand" not "man against man" — dlchambers, Aug 29 '16 at 14:07
@Fiksdal: Man is not the same word as human. // Manual is from Latin manus "hand". — Cerberus - Reinstate Monica, Oct 12 '16 at 18:04
@Cerberus Do you mean that as an addition to the above discussion? — Fiksdal, Oct 12 '16 at 18:16
@Cerberus I see. Didn't really read very thoroughly the discussion Bruno linked to, just saw the comment there by Matt. — Fiksdal, Oct 12 '16 at 19:38
@Fiksdal: Oh, the only discussion I have seen is the one in the comments above. I haven't clicked on any links. — Cerberus - Reinstate Monica, Oct 12 '16 at 20:04
@Cerberus Right. Bruno was basically suggesting that "manned" may work for extraterrestrial ships. — Fiksdal, Oct 12 '16 at 20:08
@Fiksdal: I think it might: it could be argued that the word has been sufficiently "unmanned" and generalised from its origin. — Cerberus - Reinstate Monica, Oct 12 '16 at 20:33

score 123 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

123

Consider crewed, which means:

Provide (a craft or vehicle) with a group of people to operate it:

'normally the boat is crewed by 5 people'.

It works perfectly in a sci-fi context. For example,

The ship was crewed primarily by Vulcans and cyborgs.

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

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answered Aug 23 '16 at 22:40

DyingIsFun

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Raises eyebrow Fascinating, Captain. – AncientSwordRage Aug 24 '16 at 08:09
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Note that NASA only uses crewed, never manned. Bonus: it's unambiguously gender-neutral. – gerrit Aug 24 '16 at 09:54
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"Bonus: it's unambiguously gender-neutral" Indeed, we have little knowledge about alien genders – Laurent Duval Aug 24 '16 at 12:54
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@gerrit Wait.... The obvious interpretation of this is that, NASA secretly is employing aliens, and NASA doesn't want to offend them. – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 13:42
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@gerrit, WHAT DO YOU KNOW AND WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?!! – DyingIsFun Aug 24 '16 at 14:17
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@Silenus You should be careful saying things like that! It is for whom are you working. – BladorthinTheGrey Aug 24 '16 at 17:55
You are not cleared for that information. – nijineko Aug 24 '16 at 18:15
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"The ship was crewed primarily by Vulcans and cyborgs." -> clicks link -> "crew: 2.2 informal, chiefly US, A group of rappers, breakdancers,". Yes, this. – TessellatingHeckler Aug 24 '16 at 18:30
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Silenus: Well, I have done some research into this @gerrit , and I have uncovered that he is a high-ranking member of something called "Area 51". I think this might answer the question of how he knew and who he is working for. Although he might already have breached his non-disclosure agreement by telling us the part about what NASA does. – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 19:21
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@Fiksdal legal or illegal aliens? – Golden Cuy Aug 25 '16 at 02:45
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@AndrewGrimm I'm only going to deport the illegal ones. Trust me. – Fiksdal Aug 25 '16 at 13:25
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Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to walk on the moon. Now spell "Neil A." backwards. Did we send him to the moon or did we send him back? – Engineer Toast Aug 25 '16 at 20:42

BladorthinTheGrey · Answer 2 · 2016-08-23T22:53:01.353

42

Piloted would seem to fit nicely, although it does have to connotation of having a pilot rather than just a passenger.

Staffed could also work if you didn't want to talk about a specific pilot rôle.

Operated would also take out the species element of the word, focusing on the job.

edited Aug 23 '16 at 22:53

answered Aug 23 '16 at 22:38

BladorthinTheGrey

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I feel Operated does not necessarily imply any sentience on the craft itself; a drone is operated. – GeoffAtkins Aug 24 '16 at 07:26
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Indeed - something can be operated remotely, eg from a control centre on Earth. – Max Williams Aug 24 '16 at 10:54
Off-topic: I haven't seen "rôle" written with a circumflex for years! Cool – Paddy Landau Aug 25 '16 at 16:39
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@PaddyLandau, that's one of he delights of EL&U, you find all sorts of sad grammar nerds who like to use those sorts of things. I felt that since the circumflex is tailing out in France, I'd better keep it alive in English. #JeSuisCirconflexe – BladorthinTheGrey Aug 26 '16 at 14:24
Piloting and operating both sound like things that could happen remotely, or by smart/well-programmed machines. Though staffed does sound like it would imply a staff with which the staffing was accomplished. – Benjamin Staton Aug 26 '16 at 17:06

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 24 '16 at 18:11

3

Occupied would do the job:

One of the meanings of occupied is:

Being used by someone; with someone in it.

Cambridge Dictionary

The craft was occupied.

edited Aug 24 '16 at 18:11

Fiksdal

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answered Aug 24 '16 at 09:00

Pedro Pape

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This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post; instead, provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker. - From Review – P. O. Aug 24 '16 at 11:15
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@P.O. It does attempt to provide an answer - I don't believe it is a comment at all. Pedro is saying that he thinks the a suitable word is "occupied". – GreenAsJade Aug 24 '16 at 11:47
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the comment is pre-written when you flag and answer, it'S for the second part that I chose this flag "provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker." An answer without sources, references and/or links are incomplete, hence requires clarification. Add it and I'll upvote your answer. – P. O. Aug 24 '16 at 11:56
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@P.O. Just FYI, you can actually edit the pre-written comment soon after its posted. :) – NVZ Aug 24 '16 at 14:16
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We appreciate the desire to help, but please consider either expanding your answer or deleting it. We're looking for long answers that provide explanation and context. Explain why your answer is right, ideally with citations. Unsupported answers may be removed. (more¹) (more²) – MetaEd Aug 24 '16 at 15:53
This is in fact a far better choice than crewed because it may be operated by computer and have only scientists on board. – Joshua Aug 24 '16 at 16:41
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Pedro, I have edited your answer as suggested in my previous comment. It is now safe from deletion. However, in the future, please use this as an example so that other people don't have to edit your posts. – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 18:19
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"Occupied" makes it sound like a hostile takeover (e.g. a foreign army occupying a country; the 'occupy Wallstreet' movement taking over ordinary road use'). If the text said "the ship was occupied by Klingons" I would assume the Klingons had taken it by force. It does work as a word to convey that there are lifeforms in the ship, but it carries some other meanings that make me think it's not a good fit for an alternative to the word 'manned'. – TessellatingHeckler Aug 24 '16 at 18:28
@TessellatingHeckler Yes, this is absolutely correct. – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 20:27
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@TessellatingHeckler - As in: The toilet was occupied for a long time while clearing out some Klingons. – Hannover Fist Aug 25 '16 at 16:15
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You say occupied, you hear a toilet! – insanity Aug 26 '16 at 05:13
@HannoverFist It's interesting, because toilets are (typically) occupied without a hostile takeover, but for some reason the word "occupy" implies a takeover when applied to larger region. Any ideas why? – End Anti-Semitic Hate Jul 20 '20 at 17:46

Pete Kirkham · Answer 4 · 2016-08-26T09:48:10.063

Inhabited

What are commonly called 'drones' are sometimes called 'uninhabited air vehicles' as unmanned also means 'cowardly' so is not a selling point for combat aircraft; the inverse of this would be inhabited.

Most UAVs are piloted remotely or autonomously, so 'piloted' does not imply inhabited - the Reaper is piloted, the V1 was not, neither was inhabited. Similarly, in military speech, UAVs also have a crew - if you are the remote pilot or weapons control for a UAV you are still considered its air crew, and every UAV also has a ground crew:

The primary concept of operations, remote split operations, employs a launch-and-recovery ground control station for take-off and landing operations at the forward operating location, while the crew based in continental United States executes command and control of the remainder of the mission via beyond-line-of-sight links. USAF MQ-9 Reaper fact sheet

Nice idea, but your reference to UAV seems misguided: a quick google suggests that it most commonly is used as an initialisation of *unmanned air vehicle* — AndyT, Aug 26 '16 at 09:58
@AndyT yes, that's why I said 'sometimes' and linked a google search showing plenty of uses. Even this http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US20080027647 uses unmanned rather than uninhabited :) — Pete Kirkham, Aug 26 '16 at 10:18

Spencer · Answer 5 · 2016-08-24T10:19:58.337

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In order to properly leave anthropocentrism behind, you have to think outside of the...ugly bags of mostly water. Otherwise you are making assumptions that are echoes of that anthropocentrism.

The Greebbllaapp vessel originally consisted of several semi-sentient modules that wandered desultorily around the galaxy extracting iridium, but its frighteningly malign intelligence did not fully emerge until the assembly became infested with quintillions of mutated nanomachines.

Whether or not the greebllaapp can be considered 'living species' or not is debatable...But if you must talk about a 'major interstellar war' going on between biologicals, then one of the combatants might well say their enemy's ships are 'infested'.

edited Aug 24 '16 at 10:19

answered Aug 23 '16 at 23:59

Spencer

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These are words for drones? – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 05:53
Aren't they, though? – Spencer Aug 24 '16 at 10:03
Yeah, but the questions doesn't mention drones, it's talking about living "species". – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 10:05
Aren't they, though? Seriously, I'm not convinced your parameters make sense. Look up the phrase 'Calling a rabbit a smeerp'. – Spencer Aug 24 '16 at 10:33
Right, but can these words also be used for all living species? – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 11:22
Why wouldn't they be? Anyway, you have two perfectly conventional answers with lots of upvotes, and you haven't accepted either yet. – Spencer Aug 24 '16 at 11:36
I'm not saying they wouldn't be. It was not a rhetorical question. I was actually asking you. I am not familiar with the terms, and English is not my native language. – Fiksdal Aug 24 '16 at 11:38
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I don't think "infested" is a suitable word as a non-human substitute for "manned". "infested" does not bring with it the sense that the infestation is the original crew - in fact, it implies occupation by an infestation that is unwelcome and not the original purpose of the vessel. – GreenAsJade Aug 24 '16 at 11:51
To a combatant, the enemy is unwelcome. Again, if OP wants a conventional answer, there are perfectly good ones he can accept. Because of the rabbit/smeerp thing, 'manned' is a perfectly good answer too. This discussion has begun to be about angels dancing on pins. So I'm done commenting – Spencer Aug 24 '16 at 13:07
In star trek the motion picture, the antagonist initially refers to the Enterprise as being "infested" with "carbon units" ie humans, whose purpose it does not understand – Joseph Rogers Aug 25 '16 at 09:07

Alternative to "manned" when referring to an extraterrestrial spacecraft?

5 Answers5