For other uses, see Cavor.

Cavor was a 20th century Human man, a scientist-inventor, and Earth's first astronaut. His exploits were fictionalized in a science fiction novel by H.G. Wells.

Biography

Early in the 20th century, Cavor discovered an alloy he called cavorite that nullified certain aspects of gravity. Cavor built a 22-meter-long spacecraft in an aircraft-hangar-sized structure in Kent, England. He lined the hull with cavorite in hopes of being able to propel the vessel to the moon.

On 12 April 1901, Cavor prepared to test the spacecraft while his colleague Bedford took notes in their copious journals. In case of an unintended launch, Cavor donned a diving suit for protection. He activated maneuvering unit four and suddenly vanished from the planet without a trace.

Much of the details of his life would be forgotten, lost to history, but he was remembered as a fictional character in The First Men in the Moon. (TOS - New Visions comic: "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner")

Benny Russell liked the character of Cavor for his scientific inventions. (DS9 novelization: Far Beyond the Stars)

Cavorite had rendered the spacecraft immobile relative to the time and space expansion of the universe, and in moments he was transported 2,000 light years away and more than two centuries forward in time. In the early 2260s, Cavor's ship was discovered by the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise and brought onto the hangar deck. Though initially skeptical of Cavor's story, Dr. Mark Piper treated him in sickbay and Montgomery Scott verified cavorite's gravitational properties. Captain Christopher Pike realized that after Cavor disappeared, Bedford gave author H.G. Wells the journals, which would inspire a novel.

Pike offered to have the USS Yorktown return Cavor to Earth, but the inventor thought he'd be studied like a lab animal. Instead, Scott refit his spacecraft so that it could maneuver the way Cavor had originally intended, and the old scientist set out to explore the galaxy wearing an environmental suit. (TOS - New Visions comic: "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner")

Appendices

Connections

See also

Cavor's Gravity Devices

Background

• Cavor wore a diving suit in the comic, much like he did in the 1964 Ray Harryhausen film adaptation of The First Men in the Moon, in which the character's full name was Joseph Cavor.
• The 1998 Alien Voices audio drama featured Leonard Nimoy as James Cavor and John de Lancie as Bedford.
• The 2010 BBC TV adaptation was written by and starred actor Mark Gatiss as Arthur Cavor.
• The lost 1919 film adaptation called him Samson Cavor.
• The first volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the novel The Martian War featured Selwyn Cavor as a minor character.
• Artist John Byrne illustrated Cavor using stills of actor Jon Lormer^MA from his portrayal as Tamar in TOS episode: "The Return of the Archons".

Appearances and references

Appearances

• TOS - New Visions comic: "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner"

References

• DS9 novelization: Far Beyond the Stars

External links

• The First Men in the Moon at Wikipedia.