The Past Through Tomorrow, science fiction writer Robert Heinlein's 1967 retrospective collection of interconnected stories he wrote from 1939 to 1962 about early space travel and moon settlement, contains several short stories, a couple of novellas, and three novels...I reviewed one of the longer works, The Man Who Sold the Moon, last week but plan to discuss the other two separate from this weekly short story segment after I finish reading them. This week I look at six short stories about the near future of American space travel...from the perspective of the mid-twentieth century. Heinlein places people with recognizable, ordinary personalities and makes them into heroes as they confront the often life-threatening situations that arise from being space and moon pioneers. Like many of his contemporaries, he believed that once man was able to successfully land on the moon, we would then progress in a more or less linear fashion in furthering our presence there through settlements and then exploring other worlds...who would have guessed that we haven't been out of low-Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 moon mission in December, 1972, 47 years of stagnation. After each entry below I included the year the story was initially published...
DELILAH AND THE SPACE-RIGGER (1949)
The commanding officer at the space station being constructed sends for a new radioman after he had to fire the old one...they send up a woman for the job, sending him into a panic thinking that one woman among an all-male crew will create serious problems. Heinlein admirably stands up for the woman...in spite of his meticulous attention to the engineering and science in his "hard" sci fi stories, he also displays a steak of social consciousness as this stories demonstrates...
SPACE JOCKEY (1947)
The moon is being settled and it has a space station orbiting it, while Earth has its own. Space flights consist of flying first to and from Earth to its station on one type of ship, between the two space stations on another, and between the moon and its station on still a third...each ship with its particularly suited designs and functions. Jake is a skilled "space jockey", respected for his piloting skills on the moon run and tempted to give it all up for domestic tranquility with his ever-worrying wife...this story shows his skill in an emergency setting...
REQUIEM (1940)
Devos Harriman, who in Heinlein's fictional world is the financier who envisioned and implemented the first successful manned moon landing in 1978, has always been deprived of traveling there himself. Now he is old and frail...some suspect he has become senile...but Harriman is determined to get back to the moon. But first he needs to find someone willing to take him and then escape those trying to restrict his free movement as they judge his mental state. A strong argument from Heinlein for seniors' rights and dignity...
THE LONG WATCH (1948)
A faction of the military stationed on the moon, with the atomic bombs at their disposal having replaced Earth's arsenal, decides to blackmail the home planet into accepting their rule. One officer, though, after hearing of the coup plot, takes matters into his own hands as he tries to render the bombs harmless. Another ordinary person, placed in extraordinary circumstances, and coming out a hero...
GENTLEMEN, BE SEATED (1948)
Settlements on the moon are gradually being connected with each other through a system of tunnels. On an inspection of one of them, three men find themselves in a life-or-death struggle after a jolting collision from outside causes a leak in the insulating material. The solution reminded me of the old MacGyver TV series...and is humorously related to the story's title...
THE BLACK PITS OF LUNA (1948)
Dickie, along with his parents and his incurably bratty, whiny little brother whom he only refers to as "the runt", visit the moon on a business matter concerning his father. They find themselves walking on the surface together on a brief excursion...but suddenly it becomes apparent that the "runt" has disappeared. As the search progresses, all hope of finding the little brat seems to fade but suddenly Dickie has an idea that only a brother could conjure up. Told from Dickie's perspective, this may be Robert Heinlein's funniest story...
More of my reactions to some of Robert Heinlein's short stories next week...
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