Re: YASID: Great Moon hoax launches space race


"Kurt Busiek" <kurt@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:h40527$61h$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 2009-07-19 14:40:42 -0700, Robert <NaCly_dog@xxxxxxxxxxx> said:

On Jul 19, 5:29 pm, Jo'Asia <joa...@xxxxxx> wrote:
Short story about a man who convinces the world that he managed to
locate
valuable metals on the Moon (IIRC gold and uranium). Everyone tries to
ge
t
there first, and the space industry explodes. After the first landings
ou
r
hero confesses that he made everything up to get people into space. He
is
banned from leaving Earth.

Alexander the Bait by William Tenn
in The Square Root of Man, among others.

Not that you need confirmation, but just in case:

"Tenn's first story, 'Alexander the Bait,' is one of his best. The
protagonist, Alexander Parks, is determined that man should travel to and
explore the Moon. He knows that greed is the best incentive to advances in
research, so he first develops a radar-mapping device and then gives out
the false information that the Moon is rich in uranium; predictably, the
race is on. Man reaches the Moon, but the truth is revealed. Parks has
both succeeded and failed; he has helped his race to advance, but he is
forever barred from space. This story contains two motifs to be found in
Tenn's later works. First, the satire of venality: those who are duped are
indignant, but much of their fate is their own fault; second, the
isolation of the hero: the forerunner or adventurer cannot benefit from
his experience."

From:

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/william-tenn-dlb/

kdb

--
Visit http://www.busiek.com -- for all your Busiek needs!


"Moses" is banned from the "Promised Land".

-- Ken from Chicago


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: YASID: Great Moon hoax launches space race
    ... The protagonist, Alexander Parks, is determined that man should travel to and explore the Moon. ... He knows that greed is the best incentive to advances in research, so he first develops a radar-mapping device and then gives out the false information that the Moon is rich in uranium; predictably, the race is on. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Alexander The Great........
    ... >> I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if Alexander The Great ... > translation of Selene (the Greek moon goddess). ... > Alternatively, Luna might stand for Sin, the Babylon Moon god. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Alexander The Great........
    ... > built a temple called the Luna Temple? ... translation of Selene (the Greek moon goddess). ... which shows that Alexander knew what an eclipse was. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: And the second-best moon landing ...
    ... Klass) published this story in Astounding in 1946, as ``Alexander the ... Moon hoax launches space race"? ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Another New York moron who thinks the Russians dropped out of the Moon Race
    ... the Moon Race between the United States and the Soviet Union was building up ... and that the Russians were too smart to spend their ... the Soviet Union is building a larger rocket to go to the moon.... ...
    (sci.space.history)
Loading