Stand By For Mars!

Present position by dead reckoning is northwest quadrant of Mars, chart O, area thirty-nine, sir, Roger announced confidently...!

eBook DESCRIPTION

Classic Science Fiction at its best! Originally published in 1952, The Tom Corbett adventures by Carey Rockwell paved the way for the way for the sci-fi books and movies of the 1950's and 60's. Put modern science on the back shelf and blast off at "full space speed" in this, the first, installment that follows the adventures of three cadets as they rocket into space.
Remember when rockets were shaped like javelins with fins and being a "space cadet" was a good thing?
Revisit the days when spaceships were piloted "by the seat of the pants." When women scientists invented the hyper-drive. When space cadets saved the solar system without the help of their senior officers. Come back, in short, to the glory days of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet! The cadets, Tom, Roger and Astro were always in trouble with their commanding officers, even though the cadets had braved dangerous assignments and the everyday hazards of space flight. Over and over the cadets are on the carpet trying to prove they were innocent of any wrong doing. Roger had a knack for getting the unit into trouble, which would require them to work as a team and prove their innocence. Join them on their first mission as they Stand By For Mars!

eBook TAGS

Science Fiction, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Academy, Action Sci-Fi, Rocket Adventure, Spaceship Drama, Young Boys Thriller, Old Time Fiction

eBook EXCERPT or SYNOPSIS

SYNOPIS:
Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett - Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, coloring books, punch-out books and View-Master reels in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Tom Corbett, Astro, and Roger Manning, cadets at the Space Academy as they train to become members of the elite Solar Guard. The action takes place at the Academy in classrooms and bunkroom, aboard their training ship the rocket cruiser Polaris, and on alien worlds, both within our solar system and in orbit around nearby stars.
The Tom Corbett universe partook of pseudo-science, not equal to the standards of accuracy set by John W. Campbell in the pages of Astounding. And yet, by the standards of the day, it was much more accurate than most media science fiction. Mars was a desert, Venus a jungle, and the asteroids a haunt of space pirates, but at least planets circled suns and there was no air in space. Contrast this with The Twilight Zone, years later, where people could live on asteroids wearing ordinary clothes, or Lost in Space, years after that, where a spaceship could be passing "Jupiter and Andromeda" at the same time. Before Star Trek, Tom Corbett - Space Cadet was the most scientifically accurate series on television, in part due to official science advisor Willy Ley, and later due to Frankie Thomas. Thomas read up on science and everyone on the set turned to him for advice on matters scientific.

EXCERPT:
"Stand to, you rocket wash!"
A harsh, bull-throated roar thundered over the platform of the monorail station at Space Academy and suddenly the lively chatter and laughter of more than a hundred boys was stilled. Tumbling out of the gleaming monorail cars, they froze to quick attention, their eyes turned to the main exit ramp.
They saw a short, squat, heavily built man, wearing the scarlet uniform of the enlisted Solar Guard, staring down at them, his fists jammed into his hips and his feet spread wide apart. He stood there a moment, his sharp eyes flicking over the silent clusters, then slowly sauntered down the ramp toward them with a strangely light, catfooted tread.
"Form up! Column of fours!"
Almost before the echoes of the thunderous voice died down, the scattered groups of boys had formed themselves into four ragged lines along the platform.
The scarlet-clad figure stood before them, his seamed and weather-beaten face set in stern lines. But there was a glint of laughter in his eyes as he noticed the grotesque and sometimes tortuous positions of some of the boys as they braced themselves in what they considered a military pose.
Every year, for the last ten years, he had met the trains at the monorail station. Every year, he had seen boys in their late teens, gathered from Earth, Mars and Venus, three planets millions of miles apart. They were dressed in many different styles of clothes; the loose flowing robes of the lads from the Martian deserts; the knee-length shorts and high stockings of the boys from the Venusian jungles; the vari-colored jacket and trouser combinations of the boys from the magnificent Earth cities. But they all had one thing in common?a dream. All had visions of becoming Space Cadets, and later, officers in the Solar Guard. Each dreamed of the day when he would command rocket ships that patrolled the space lanes from the outer edges of Pluto to the twilight zone of Mercury. They were all the same.
"All right now! Let's get squared away!" His voice was a little more friendly now. "My name's McKenny, Mike McKenny. Warrant Officer, Solar Guard. See these hash marks?"
He suddenly held out a thick arm that bulged against the tight red sleeve. From the wrists to the elbow, the lines of boys could see a solid corrugation of white V-shaped stripes.
"Each one of these marks represents four years in space," he continued. "There's ten marks here and I intend making it an even dozen! And no bunch of Earthworms is going to make me lose the chance to get those last two by trying to make a space monkey out of me!"