David Atwell reviewed Space cadet by Robert A. Heinlein
Review of 'Space cadet' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A delightful and captivating little jaunt across the solar system by a grandmaster of the science fiction genre.
The Interplanetary Patrol and Matt Dodson in particular is a premise ripe for a series; an alternate universe where the space race had its finish line in the wider solar system, where Venus and Mars are inhabitable and inhabited by natives and colonists, where the Human Race has become a multi-planet species. It's the Star Trek future, twenty years before Star Trek thought of it.
It's the future by way of the past, and it has some artifacts in it, but I'm impressed at what it gets right. By my count, Robert Heinlein's "Space Cadet" accurately predicts:
-the Space Force
-cell phones
-Vantablack
-NASA (a few years late)
-the Apollo program (a few years early)
-biometrics
-rudimentary ai with jokes in random electronic devices
-the SpaceX Falcon 9 (well, robot-controlled landing for …
A delightful and captivating little jaunt across the solar system by a grandmaster of the science fiction genre.
The Interplanetary Patrol and Matt Dodson in particular is a premise ripe for a series; an alternate universe where the space race had its finish line in the wider solar system, where Venus and Mars are inhabitable and inhabited by natives and colonists, where the Human Race has become a multi-planet species. It's the Star Trek future, twenty years before Star Trek thought of it.
It's the future by way of the past, and it has some artifacts in it, but I'm impressed at what it gets right. By my count, Robert Heinlein's "Space Cadet" accurately predicts:
-the Space Force
-cell phones
-Vantablack
-NASA (a few years late)
-the Apollo program (a few years early)
-biometrics
-rudimentary ai with jokes in random electronic devices
-the SpaceX Falcon 9 (well, robot-controlled landing for orbital spacecraft)
-communications satellites
-e-learning
-pulse oximetry
-the Overview Effect
-Manned Maneuvering Units
-The Cold War Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine
-Microwave ovens
-Microwave frozen dinners
Anyway, this has been a pleasure of mine since I was a kid. Happy to get back to it.
