Old time stories about the millionaire rocket developer?

[exoscientist]

I grew up in the 70's and started reading SF then. I liked reading then not only the current fiction but the SF of the early years like in the 30's and 40's. It seemed quaint though the stories from that period of the millionaires who hired the scientists to build or built themselves the rockets that allowed them to become the first men in space. In the 70's it seemed only the largest governments could afford to do this. Well maybe such iconoclastic millionaires won't be the first in space but it is becoming increasingly likely they will be able to produce their own space vehicles capable of taking passengers to orbit. I'm thinking of Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, Elon Musk of SpaceX, Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin, John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace, and some others.
What are some of the best stories of the early years of SF with this theme?

BTW, I'm of the opinion that the rapidly decreasing cost of lightweight composite materials will soon make possible single stage rockets of the kind Robert Heinlein and the other early guys used to write about:

Newsgroups: sci.space.policy, sci.astro, sci.physics
From: Robert Clark
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:18:40 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: A kerosene-fueled X-33 as a single stage to orbit vehicle.
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.spac ... %3Fhl%3Den

Newsgroups: sci.space.policy, sci.astro, sci.physics
From: Robert Clark
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:15:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: A kerosene-fueled X-33 as a single stage to orbit vehicle.
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.spac ... %3Fhl%3Den

Newsgroups: sci.space.policy, sci.astro, sci.physics
From: Robert Clark
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:24:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: A kerosene-fueled X-33 as a single stage to orbit vehicle.
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.spac ... %3Fhl%3Den


Bob Clark

 

[a_lost_packet_]

A sci-fi show I really liked - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvage_1

It's amazing what a very large junkyard and a determined man can come up with.

There was a book of short stories I had when I was a kid, maybe even a full children's book called "The Flying Sorcerers." (or something along those lines) Now, they didn't have an actual spaceship but, the kids in the tale did build a fake UFO out of a bunch of scavenged junk, much to my delight. (The story also included them releasing a lot of chinese lanterns with detailed explanations on how to make them...) I dreamed of building one myself and, along with other stories, it started me down the path of taking apart many pieces of expensive electronics and rendering them into sem-functional whatsits.. to the consternation of my parents.

This may be a bit OT but, Captain Nemo of 20,000 Leagues fame would fit right in with the type of story you're looking for. Also, the Zefram Chochran character in the deplorable Star Trek "First Contact" movie could fit in as well. Note exactly "classic" but.. there ya go.

Oh, don't forget some of the Fathers of Science Fiction

The First Men in the Moon.- H.G. Wells

From the Earth to the Moon - Jules Verne

Oh, and this classic Voyage dans la Lune, Le/A Trip to the Moon a derivative of Verne's and Well's work above. Although, a bit rougher ride than either one.

 

[exoscientist]

I looked up one of my books containing S/F stories of the early period. This one was "The Early Del Rey." It contained the short story "The Stars Look Down". This was written in the 40's. It concerned two millionaire business men competing against each other to become the first men in space. One of them uses atomic power for his ship, the other explosives.
Being written during war time, del Rey chose to have the two mens competing teams actually battle each other with firearms in the race to have their rocket reach space first. This was one of del Rey's early writing efforts. You can tell he was still improving his writing skills.
Still it is interesting in that it presented a view common in science fiction during that period that individual, wealthy visionaries would be responsible for building the first rockets to space, not giant government agencies.
As I said, we are close to achieving that.


Bob Clark

 

[exoscientist]

Here's another example. This was by Isaac Asimov, and I read it in his book of collected stories The Early Asimov. This story was entitled "Trends", first published in July, 1939 in Astounding Science Fiction. It's set in 1973.
Asimov is my favorite S/F author. He's been criticized sometimes for his lack of artistry in his writing style, but you don't read Asimov for great art, you read him for his wealth of ideas. There a few good ideas in this story. Asimov says in the prefatory notes to the story that he had a part-time job in college typing the manuscript for a sociologist studying resistance to technological change in history. This gave Asimov the idea that there might not be a great welcoming of someone attempting for the first time to reach the heavens but a resistance to it. To support this plot point he had the U.S. undergoing an extreme religious fundamentalism during the period that restricted rather than promoted science.
Such resistance in reality was certainly not widespread, as it actually turned out. But Asimov did make an interesting prediction that could be regarded as true. He wrote this in 1939. He expected the U.S. as many people did to be drawn into the war in Europe. But an interesting prediction he made then would be that in the post-war period after World War II there would be a great deal of moral and social conservatism. This did indeed happen in the 1950's.
The title of story come from the idea that there are pendulum swings in the attitudes towards technological and social advances. The story was set in a time of severe social and technological restriction. But as Asimov noted the pendulum does swing ...


Bob Clark

 

[andrew_t1000]

There was a book of short stories I had when I was a kid, maybe even a full children's book called "The Flying Sorcerers." (or something along those lines) Now, they didn't have an actual spaceship but, the kids in the tale did build a fake UFO out of a bunch of scavenged junk, much to my delight. (The story also included them releasing a lot of chinese lanterns with detailed explanations on how to make them...) I dreamed of building one myself and, along with other stories, it started me down the path of taking apart many pieces of expensive electronics and rendering them into sem-functional whatsits.. to the consternation of my parents.

I'm pretty sure the book you are talking about is "The adventures of the mad scientists club".
There were at least 2, maybe 3 of them.
Great reading!
And they definitely warp my wee brain!
That was when I started building all kinds of stuff!
Mainly electromechanical at first, then moved on to valves, after a while I discovered a few books on transistors.
Then mid 70's built an Altair 8080!
Ahh, those were the days!

 

[jim48]

I am looking above at the photo of Andy Griffith on the set of Salvage One, which ran on ABC for two seasons in the very late '70s, as I recall. If memory serves the rocket ship in George Pal's movie When Worlds Collide was paid for by a milionaire rocket developer who wasn't able to make the trip into space. I knew that Salvage One wouldn't be around for long so I enjoyed it while it was, surprised that it got picked up after being a mid-season replacement show. It had a neat musical theme and I don't remember the name of the composer.

 

[jim48]

I looked up one of my books containing S/F stories of the early period. This one was "The Early Del Rey." It contained the short story "The Stars Look Down". This was written in the 40's. It concerned two millionaire business men competing against each other to become the first men in space. One of them uses atomic power for his ship, the other explosives.
Being written during war time, del Rey chose to have the two mens competing teams actually battle each other with firearms in the race to have their rocket reach space first. This was one of del Rey's early writing efforts. You can tell he was still improving his writing skills.
Still it is interesting in that it presented a view common in science fiction during that period that individual, wealthy visionaries would be responsible for building the first rockets to space, not giant government agencies.
As I said, we are close to achieving that.

Good post. Today we take for granted that the gubberment is the only one that can do Big Science, i.e. NASA. You have a very good example with Lester del Rey. I would also direct you to the old tv show The Outer Limits, in which solitary scientists, usually working from a lab in their homes, stumble upon strange things. Then there was the show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in which the nuclear powered--and nuclear missile armed and privately owned--submarine Seaview explored the depths and fought bad guys and monsters under the direction of Admiral Harriman Nelson, who ran the Nelson Oceanographic Research Institute, or someting like that. We never learned much about Nelson, but clearly he was at the very least a millionaire.


Bob Clark

 

[a_lost_packet_]

There was a book of short stories I had when I was a kid, maybe even a full children's book called "The Flying Sorcerers." (or something along those lines) Now, they didn't have an actual spaceship but, the kids in the tale did build a fake UFO out of a bunch of scavenged junk, much to my delight. (The story also included them releasing a lot of chinese lanterns with detailed explanations on how to make them...) I dreamed of building one myself and, along with other stories, it started me down the path of taking apart many pieces of expensive electronics and rendering them into sem-functional whatsits.. to the consternation of my parents.

I'm pretty sure the book you are talking about is "The adventures of the mad scientists club".
There were at least 2, maybe 3 of them.
Great reading!
And they definitely warp my wee brain!
That was when I started building all kinds of stuff!
Mainly electromechanical at first, then moved on to valves, after a while I discovered a few books on transistors.
Then mid 70's built an Altair 8080!
Ahh, those were the days!

YOU
ARE
MY
HERO!

I have been trying to find out the name of those books for YEARS! Admittedly, not an exhaustive effort on my part but... I have asked for help in a variety of forums!

I am please to finally know the name of the book that so inspired me in my youth! THANK YOU! I truly can't express my gratitude enough!

After the first few stories, I started taking apart anything "electronic" and rearranging bits and pieces back together. Mostly harmless stuff until I figured out the wonders of AC power connections.. A few blown house fuses later seriously curtailed that habit. Electricity can actually make things go up in smoke... who woulda thunk it?

As a side note, I am proud to say that I have actually attended a meeting of the Mad Science Club... no relation, of course but, it did stir some primal memories from my early years.

Thank you again. I am truly in your debt. I'm going to order the series as soon as I get back from some traveling and place them on a hallowed shelf. Oh.. after I read them, some for the second time, of course!

 

[a_lost_packet_]

... It had a neat musical theme and I don't remember the name of the composer.

I don't know the composer but, here's a cleaned up second season intro. The theme is "neat" I admit.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDa25M-de70[/youtube]

" I'm gonna build a spaceship, go to th' Moon, salvage all the junk that's up there, bring it back 'n sellit.."

Classic entrepreneurial spirit!

 

[moonfie]

This isn't really very old at all, but I really liked "Firestar" by Michael Flynn. I hear the sequels get a bit bizarre, though, and I only read the first book back in high school. It was written, I believe, in the late 90s and is about a billionaire heiress who starts her own space program because she's afraid of the earth getting annihilated by asteroids, and all the challenges she has to face along the way. Really, it's better than I make it sound though :lol:

 

[exoscientist]

This isn't really very old at all, but I really liked "Firestar" by Michael Flynn. I hear the sequels get a bit bizarre, though, and I only read the first book back in high school. It was written, I believe, in the late 90s and is about a billionaire heiress who starts her own space program because she's afraid of the earth getting annihilated by asteroids, and all the challenges she has to face along the way. Really, it's better than I make it sound though :lol:

Thanks. That is the kind of story I was thinking of. Here's a link to the "googleized" version:

Firestar.
By Michael Flynn
http://books.google.com/books?id=IjmZyX ... &q&f=false


Bob Clark

 

[yevaud]

Similar story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon

 

[exoscientist]

An SSTO as "God and Robert Heinlein intended."

Attached below is a famous artwork of Chesley Bonestell from that early period. It is interesting that we will soon be at the stage that we can produce such orbital rockets for private use:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=21008&start=60#p449921

Some other great Bonestell art is on this page:

Golden Age Comic Book Stories: Bonestell.
http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogsp ... results=20

This page also has some links to some great early S/F magazine covers.

Bob Clark