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Author
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Topic: Project Mercury fiction
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Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 06-05-2007 10:29 AM
   
An earlier discussion regarding a short story about World War III starting while Wally Schirra was in orbit (MA-8) got me to thinking about fiction based on Project Mercury. I came up with the following list: - Marooned - Martin Caidin
- Mike Mars Astronaut - Donald Wollheim
- Mike Mars at Cape Canaveral - DW
- Mike Mars in Orbit - DW
- Mike Mars Flies the Dyna-Soar - DW
- Aurora 7 - Thomas Mallon
Can anyone think of others? I would like to put a comprehensive list together. The other four Mike Mars titles dealt with X-15, Gemini, and Apollo. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 06-05-2007 05:54 PM
Great list! I had never seen the "Aurora 7" book.Wasn't "Marooned" about a Skylab (then called Apollo Applications) crew, not Mercury? |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1047
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 06-05-2007 08:54 PM
In the original novel set in 1964, was MA-10, and the rescue vehicle Gemini-3. |
Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 06-06-2007 06:21 AM
MAROONED, the novel was about a Mercury astronaut being stranded in orbit. I think in the later movie version they depicted Apollo astronauts. I suppose James Michener's SPACE could be added to the list since it does cover the Mercury era. Ken Follet's CODE TO ZERO is set during the prep and launch of Explorer 1 so it technically pre-dates Mercury. |
E2M Lem Man
Member Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 06-06-2007 05:15 PM
One correction: Martin Caidin's 'Marooned' was originally about the fictional MA-10, Gemini-Titan 1, and Vostok 10(?).He rewrote the book and screenplay to place it past Apollo lunar activities and it was then about Apollo Applications program, Air Force Experimental reentry vehicle (XRV) and Voskhod. They were Caidin at his finest. |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 06-16-2007 08:00 PM
Based on this thread, I picked up a beautiful 1st edition of "Aurora 7". I'll be taking it with me to Spacefest, in hopes of getting the DP to sign it. Has anyone else gotten him to sign this book?
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Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 06-16-2007 09:31 PM
I'm taking my copy of Aurora 7 to Spacefest for Carpenter to sign also. I've had it for years just never got around to getting it autographed. By the way, it's a really good book. |
Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 06-16-2007 09:36 PM
Also, I asked KC if Scott C. liked the book and she said he loved it. She said Thomas Mallon was a friend of the Carpenter family. |
KC Stoever
Member Posts: 1012
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 06-18-2007 10:48 PM
Sorry to horn in on this fiction thread, but did want to affirm the Mallon-Carpenter connection.Aurora 7 was one of Mallon's first novels. He has a new one out this spring called Fellow Travellers. But A7 was his early foray into fiction, semi-autobiographical, rich in period detail, beautifully told, about a space crazy kid in 1962. He says he picked Aurora 7 because he remembers the drama of the flight--good for novels--and only later got to know Scott, and then his daughter. And he held my hand for five years while I worked on For Spacious Skies. oh, and ...he is one of the smartest guys in the world. |
Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 06-20-2007 06:36 AM
KC, horn in any time. Anyone old enough to remember Aurora 7 will enjoy the novel of the same name tremendously. |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 06-20-2007 07:34 AM
Thanks for the input. I do have a copy and thoroughly enjoyed it. So Gil you and I both will be getting copies signed then - outstanding! |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 06-26-2007 03:48 PM
quote:
Originally posted by albatron:
Based on this thread, Has anyone else gotten him to sign this book?
I have a copy he signed for me. It's a wonderful read, that all the "space kids" here will be able to relate to, and I highly recommend it. Thanks to Kris, for recommending it to me a few years back. |
Dwayne Day
Member Posts: 532
From:
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 07-27-2007 08:15 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Gilbert:
MAROONED, the novel was about a Mercury astronaut being stranded in orbit. I think in the later movie version they depicted Apollo astronauts.
I had dinner with a few friends of mine a couple of weeks ago, one of them is a noted science fiction writer. He said that Caidin actually wrote his second version of Marooned based upon the screenplay of the movie. I think he said that there might have been some legal problems associated with that, because he didn't own the screenplay, just his original book. Caidin was a true character and would make a great biography. He wrote a lot of books, but was very outrageous in his personal life. He reportedly used to haunt the bars down at Cape Canaveral and was buddies with a lot of the astronauts. I think I once heard that he was married to a stripper. But I also heard that he owned a Ford Trimotor and once set the world record for most number of wing-walkers. He was colorful.
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