CONTENTS
[The First Man Into Space] 9 [Mystery Eyes Over Earth] 33 [Race Around the Sun] 43 [Flight of the Centaurus] 58 [Expedition Pluto] 73 [Mercy Flight to Luna] 95 [The Peril from Outer Space] 106 [The Ghost Ship of Space] 149 [Space Steward] 227
ILLUSTRATIONS
[Cold, bulging eyes peered into his own] 70 [That pledge of secrecy for you begins at this instant] 110 [Clay’s hand guided the burning instrument to within inches of the top of the bomb] 143 [Almost exhausted, he pulled the ladder across and out of their reach] 209 [The unicorn rushed up the slope, his head lowered and his frightening ivory horn poised for attack] 245
THE FIRST MAN INTO SPACE
Cadet Marshall Farnsworth woke from a nightmare of exploding novae and fouling rockets. After recovering from his fright, he laughed contemptuously at himself. “Here I was picked as the most stable of a group of two hundred cadets,” he thought, “and chosen to make man’s first trip into space, yet I’m shaking like a leaf.”
He got out of bed and went over to the window. From his father’s temporary apartment, he could see distant Skyharbor, the scene of the plunge into space tomorrow night. He had been awarded the frightening honor of making that trip.