Mike Mars Flies the X-15 by Donald A. Wollheim (1961)
Air Force! by Frank Harvey (1959)
Two books celebrating the early years of the space program, both considered "near-future" science fiction at the time.
Mike Mars was the hero of a series eight juveniles by SF mainstay Donald A. Wollheim, who noted for his his editing and publishing far more than his writing. Mars, real name Michael Robert Alfred Sampson, is a lieutenant in the Air Force, a pilot who longs to become an astronaut. In the first book of the series, he and six other young pilots are chosen for Project Quicksilver, a secret program that ran alongside the publicized Project Mercury. Because America is in a competition with another power -- it's interesting that Russia is never mentioned by name -- for a toehold into space, Project Quicksilver is kept a secret as an ace up America's sleeve. (No, it doesn't make much sense to me, either.) The seven astronauts chosen for Quicksilver are younger than those in Project Mercury (again for a reason that m makes little sense) but are receiving the same intense training. Four of them -- Mike Mars, the full-blooded Cherokee Johnny Bluehawk, Navy pilot Jack Lannigan, and talented, well-connected Rod Harger, Jr. -- are training at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mohave Desert to fly the experimental X-15 rocket plane; the other three Quicksilver astronauts are elsewhere, training for a different task. The X-15 has been designed to take man beyond Earth's atmosphere, into space -- the first step to landing on the moon, and eventually Mars and Venus. (Yeah, it still wasn't known that Venus was the impossible hellhole it is; some scientists suspected, but did not know.) As per the nickname he had carried all his life, Mike's ultimate goal was to land on Mars.
Rod Harper, Sr., is an unscrupulous industrialist who made his money and his influence as a war profiteer. He is determined that his son be the one to fly the X-15 and eventually be the first on the moon. To that end, he arranged for some sabotage in the first book as the Quicksilver astronauts were chosen. Now he is back at it again to give his son his shot, whether deserved or not. The agent he sent to disrupt the space program also happened to be a man who has vowed to get back at Mike and Johnny Bluehawk for foiling his plans in the first book. Rod, Jr., has no loyalty to the Air Force, the space program, or his fellow astronauts; his one overriding goal is to be the first man on the moon, and thus gain fame and riches. Compare this to Mike and the other to astronauts who are approaching the program as a team and fully support each other.
Mike is a goody two-shoes. Actually, too good to be believed. Mike had long ago formed three rules of personal conduct:
"The first had been to maintain his good health, by avoiding laziness, overindulgence, by respect for his body and his muscles, and by refusing to allow his system to be poisoned by heavy smoking or drinking.
"The second had been to keep his brain firmly disciplined to study and understanding. Proficiency in his lessons, the ability to learn new things fast and accurately -- these were the keys to the mastery of the world around him.
"The third was to keep his faith, never to allow doubt to cause him to waver from his ambition or to lose confidence in his own ability to rise above any temporary setbacks."
(Mike Mars must have been a super fun guy to have at parties.)
The book itself is heavily researched and detailed about the space program, the various airships involved, and the rigorous training needed to become an astronaut. This overabundance of detail tends to bog down the first two-thirds of the novel. The book is heavily illustrated by Albert Ordaan, in6cluding many renderings of the X-15 and its workings. Of the illustrations of the four astronauts, only those of Mike appear to make him look youthful. Remember all four are the same basic (unstated) age. All four are experience military pilots. As a nod to the book's young readership, Mike and Johnny Bluehawk are referred at least once as "boys," and all four astronaut are referred to a "young lads."
After a rigorous selection process, Mike is chosen to fly the X-15 into space, with Rod as the alternate. Something had to be done to eliminate Mike from the lead position. The saboteurs steal a Sidewinder missile with the intention of shooting Mike down before the X-15 leaves the Earth's atmosphere. Johnny Bluehawk stumbles onto the plot, is captured, and then framed for stealing the missile. Can Johnny escape in time to stop the plot? Can Mike navigate the tremendous forces of nature and physics to touch beyond Earth's reach before heading back safely?
I won't answer those questions, except to say that there are six more books in the Mike Mars series.
An interesting and readable book, despite its flaws, taking me back to the early 60s when the entire country was enthralled with the prospect of space travel and of man's audacity to achieve it.
Air Force! is a collection eight stories with the same basic theme, albeit targeted to a more mature audience. Harvey was an aeronautics writer with many articles to his credit and he knew what he wrote about. The first story in the book, "Orbit Flight," also takes place at Edwards Air Force base and is about the first attempt to penetrate space with the X-15B. Again, we are given many technical details, although in an easier to digest form then with Wollheim. The emphasis of this tale, and of most of the others in the book, is on the personal and family lives of the Air Force test pilots and of the great sacrifices made in an attempt to have mankind touch the stars. Some of the stories dealt with the dangerous testing of new and unproven equipment. I enjoyed the book a great deal and it reawakened the pride I felt when I lived through that era.
The stories:
- "Orbit Flight" (The Saturday Evening Post, October 11 and October 18, 1958)
- "Panic on Runway 6" (The Saturday Evening Post, July 28, 1956)
- "Test Jump" (The Saturday Evening Post, June 30, 1956)
- "Runaway Prop" (The Saturday Evening Post, May 2, 1959)
- "Jinx Jet" (Cavalier #44, February 1957)
- "100 Miles Up" (Argosy, February 1958; also in the May 1959 Australian and UK editions of Suspense)
- "Moon Shot" (The Saturday Evening Post, May 31, 1958; also reprinted in The Saturday Evening Post Stories 1958, editor uncredited, Doubleday, 1959, also published as The Saturday Evening Post Stories Volume Five, Elek Books , 1959)
- "Destruct Button" (Argosy, May 1959)
It won't surprise you to learn I read Mike Mars Flies the X-15 by Donald A. Wollheim back in 1966. Although Wollheim is best known as legendary editor of ACE Books and DAW Books, he was a capable writer, too.
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