The morning after Neil Armstrong's funeral, a ghostly Saturn V rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. It shakes the ground and rumbles with all the fury of a real launch, sending back telemetry all the way to the moon, stopping at the point where a human would have to take control to land. NASA is shocked when this ghost launch becomes a monthly experience. When humanity loses interest, the rocket becomes near invisible. When we pay attention, Jerry Oltion's expanded Nebula Award-winning novella shows us that reality is what we make of it.
From Publishers Weekly
Nebula Award-winner Oltion (Frame of Reference, etc.) delivers a packed premise that never achieves its potential in this story of a young astronaut who makes a subconscious bid to renew America's space program. Shortly after Neil Armstrong's death, a phantom Saturn V appears on an abandoned NASA pad and launches itself to the moon. After two such supernatural launches, NASA puts astronaut Rick Spencer into the next ghost rocket with orders to decommission its engines on leaving the atmosphere and hitch a ride home with a passing shuttle. Once in space, however, Spencer abandons his flight plan and with two shuttle astronauts and the help of Russian mission control lands on the moon. When Spencer and his team return to Earth, they learn to harness the psychic power of the multitudes who have been following their lunar flight on TV. Oltion tries to explore the minutiae of the science and culture underlying the space program and to investigate collective paranormal psychology; unfortunately, he succeeds at neither. Though the protagonists are NASA-trained astronauts, they describe the most remarkable phenomena in unscientific layman's language. For all its ambitions, this novel never manages to create a single fully fleshed character, much less reach the overarching mysteries at its heart. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Rick, a young astronaut in an aging Shuttle program, is mourning the loss of NASA's glory days of manned space exploration when he sees something impossible-a new Saturn V rocket blasting off from a derelict Apollo launch site long designated "abandon in place." Soon ghost rockets are embarking regularly from it. The space agency orders Rick to destroy the next Saturn, but he takes control of the mystery ship instead. With two other astronauts-his girlfriend and a Japanese scientist-he completes the ship's mission to the moon's south pole. The three return to the Earth as heroes, hoping their exploit has rekindled the public's dream of space exploration. However, the world is more interested in the occult nature of the event-especially when it becomes apparent that the odd voyage has awakened paranormal powers in Rick and Tessa. After a thrilling escape from the CIA, followed by a hilariously hyperbolic wedding, the couple settles down to explore their new psychic powers in a reinvented space program. Based on a Nebula Award-winning novella, this fast-paced adventure has humor, strong characterizations, sharp contemporary insights, and real vision. Equal parts hard science and ghost story, New Physics and New Age, it has a cheeky disregard for the traditional boundaries of the genre that will infuriate some SF fans as much as it will delight others. General readers with a taste for the unusual can also appreciate this yarn.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
“In a field that prizes imagination, Jerry Oltion is one of our most vivid and enthusiastic explorers of new ideas.”—David Brin
“Above a solid foundation of knowledge and sense, Jerry Oltion’s stories sparkle with imagination, wit, and verve. They’re not only fun to read, they’re worth reading.”—Poul Anderson
“A Jerry Oltion story is guaranteed to have a compelling and compassionate voice, with a sure grasp on the strangeness of the universe. His characters, like Jerry himself, understand the necessity of adventure and challenge.”—Greg Bear
“Jerry is just beginning to get the kind of recognition that he deserves.”—Damon Knight
“Jerry pulls off a miracle that is rare in this genre—at the same time, he writes great science stories with people in them . . . and he also writes great people stories with science in them. His work is always a pleasure to read.”—Kevin J. Anderson
About the Author
Jerry Oltion has been a gardener, stone mason, carpenter, oilfield worker, forester, land surveyor, rock 'n' roll deejay, printer, proofreader, editor, publisher, computer consultant, movie extra, corporate secretary, and garbage truck driver.
He is also the author of over 100 published short stories and over a dozen novels, including the Tor books Abandon in Place, The Getaway Special, and Anywhere But Here. His work has won the Nebula Award and has been nominated for the Hugo award. Born and raised in Wyoming, he now lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife, Kathy, and the obligatory writer's cat, Ginger.
Description:
Based on the Nebula Award–winning novella
The morning after Neil Armstrong's funeral, a ghostly Saturn V rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. It shakes the ground and rumbles with all the fury of a real launch, sending back telemetry all the way to the moon, stopping at the point where a human would have to take control to land. NASA is shocked when this ghost launch becomes a monthly experience. When humanity loses interest, the rocket becomes near invisible. When we pay attention, Jerry Oltion's expanded Nebula Award-winning novella shows us that reality is what we make of it.
From Publishers Weekly
Nebula Award-winner Oltion (Frame of Reference, etc.) delivers a packed premise that never achieves its potential in this story of a young astronaut who makes a subconscious bid to renew America's space program. Shortly after Neil Armstrong's death, a phantom Saturn V appears on an abandoned NASA pad and launches itself to the moon. After two such supernatural launches, NASA puts astronaut Rick Spencer into the next ghost rocket with orders to decommission its engines on leaving the atmosphere and hitch a ride home with a passing shuttle. Once in space, however, Spencer abandons his flight plan and with two shuttle astronauts and the help of Russian mission control lands on the moon. When Spencer and his team return to Earth, they learn to harness the psychic power of the multitudes who have been following their lunar flight on TV. Oltion tries to explore the minutiae of the science and culture underlying the space program and to investigate collective paranormal psychology; unfortunately, he succeeds at neither. Though the protagonists are NASA-trained astronauts, they describe the most remarkable phenomena in unscientific layman's language. For all its ambitions, this novel never manages to create a single fully fleshed character, much less reach the overarching mysteries at its heart. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Rick, a young astronaut in an aging Shuttle program, is mourning the loss of NASA's glory days of manned space exploration when he sees something impossible-a new Saturn V rocket blasting off from a derelict Apollo launch site long designated "abandon in place." Soon ghost rockets are embarking regularly from it. The space agency orders Rick to destroy the next Saturn, but he takes control of the mystery ship instead. With two other astronauts-his girlfriend and a Japanese scientist-he completes the ship's mission to the moon's south pole. The three return to the Earth as heroes, hoping their exploit has rekindled the public's dream of space exploration. However, the world is more interested in the occult nature of the event-especially when it becomes apparent that the odd voyage has awakened paranormal powers in Rick and Tessa. After a thrilling escape from the CIA, followed by a hilariously hyperbolic wedding, the couple settles down to explore their new psychic powers in a reinvented space program. Based on a Nebula Award-winning novella, this fast-paced adventure has humor, strong characterizations, sharp contemporary insights, and real vision. Equal parts hard science and ghost story, New Physics and New Age, it has a cheeky disregard for the traditional boundaries of the genre that will infuriate some SF fans as much as it will delight others. General readers with a taste for the unusual can also appreciate this yarn.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
What if ghosts of the Saturn V rockets that carried men to the moon suddenly appeared, steaming on the launchpad, then thundering across the sky? Pilot Rick Spencer of the aging shuttle program can't believe it when he sees the first such ghost launch, but when the rocket starts sending telemetry reports on two orbits and then a sudden fuel boost to proceed moonward, NASA starts paying attention. The telemetry goes silent at the point where a human pilot would have to take over descent to the lunar surface, but a second ghost appears at Canaveral and repeats the process. Rick is chosen to attempt boarding the Saturn V on its third manifestation. After hurried, antiquated training, Rick manages the boarding. He is seized with longing to complete the rocket's flight plan, however, and in a daring maneuver, he collects two fellow astronauts from Skylab and embarks on an impossible journey to the lunar pole. Oltion captures the imagination in the opening pages and then tells a wonderful what-if story, indeed. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“In a field that prizes imagination, Jerry Oltion is one of our most vivid and enthusiastic explorers of new ideas.”—David Brin
“Above a solid foundation of knowledge and sense, Jerry Oltion’s stories sparkle with imagination, wit, and verve. They’re not only fun to read, they’re worth reading.”—Poul Anderson
“A Jerry Oltion story is guaranteed to have a compelling and compassionate voice, with a sure grasp on the strangeness of the universe. His characters, like Jerry himself, understand the necessity of adventure and challenge.”—Greg Bear
“Jerry is just beginning to get the kind of recognition that he deserves.”—Damon Knight
“Jerry pulls off a miracle that is rare in this genre—at the same time, he writes great science stories with people in them . . . and he also writes great people stories with science in them. His work is always a pleasure to read.”—Kevin J. Anderson
About the Author
Jerry Oltion has been a gardener, stone mason, carpenter, oilfield worker, forester, land surveyor, rock 'n' roll deejay, printer, proofreader, editor, publisher, computer consultant, movie extra, corporate secretary, and garbage truck driver.
He is also the author of over 100 published short stories and over a dozen novels, including the Tor books Abandon in Place, The Getaway Special, and Anywhere But Here. His work has won the Nebula Award and has been nominated for the Hugo award. Born and raised in Wyoming, he now lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife, Kathy, and the obligatory writer's cat, Ginger.