The Science Fictional Solar System
"The Science Fictional Solar System" is an anthology edited by Asimov, Greenberg, and Waugh, featuring science fiction stories about the solar system, contrasted with evolving scientific knowledge.
Isaac Asimov, a renowned guide through the cosmos, along with Martin Harry Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh, gathered a collection of thirteen marvelous tales in The Science Fictional Solar System. This anthology serves not merely as entertainment but as a fascinating tour of our celestial neighborhood, illuminated by Asimov's own insights into what we knew about the solar system then and what we know now. It presents a grand narrative of humanity’s persistent push into the unknown, showcasing how our understanding evolves, our ambitions grow, and our challenges transform with each new frontier.
The journey begins with the Sun, the very heart of our existence, a constant that underpins all life. Yet, even this seemingly stable star holds profound mysteries. Scientific advancements, such as the work of Bethe and von Weizsäcker on nuclear reactions, laid the groundwork for our understanding of how the Sun functions. However, as the story "The Weather on the Sun" by Theodore L. Thomas explores, this understanding can be deceptively fragile. Humanity, having achieved a degree of weather control on Earth, finds its entire civilization built upon this capability. But what happens when the very mechanism of the Sun, believed to be stable for eons, shows unexpected changes, as suggested by the puzzling neutrino problem? The narrative plunges into the immediate and terrifying crisis that ensues when the precision of weather control slips, exposing the deep-seated reliance of society on technological mastery and the sudden, overwhelming need to understand the anomaly within the Sun's core. It’s a stark reminder that our control is only as good as our fundamental knowledge, pushing humanity to mount an unprecedented research effort into the deepest parts of our star. This pursuit of understanding, even when faced with the potential death of the Sun, demonstrates the ultimate scientific imperative.
From the fiery embrace of the Sun, the anthology takes us to the inner planets, realms of extreme conditions that test human endurance. Mercury, long believed to show one face perpetually to the Sun, presents a formidable challenge. Alan E. Nourse’s "Brightside Crossing" encapsulates the raw, almost suicidal ambition to traverse the planet's infernally hot, sun-facing side at perihelion, the closest point to the Sun. It’s a tale of explorers pushing against seemingly impossible odds, grappling with extreme heat, treacherous terrain, and the psychological toll of an utterly unforgiving environment. The journey underscores the human drive to prove that "it can be done," even when previous attempts have met with disaster, hinting at the relentless spirit of conquest that defines early space exploration.
Next, we descend to Venus, once thought to be a jungle, then revealed as a scorching, atmospheric hell. Robert Sheckley’s "Prospector's Special" places a lone individual, Morrison, in this harsh environment, driven by the lure of "goldenstone" and the promise of a better life back on Earth. The story starkly illustrates the brutal economics and unforgiving rules of a frontier society, where survival hinges on immediate payment and the collective often takes precedence over the individual. Morrison’s desperate struggle against the elements, predatory life forms, and bureaucratic indifference—even on his birthday—highlights the sheer tenacity of human ambition, even when it borders on delusion. It is a poignant exploration of hope and despair, culminating in an act of desperation that shatters the polite veneer of civilization, forcing a reckoning with what one is willing to do to achieve a dream.
Turning to Earth, Isaac Asimov's own "Waterclap" pulls us into the depths of our home planet's oceans, revealing another hidden frontier. The narrative unfolds as a deep-sea station, Ocean-Deep, contends with a visiting Moon-man, Demerest, from Luna City. This story skillfully explores the competition for resources and prestige between different human expansion projects—inner space versus outer space. Demerest, driven by the recent "misfortunes" on the Moon, attempts to force a re-evaluation of funding priorities, leading to a tense confrontation that exposes underlying visions for humanity's future. The reveal of a grand, secret purpose—Project Big World, aiming at the colonization of Jupiter—transforms the conflict from a petty squabble into a debate about the very trajectory of human destiny, showing how seemingly isolated scientific endeavors are often part of a much larger, unspoken plan.
Mars, the subject of countless speculative tales, shifts from a world of grand canals to a more arid, thin-atmosphered reality in "Hop-Friend" by Terry Carr. Here, the focus moves from conquest to coexistence. Earthmen, establishing a new outpost, encounter the elusive, telepathic Marshies. The story delves into the challenges of interspecies communication and mutual understanding, as Michelson, an Earthman who prefers Mars to his crowded home planet, tries to bridge the cultural gap with a Marshie. It portrays the subtle tension and potential for misunderstanding when an advanced civilization encroaches upon a reclusive indigenous population, culminating in a quiet, yet profound, act of departure by the Martians, leaving the Earthmen to ponder the true meaning of their "friendship" and the ownership of this desolate world.
Moving beyond Mars, Poul Anderson’s "Barnacle Bull" takes us into the Asteroid Belt, a region teeming with cosmic debris and unexpected life. The story introduces a unique form of "space barnacles" that encrust spacecraft, disrupting operations and raising radiation levels, creating a formidable barrier to interstellar travel. This presents a classic scientific problem: an unforeseen natural phenomenon that challenges human technology and the very feasibility of space exploration. The crew's grim determination to survive and understand this new life form, ultimately transforming a deadly threat into a potential asset—a self-repairing shield against the cosmic sandblast—exemplifies human ingenuity and adaptability in the face of the unknown. It’s a testament to turning obstacles into opportunities, a recurring theme in humanity's progress.
The journey continues to Jupiter, a colossal gas giant that embodies overwhelming power. James Blish’s "Bridge" portrays a titanic engineering feat: a massive bridge built from pressure-ice in Jupiter's tumultuous atmosphere. The story deeply explores the psychological strain of working in an inherently hostile environment, where human ambition confronts colossal, indifferent natural forces. It delves into the motivations of those who dedicate their lives to such projects, often to the point of existential despair, yet driven by an underlying, larger purpose. The arrival of a new, revolutionary propulsion system—antigravity, or the "spindizzy"—reveals that the Bridge, for all its apparent futility, served as a crucial, if unknowing, laboratory for even greater ambitions: interstellar travel and the desperate need to expand humanity beyond a threatened Earth. This is the ultimate Asimovian leap, from solar system conquest to galactic diaspora.
Further out, in the frigid reaches of the solar system, we encounter Uranus and Neptune. Fritz Leiber’s "The Snowbank Orbit" on Uranus, a planet spinning on its side, describes a desperate flight of a small fleet of ships, pursued by an enigmatic alien "Enemy". The story focuses on extreme measures to survive, including a daring maneuver to use Uranus’s dense atmosphere as a "snowbank" for braking. It's a tale of survival against impossible odds, scientific adaptation, and the unexpected capabilities of humans when pushed to their limits, while also introducing a glimpse of truly alien life and intelligence.
Alexei Panshin’s "One Sunday in Neptune" portrays the distant, cold world of Neptune. In a period after the initial flush of space exploration, the focus shifts to more mundane motivations: combating boredom and seeking personal distinction. The story highlights the enduring human need for purpose and recognition, even in the vast, indifferent emptiness of the outer solar system, and the desire to "touch all the bases" before humanity looks further afield.
Finally, we arrive at Pluto, a tiny, distant, and mysterious world. Larry Niven’s "Wait It Out" plunges into the utter isolation and extreme cold of Pluto, where a stranded explorer finds an unexpected and terrifying way to "wait out" rescue through biological adaptation to the absolute zero environment. It's a profound meditation on survival, consciousness, and the limits of the human body. Robert F. Young’s "Nikita Eisenhower Jones" tells a different kind of Pluto story. It follows a young man from a remote island on Earth, whose insatiable ambition to conquer the stars leads him to Pluto, even if it means usurping another’s role. It’s a deeply human tale of dreams, resourcefulness, and the often-selfish motivations that drive individuals to achieve seemingly noble goals, culminating in a metaphorical union with the very landscape of Pluto.
The anthology culminates with Duncan Lunan's "The Comet, the Cairn and the Capsule," featuring a hyperbolic comet, a true stranger to our solar system. This story presents a thrilling encounter with an artifact of interstellar origin—a "cairn" composed of multiple alien probes. The human mission, initially focused on studying the comet, quickly pivots to the profound implications of this discovery. It forces a decision about how humanity will engage with its first tangible evidence of alien intelligence: retrieve it for study, even if it means destroying the comet, or leave it as a beacon for future travelers. The narrative concludes with the human crew making a choice that prioritizes interstellar communication and the shared future of intelligent life, preserving the cairn's message and adding their own to it, sending a reassurance that "man wasn't alone in the immensity of space and time".
The Science Fictional Solar System is, therefore, a masterclass in exploratory science fiction. Through its carefully selected stories and Asimov’s insightful framing, it illustrates humanity's journey from confronting the immediate, life-sustaining mysteries of our own Sun to reaching out, with both wonder and trepidation, towards the possibility of other intelligent life among the stars. It charts a course through scientific discovery, technological innovation, psychological challenges, and moral dilemmas, ultimately painting a vivid picture of the unending human spirit of curiosity and the relentless drive to explore, understand, and, perhaps, even transcend the limits of our known universe.
