This story takes place in the year 1989 AD
This novelette is included in Niven's collections "All the Myriad Ways"
It's setting is the planet (Planetoid) Pluto.
At the time of writing, Pluto was still classified as a planet.
It was first published in "The Future Unbound Program Book", 1968.
It was later published in "Tomorrow's World's", 1969.
The previous two novelettes written by Larry Niven concerned manned missions to Mercury & Venus. This story concerns a manned mission to Pluto that goes wrong.
There are 3 characters: Jerome Glass, Sammy Cross & the narrator.
They had traveled 3.5 years to get to Pluto and are now marooned on its surface. The ship uses ion-jets to get to Pluto, but Nerva-K type atomic rockets to land. It seems that the mission is under the control of the UN.
The ship lands perfectly on the icy surface, but melts the ice, resulting in:
"The heat draining out of the Nerva jet had melted that ice. The
rocks within the ice had sunk, and so had the landing vehicle, so that when the water froze again it
was halfway up the hull. Our landing craft was sunk solid in the ice."
Is there life on Pluto?
The narrator encounters a helium-amoeba alien.
It sounds much like the one on Mercury ("The Coldest Place"). " Helium 11 contaminated by complex molecules? In that case
the beast had best get moving; it will need shade come sunrise. Sunside temperature on Pluto is all
of 50° Absolute."
Jeremey, the first man to walk on Mars removes his helmet.
" he looks damn good. His frost-dusted skin is indistinguishable from marble, and his eyes are lifted toward the stars in poignant yearning."
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