Comparative Future Histories

Early industrialization of the Solar System benefits Earth in at least three of Poul Anderson's future histories:

the Psychotechnic History;
the Technic History;
Tales Of The Flying Mountains.

Although the Maurai Federation utilizes alternative technologies on Earth, eventually a space program is developed in secret: "Orion shall rise!" In the longer term history of Genesis, space technology is necessary to protect Terrestrial life against interstellar hazards.

Thus, so far, we have compared five future histories. Anderson is unique among sf authors in having written several future histories that can be compared not only with those of other authors but also with each other.

We note that "...longevity treatment..." (p. 4) is practiced very early in the Technic History. (For reference, see here.)

Large solar-sail-propelled exploratory spaceships traverse the Solar System. The problem of how the crews are to cope with long spells in their limited environments is the same as in the slower than light interstellar colony ship in the Psychotechnic History. One assigned task is to improve the interior of the vessel as on the gyrogravitically propelled asteroid that departs the Solar System in ...Flying Mountains.

The Chronos, which explores the Saturnian System after an eight year outward voyage, is launched by a Britannic-American consortium, perhaps a partial precursor of the Solar Commonwealth. An earlier ship had explored Mars and sent minerals from Phobos back to Earth. Little did anyone yet suspect that, later in this history, Mars was to be colonized by extra-solar aliens and to become a Duchy under the Terran Empire.