Interplanetary Exploration In Some Future Histories

Some future histories show interplanetary exploration before interstellar travel although, in Poul Anderson's Technic History, the single story about the exploration of the Saturnian moon, Iapetus, was one of the last items to be added to the series. For a long time before that, this future history began with two stories of extra-solar exploration. Thus:

"Wings of Victory," about the discovery of Ythri, and "The Problem of Pain," about the exploration of Gray/Avalon, are the first two items collected in The Earth Book Of Stormgate;

"The Saturn Game," about the exploration of Iapetus, "Wings of Victory" and "The Problem of Pain" are the first three items collected in The Technic Civilization Saga.

Larry Niven's Known Space series begins with the exploration of Mercury, Venus, Pluto and Mars in the last quarter of the twentieth century.

James Blish's Adapted Men settle on Ganymede before going extra-solar. In Blish's Cities in Flight, the exploration of Jupiter is the way to confirm the equation that gives the FTL drive. Blish's Adolph Haertel explores Mars before inventing another FTL drive that becomes the basis of some branching futures, including the two cited in the previous post.

That is all for today, folks.