The man who sold the moon
by Robert A. Heinlein · first published 1950
21% recommend79% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A short early Heinlein story following a visionary entrepreneur who funds a private space venture. It offers a quick, readable portrait of the hero-entrepreneur type and a lively look at space commerce.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In 1949, Heinlein wrote this story about an entrepreneur who foresaw that future of manned space flight could not be left to governments. His protagonist, D.D. Harriman, risked his reputation, his fortune and his very life to make his dream a reality. The prescience of Heinlein's tale is embodied in a modern-day entrepreneur, who looks beyond the moon to Mars. The future of humans in space cannot be trusted to governments, whose inefficiencies would make it impossible. Though almost seventy years old, this story is more pertinent today than ever.
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The Man Who Sold the Moon, by Robert Heinlein http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Sold-Moon/dp/0671578634 (spoilers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon) Then, for fun, go on to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, wherein…
on “Ask HN: Recommend any good business/hacker fiction?” ↗…true. Getting anything into space is a big challenge and hopefully soon the market will have several private companies competing in a real market for space travel. For a nice short story, look up "The man who sold the moon" by Robert Heinlein. Then we can discuss whether or not Elon Musk is the re-incarnation of the fictional character DD Harriman.
on “SpaceX’s entry into $70 billion U.S. launch market draws Lockheed jab” ↗Book recommendation: The Man Who Sold the Moon by Robert Heinlein. One of the things handled in the plot is the fictional assertion that the moon is covered in diamonds.
on “It rains solid diamonds on Uranus and Neptune” ↗read heinlein's "the man who sold the moon" for a very good portrait of a hero-entrepreneur-visionary. i think that's more in line with musk's mystique than hero-inventor; he's not so much the man who invents things as the man who collects inventors…
on “Elon Musk’s Space Dream Almost Killed Tesla” ↗…cohaerent. There are fluctations in the sky for example, that will make the heat changes drastically. (there is a paper about this from a professional solar furnace, I need to find again) Reading tip, "The man who sold the moon", from Cory Doctorow. Which also explores the idea of solar 3D sintering (but ignores the limitations). So I do strongly believe, the whole concept has big potential, beyond entertaining SciFi - it is…
on “Solar Metal Smelter” ↗There’s something like that in Heinlein’s The Man Who Sold the Moon, after the explosion of a space station and ship; in a company meeting: —⁂— “Very well. Now the public relations report—let me call attention to the first item, gentlemen. The vice-president in charge…
on “Domino's spent $50.4M on TV ads to brag about $100k donation” ↗…after month. "" The other dystopias I've been wondering about are * Heinlein, "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" (a lot to unpack - with political structures echoed in "The Expanse")? * Heinlein, "The Man Who Sold the Moon"? (we kind of have this; but certainly not "Requiem" because no one would actually try to stop today's space entrepreneurs from going up themselves, certainly not their kids) * Heinlein, "Starship Troopers"?…
on “We are closer to Bradbury’s dystopia than Orwell’s or Huxley’s” ↗"Intangibles are the most honest merchandise anyone can sell. They are always worth whatever you are willing to pay for them and they never wear out." -- Heinlein, "The Man Who Sold the Moon"
on “Vico Editor (Mac text editor)” ↗Actually some of the early Robert A. Heinlein stories such as "The Man who sold the Moon" have themes very similar to what is actually going on with this asteroid mining company. It's been a while since I read them, but basically some rich guys with ideas for space think of various marketing…
on “A $20 Trillion Rock That Could Turn a Startup Into Earth’s Richest Company” ↗Reminds me of the plot of Heinlein's The Man Who Sold The Moon, in which space-loving entrepreneur Delos D. Harriman builds a company big and capable enough to send a manned rocket to the moon, only to find out that his board of directors won't let him go.
on “Elon Musk of SpaceX: The Goal is Mars” ↗Nice story. I guess the title is a reference to Heinlein's version (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon), which has greed/capitalism conquer the moon.
on “Solar Sinter: Solar-powered 3D printer that sinters sand into 3D objects (2011)” ↗Heinlein's _The Man Who Sold The Moon_ has the main character extort money from basically everyone by telling them that their rivals were planning on drawing a logo on the moon. He either names Coca-Cola explicitly, or else uses an expy of…
on “Russian crowdfunded reflector satellite aims to be “brightest star in the sky”” ↗[co-replying] Or an advertisement, you don't even need humans to go. e.g. Robert A Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon" http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/advertising
on “Ted Talk Review Why people believe weird things” ↗Heinlein wrote a short story on this premise, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon
on “Court rules “Dueling Dinos” belong to landowners” ↗There’s a Heinlein short story with a similar passage. It’s in a compendium of stories called The Man Who Sold The Moon.
on “What is the Fourth Dimension? (1884)” ↗