Big Audio Wednesday - Tom Corbett, Space Cadet

When I was a kid, one of the first books I remember reading was a book called Tom Corbett: A Trip to the Moon. It was originally published in 1953. I can't remember if the edition I read was a reprint, or if it had belonged to my older brother. After all, I was too young to even know who Tom Corbett was.

I think that book may have fueled my initial fascination with space. But it also left me thinking that the Tom Corbett series must have been incredibly juvenile. Imagine my surprise when I listen to the radio series now (as well is its contemporary, Space Patrol) and find stories that are indeed pitched toward kids, but at least nod toward real science. I mean, of course they take liberties with the physics--hard to imagine accurately portraying the silence of space in a radio program, after all--but on balance, they do a better job than most Saturday morning cartoons in our supposedly more enlightened age.

Supposedly, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet was heavily influenced by Heinlein's Space Cadet, so it shouldn't be surprising that it's got a harder edge than I expected. But that melodramatic organ has got to go.

So sit back and enjoy this presentation of the Tom Corbett two-parter, "Rocket Into Danger."