An older book one of Robert A, Heinlein's juveniles, one which I had never read. Well!!
Called "The Rolling Stones" This is set shortly after "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" on the moon actually. The Stone family is bored. Things are getting too crowded and civilized on the Moon for Castor and Pollux 16 year old twins. They live with their father and mother, their grandmother Hazel Meade Stone (who appeared in The Moon is..) and one or two siblings.
The boys decided to go to a second rocket place and check out something to run about the solar system. Father is not pleased, the boys have not completed their formal education. They have the money but it is in trust for when they are older. The entire family gets involved and they ultimately purchase the rocket with the proviso that the twins help rebuild the thing and complete their education via home study while en route to where ever. Many educational things follow mostly higher mathematics and the author throws in a great deal of hard science. I mental skip these pages and keep an eye out for when the mathematical formulae suddenly returns to dialog. Isaac Azimov wrote the same way, these men were determined to push the hard part of science fiction. Thanks Guys but I still hum tunelessly during that particular exposition sometimes with a French accent.
One of the math problems is figuring an elliptical cometary orbit by earth on their way to Mars. On their way, they pass another passenger ship, exchange pleasantries. They get a distress call, is any Doctor available? Um, Mrs. Stone is a medical doctor so off she goes to go into quarantine on the War Bird to treat an outbreak of modified measles.
The Rolling Stone proceeds to Phobos and the family is reunited. They get stranded on Mars and decide to head out to the asteroids and sell high quality goods. Before they go they purchase a Martian critter called a flat cat, as appealing and prolific as a Tribble.
Ultimately they have to decide if they return to the moon for the boys formal education but they all decide to chuck it and head for Titan and Saturn's Rings as Hazel had vowed to get to see them before she died, being 95 and all. This was a delightful romp, good bedtime reading material for the kids.
Called "The Rolling Stones" This is set shortly after "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" on the moon actually. The Stone family is bored. Things are getting too crowded and civilized on the Moon for Castor and Pollux 16 year old twins. They live with their father and mother, their grandmother Hazel Meade Stone (who appeared in The Moon is..) and one or two siblings.
The boys decided to go to a second rocket place and check out something to run about the solar system. Father is not pleased, the boys have not completed their formal education. They have the money but it is in trust for when they are older. The entire family gets involved and they ultimately purchase the rocket with the proviso that the twins help rebuild the thing and complete their education via home study while en route to where ever. Many educational things follow mostly higher mathematics and the author throws in a great deal of hard science. I mental skip these pages and keep an eye out for when the mathematical formulae suddenly returns to dialog. Isaac Azimov wrote the same way, these men were determined to push the hard part of science fiction. Thanks Guys but I still hum tunelessly during that particular exposition sometimes with a French accent.
One of the math problems is figuring an elliptical cometary orbit by earth on their way to Mars. On their way, they pass another passenger ship, exchange pleasantries. They get a distress call, is any Doctor available? Um, Mrs. Stone is a medical doctor so off she goes to go into quarantine on the War Bird to treat an outbreak of modified measles.
The Rolling Stone proceeds to Phobos and the family is reunited. They get stranded on Mars and decide to head out to the asteroids and sell high quality goods. Before they go they purchase a Martian critter called a flat cat, as appealing and prolific as a Tribble.
Ultimately they have to decide if they return to the moon for the boys formal education but they all decide to chuck it and head for Titan and Saturn's Rings as Hazel had vowed to get to see them before she died, being 95 and all. This was a delightful romp, good bedtime reading material for the kids.
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