Passage to Pluto [Hardcover]

Hugh Walters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1973

Three astronauts on a space flight to Pluto encounter a huge mass that pulls the spaceship toward it with a murderous attraction.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 157 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson, Inc.; Weekly Reader Book Club edition (1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084076457X
• ISBN-13: 978-0840764577
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 0.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,701,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good classic SF story for juveniles., May 29, 2002

By 

Michael Z. Williamson (Greenwood, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Passage to Pluto (Hardcover)

Three astronauts travel to Pluto and explore it. Walters pays attention to science, regarding fuel usage, orbits, orbital mechanics, etc, and doesn't get boring while doing so.
At Pluto, the astronauts discover a small natural(?) satellite. It's tidally locked to Pluto, is in a decaying orbit, and has an outrageous gravity gradient. This and other problems affect their mission and return, and the story is quite gripping.
My only complaint would be that he leaves us totally hanging, not even having the characters speculate as to the nature of this satellite. A chunk of neutron star? An artificial construct? Either is plausible for the story, but we're left not knowing. Still, for the educated juvenile SF fan, it's a great book.