Spacemens Luck

 

Where Tom Corbett, Captain Video, CMDR Corry and Other Spacemen Still Live

The investigation into the plot against Venus continues aboard the space liner. After the RDX bomb is jettisoned, Tom Corbett and Roger Manning learn that Alexandria Stone was in fact killed in her attempt to escape the ship in a Jet Boats airlock.

While searching Alexandria Stone’s cabin aboard the space liner they find a locket with a hidden piece of paper that mentions Venus Atmosphere Station #5.

Read the rest of this entry »

At the Atom City Spaceport aboard a Space Liner, Barton Reed a special messenger from Venus, who has had two attempts on his life, is met by Tom Corbett & Roger Manning who are to be his escort on a secret mission. In an effort to provide additional security Roger exchanges clothes with Barton Reed to escort the emissary back to the Space Academy.

Back at the Space Academy and despite the extra precaution Barton Reed is killed using an outlawed heat ray. Realizing that their failure to protect Barton Reed means the end of their Solar Guard careers they decide to pursue the killer, whoever it was. Their plan is to return to Venus on the Space Liners return trip. Using their original Solar Guard orders they begin their pursuit.

Read the rest of this entry »

While en route to Astro’s home world of Venus, and some well deserved shore leave, Lieutenant Commander Burke of the Solar Guard’s Venus Port orders the cadets shore leave canceled and diverts them to the Mercury Base to investigate a possible outbreak of Zero “A” Fever.

The Cadets learn that there are two teams of government scientist who have been operating diggers on Mercury’s hot side on a Top Secret mission. The teams twilight zone base operator had been keeping constant contact with the Solar Guard but during his last transmission it ended abruptly and all contact has been lost.

Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever wondered “Whatever Became of…” someone who years ago was famous and you haven’t heard of them in years? Here at Spacemen’s Luck I have wondered “Whatever Became of…” the many personalities who played Classic Space Travel characters that helped form my vision of Space Travel in the 1950′s and 1960′s.

Not being someone who is willing to wait for someone else to do it for me and after a search around the internet I found no single source discussing “Whatever Became of…” those Classic Space Travelers.

Read the rest of this entry »

This the fifteenth episode in the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet radio show series is a lost episode. The title is known because Episode 16 is titled “Astro Lost in Ice Cave Part 2″. Following the show format and schedule of twice weekly broadcasts (part one on Tuesday and part two on Thursday) This episode is believed to have been broadcast on Tuesday 19 February 1952. It is one of the tragedies of collecting old time radio (OTR) that many of these old gems are lost forever and only occasionally does one of these lost shows turn up from a previously unknown source.

Broadcast Date: 52-02-19

Read the rest of this entry »

Solar Guard Cadet’s Tom Corbett, Roger Manning and Astro are performing pre-flight checks on the Control Deck of the Rocket Cruiser Polaris when the Facsimile News Bulletin Receiver announces that ther are new clues about the Vanadium hijackers. Solar Guard Captain Steve Strong arrives on the control deck and announces that the new clue is that a small private rocket ship has been seen ferrying the Vanadium in from somewhere near the sun.

Captain Strong orders the Polaris to blast off and are hot on the trail of the Vanadium smugglers. Roger picks up the smugglers Rocket Scout Ship and Captain Strong orders Full Space Speed but just as they approach and order the ship to standby for a boarding party the ship takes off and they soon loose her because the Pirate Rocket Ship, with auxiliary rockets attached, is much faster than the Polaris.

Read the rest of this entry »

Captain Strong and Cadet Tom Corbett are assigned to assist an inventor named Mr. Franklin in the testing of an experimental spaceship. There test includes diving into the earths atmosphere at full space speed. Any other rocket ship would break up at those speeds. Mr. Franklins ship has most major support structures built with Vanadium. A very rare metal that is many times stronger than any other know metal.

After diving into the atmosphere part of the left rear stabilizer and steering vane begins to disintegrate, a part of the ship made with traditional metals and not the vanadium. The failure causes the ship to crash but all aboard survive. Despite the accident the Solar Alliance are convinced that the Vanadium is worthwhile mining. Before now the Vanadium has been extremely rare, but a large deposit of it has been discovered on the Jupiter moon of Ios. Convinced that Mr Franklins process for using Vanadium in the structures of space ships is of immense value they commission him to begin mining it from Ios.

Read the rest of this entry »

After some ignoring instructions Roger Manning manages to keep the Polaris on the hunt for the Space Pirates aboard the hijacked Space Academy Cruiser Pollacks. When Tom is about to divert them back to Titan so that Astro can be seen by a Doctor, Astro wakes up and insists on their continuing to search for the Pirates. Against his better judgement Tom concedes.

They find the Pollacks which have entered the asteroid belt and the Polaris remains undetected by hiding in front of Asteroid 149, which will confuse the Space Pirates radar if they are even looking. The pirates go into orbit around Asteroid 406 and launch a Jet Boat down to the surface of Asteroid 406. Tom believes like the Pirates of old, they are hiding their look on this island in space.

Read the rest of this entry »

While on a surprise training mission, the Polaris unit takes part in Space Maneuvers with Captain Strong and other Cadet Units. The Cadet units are to seek out and engage Captain Strong, who is aboard the Space Academy Cruiser Arturis, who will be trying to evade them. The Space Maneuvers will take place in an area of space where the Cadet Space Cruiser Pollacks was lost without a trace 3 months earlier and where Space Pirates have been reported.

The Polaris crew blast off to track down Captain Strong and using a Radiation Detector Mark 2 which sniffs out the rocket trail signature of ships who have passed the area of space they are testing. With the Sniffer the cadets find Captain Strong’s signature and another radiation pattern which they follow. They find a Space Academy Space Cruiser and think it is Captain Strong. But they are fired on and they realize it is the missing Space Cruiser Pollacks which must of been taken over by the Space Pirates. After the Polaris is hit damaging their main engines, Long Range Radio and their weapons systems, Tom and Roger fake a radio call to the Saturn Solar Guard base on Titan that scares the pirates away from the Polaris and allows the cadets to escape. Roger wants to chase after them but Tom overrules him because Astro had been injured and they head to Titan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tom Corbett and Jim Harris are found by a Venus port guard and taken to the Port Commander. However, in the absence of the Port Commander, Chief Warrant officer Porter doesn’t believe Tom’s story and turns them back over to Captain Pickering. Back aboard the Constellation Captain Pickering puts Tom Corbett and Jim Harris on extra duties with the plan of working them around the clock until they drop.

Back at the Academy Captain Strong, Roger Manning and Astro figure out what has probably happened to Tom and try to contact Venus Space Port where the Constellation was scheduled to stop. However, Venus is in opposition to the Earth and out of communication. After setting up a complex radio relay from Earth, to Mars, to Titan, to Venus they finally talk to Chief Warrant officer Porter who admits he let the Captain take him back aboard the Constellation .

Read the rest of this entry »