Space Cadet is a 1948 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein
about Matt Dodson, who joins the Space Patrol to help preserve peace
in the Solar System. The story translates the standard military
academy story into outer space: a boy from Iowa goes to officer
school, sees action and adventure, shoulders responsibilities far
beyond his experience, and becomes a man. It was published as the
second of the series of Heinlein juveniles and inspired the Tom
Corbett, Space Cadet media empire, including the 1950s television
series and radio show which made "Space Cadet" a household phrase
whose meaning later shifted in popular culture.In 2075, teenager Matt
Dodson applies to join the prestigious Space Patrol. After a number of
physical, mental, and ethical tests, he is accepted as a cadet. He
makes friends with fellow recruits William 'Tex' Jarman, Venus-born
Oscar Jensen, and Pierre Armand from Ganymede. His first roommate is
Girard Burke, the arrogant son of a wealthy spaceship builder. They
are transported to the orbiting school ship PRS James Randolph for
further training.Burke eventually either resigns or is asked to leave,
and goes into the merchant service, but the remainder do well enough
to be assigned to working Patrol ships. Dodson, Jarman and Jensen ship
out on the Aes Triplex. Their first real mission is to help search for
a missing research vessel, the Pathfinder, in the Asteroid Belt. They
find it, but all aboard are dead, the unlucky victims of a fast-moving
asteroid that punctured the ship when the armored outer airlock door
was open. Before the accident, a researcher on the Pathfinder had
found evidence that the planet which blew up to form the asteroids was
inhabited by an intelligent species, and that the explosion had been
artificial. The captain of the Aes Triplex transfers half the crew to
the repaired Pathfinder so that they can take the ship and the news of
the startling discovery back to Earth quickly. With the remainder
(including all three cadets), he plots a slower, fuel efficient,
elliptical voyage back to earth.Then, he receives an urgent message to
investigate an incident on Venus. He sends Lieutenant Thurlow and the
cadets to the planet's surface. The lander touches down on a sinkhole,
giving the crew barely enough time to get out before it disappears in
the mud. With Thurlow comatose, injured when the lander fell over,
Jensen assumes command. He contacts the sentient usually-friendly
Venerians, but the entire party is taken captive. They soon find out
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