Project Gutenberg 2009-11-01 Public domain in the USA. 87 Haseltine, Robert W. Terry, W. E. 1921 1992 Terry, Willis E. Terry, Bill Prelude to Space Reading ease score: 83.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Prelude to Space" by Robert W. Haseltine is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. The narrative revolves around themes of extraterrestrial life and humanity's readiness for space exploration. Haseltine explores the idea of interstellar civilizations and the processes involved in determining if Earth is prepared to join a galactic community. The story unfolds through the protagonist's encounter with a mysterious stranger who claims to be a poll taker from another planet. During a conversation on a Wisconsin hill, the stranger discusses the Galactic Federation and the criteria for Earth's admission into this interstellar organization. He explains that his civilization assesses whether Earth is ready based on the beliefs and readiness of its inhabitants regarding peace and space travel. The encounter leads to a realization of humanity's potential and the responsibilities that come with reaching out into the cosmos. Ultimately, the protagonist is left pondering the implications of this visit and the future of Earth in relation to other civilizations. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 34251 34252 2024-11-19T03:14:19.286237 2023-09-13T10:08:05.812477 text/html text/html 10023 2024-10-24T20:30:18 text/html 180824 2024-11-19T03:14:33.558135 application/epub+zip 179206 2024-11-19T03:14:27.112231 application/epub+zip 100402 2024-11-19T03:14:21.914176 application/epub+zip 293507 2024-11-19T03:14:39.780079 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 230392 2024-11-19T03:14:32.790171 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 124334 2022-09-14T06:04:31.910389 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 27757 27791 2024-11-19T03:14:18.916254 2023-09-13T10:08:05.616466 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 8000 2024-10-24T20:30:18 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 27777 2021-01-05T19:40:27 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 21284 2024-11-19T03:14:39.916105 application/rdf+xml 12643 2024-11-19T03:14:26.495177 image/jpeg 3367 2024-11-19T03:14:26.227198 image/jpeg 110558 2021-01-05T19:40:27 application/octet-stream application/zip 10569 2021-01-05T19:40:27 application/octet-stream application/zip 178513 2024-11-19T03:14:19.298237 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog