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Balkis lose power and communication with
Houston and their crewmates in orbit. A Russian cosmonaut approaches them and extends his hand as though in friendship. Instinctively aware that the cosmonaut means Trasker harm, Balkis tackles him, and the cosmonaut slashes the leg of Balkis's spacesuit with a switchblade. Trasker kills the cosmonaut with a hatchet and disables the device cutting off their power, but Balkis's foot is caught in a crevasse between two rocks, and Trasker cannot free him. Telling Trasker he loves him, Balkis dies. Meanwhile, the Soviet ship in orbit is approaching Planetary Fleet One. Halleck, aware of Trasker's affair with his wife, tries to force Weickert at gunpoint to let him make the burn to take them out of orbit and leave Trasker to die. The two astronauts shoot each other; Halleck is killed, and Weickert ejects Halleck's body into space. Leaving Balkis's body on the surface, Trasker rejoins Weickert in orbit and rams the Soviet ship, sending it spinning into a fatal solar orbit. Trasker gets himself and the severely wounded Weickert back to the American space station in Earth's orbit.
246:
congressional commission, where hostile questioning by
Senator Kenny Williams, an enemy of the space program, forces Trasker to reveal the truth so as not to lie under oath; only Halleck's role remains concealed. The President still offers Trasker command of Planetary Fleet Two, but Trasker refuses unless the mission can be armed. With the President about to offer another astronaut command, nearly the entire astronaut corps releases a statement that they will not participate in any further missions unless Trasker commands the mission and the spacecraft is armed. The President relents, and Planetary Fleet Two launches for Mars commanded by Trasker. The Soviet space program launches its own mission to Mars on the same day.
171:. The book, one of Drury's longest and most complex, deals with a wide range of issues, including race, bureaucratic infighting, the role of the press, the effects of fame, and the way that Presidents behave. Drury speaks of his research into the space program in the foreword. The nature of the program, and the kinds of employees attracted to it, form the backbone of the story. Specifically political characters are important, but mainly shown in the way their actions affect the program. It was Drury's second novel to prominently feature a gay character after
226:
Halleck's wife, Monetta. In Geneva, a U.S./Soviet conference on space cooperation collapses. Weickert suggests to his crewmates that their spacecraft should be armed in case of Soviet attack. Halleck leaks the fact that NASA is considering arming the mission to Percy Mercy, an influential magazine editor, forcing NASA to hold a press conference at which
Halleck makes clear that he disagrees with his crewmates on the arming proposal. Andy Anderson, the
230:, decides to remove Halleck from the crew, but the President forces NASA to reinstate him and denies the request to arm the spacecraft. Halleck's ferocious reaction to his temporary removal causes Monetta to leave him and begin a brief affair with Trasker. Meanwhile, the spy satellite reveals that the Soviets have accelerated their launch preparations, causing the U.S. to move its own launch up by two months.
238:
section on the day of the launch turns violent when a mob attacks the
President and vice-president; they are unhurt, but Clete O'Donnell, leading the demonstration, is killed by his own bomb. Launching successfully, Planetary Fleet One heads to the Moon for a test phase prior to departure for Mars. Although the spacecraft is not armed, all four astronauts bring guns in their personal packs.
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Shortly after
Planetary Fleet One enters lunar orbit, the crew sights the Soviet spacecraft in orbit with them. With no proof that the Soviets' intentions are hostile, the President and NASA instruct the crew to continue their flight plan. While testing the Marsrover on the lunar surface, Trasker and
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Back on Earth, a congressional investigation into
Planetary Fleet One begins. The President urges Trasker to downplay the Soviet role in the tragedy to avoid international tension, implying that he will be given command of the next Mars flight if he does so. Trasker and Weickert testify before the
216:
to accelerate its existing plans for "Planetary Fleet One" (aka "Piffy One"), which is to be commanded by experienced astronaut Conrad "Connie" Trasker. NASA enrages many liberal opinion-makers and members of the media by naming a crew for the mission which does not include Dr. J. V. Halleck, the
237:
at
Kennedy Space Center, five people with press badges attempt to destroy the rockets with guns and bombs, but are restrained by reporters and security. Shortly before the launch, the Soviets send a crewed spacecraft toward the Moon from their orbiting space station. A protest in the VIP viewing
225:
Training begins with the new crew, somewhat hampered by
Halleck's resentment toward the other astronauts, who he assumes have racist attitudes toward him. The fourth member of the crew, Dr. Pete Balkis, harbors romantic feelings for his close friend Trasker, who (though married) is attracted to
221:
organized by Clete O'Donnell, a labor leader who is secretly a
Communist agent, results in an astronaut losing a leg to a bomb blast. Under intense political pressure, the U.S. president forces NASA to place Weickert and Halleck on the crew and invites the Soviets to participate in the mission.
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to reach Mars during which both Soviet and domestic enemies of the United States work to thwart, and possibly destroy, the
American mission. Drury wrote the book in 1969 and 1970 while living in
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only black member of the astronaut corps, or Jazz Weickert, a longtime astronaut who is a darling of the news media but unpopular in the Astronaut Office. A protest at
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commented that "Drury has overwhelmingly documented and sometimes overdocumented the technical phases of Piffy One's training flight." A copy of
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was so heavy that "you may have to read it on the floor" and that Halleck "behaves like a total fruitcake throughout".
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said that "Drury's political blinkers diminish what might have been the first authoritative novel of the space age."
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In the late 1970s, an American spy satellite discovers Soviet preparations for a crewed mission to Mars, causing
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that explores the preparations for a near-future crewed mission to the planet
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545:"Into the Wild Blue Yonder: Drury Makes Space War Much Too Melodramatic"
192:-led communist threat to undermine the government of the United States.
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Political Fiction, the Spirit of the Age, and Allen Drury
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https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/panned-vs-savaged
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The Throne of Saturn: A Novel of Space and Politics
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233:During the rollout of Planetary Fleet One's three
286:'s desk when he resigned the Presidency in 1974.
161:The novel's title comes from a quatrain from the
516:: A Novel of Space and Politics by Allen Drury"
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29:The Throne of Saturn (short story collection)
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337:"Mixing power politics and a planetary trip"
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585:American Council of Learned Societies
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335:Jacoby, Alfred (February 21, 1971).
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23:. For the short story collection by
543:Barkham, John (February 14, 1971).
258:, it was panned by book reviewers.
19:This article is about the novel by
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468:The Book Lover's Guide to Florida
983:LGBTQ speculative fiction novels
296:
107:Print (hardback & paperback)
973:American science fiction novels
466:. In McCarthy, Kevin M. (ed.).
399:"At 50, a D.C. Novel With Legs"
1008:Novels set in Washington, D.C.
998:Novels set during the Cold War
435:Bowling Green State University
177:. In this book, he deals with
1:
501:Retrieved September 2, 2023.
368:"Just How Gay Is the Right?"
167:which appears as the book's
978:Doubleday (publisher) books
953:1971 science fiction novels
579:American National Biography
464:"DeLand to Lake Okeechobee"
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572:Perrin, Tom (April 2014).
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968:American political novels
788:Toward What Bright Glory?
119:
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16:1971 novel by Allen Drury
1023:Space exploration novels
898:Egypt: The Eternal Smile
462:Adicks, Richard (1992).
437:Popular Press. pp.
164:Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
683:Come Nineveh, Come Tyre
404:The Wall Street Journal
1018:Novels with gay themes
1013:Novels set on the Moon
890:Courage and Hesitation
882:A Very Strange Society
756:A God Against the Gods
254:While this book was a
184:Drury, a staunch anti-
1003:Novels set in Houston
993:Novels by Allen Drury
963:American LGBTQ novels
796:Into What Far Harbor?
659:A Shade of Difference
550:The Victoria Advocate
397:(September 2, 2009).
271:The Victoria Advocate
181:and unrequited love.
948:1971 American novels
925:Advise & Consent
831:The Throne of Saturn
748:Ancient Egypt series
675:Preserve and Protect
514:THE THRONE OF SATURN
280:The Throne of Saturn
266:The Throne of Saturn
219:Kennedy Space Center
194:The Throne of Saturn
134:The Throne of Saturn
721:Mark Coffin, U.S.S.
703:Mark Coffin, U.S.S.
425:Kemme, Tom (1987).
312:Politics in fiction
276:Copley News Service
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958:1970s LGBTQ novels
917:Advise and Consent
737:The Roads of Earth
729:The Hill of Summer
691:The Promise of Joy
651:Advise and Consent
641:Advise and Consent
373:The New York Times
228:NASA Administrator
196:depicts a renewed
174:Advise and Consent
988:Novels about NASA
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472:Sarasota, Florida
202:Maitland, Florida
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96:Publication place
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855:A Thing of State
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667:Capable of Honor
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928:(1962 film)
920:(1960 play)
909:Adaptations
866:Non-fiction
823:That Summer
633:Allen Drury
410:February 2,
379:January 13,
364:Rich, Frank
348:January 22,
147:Allen Drury
56:Allen Drury
21:Allen Drury
942:Categories
804:Public Men
777:University
318:References
256:bestseller
198:Space Race
179:homophobia
157:Background
137:is a 1971
631:Works by
250:Reception
235:Saturn Vs
186:Communist
125:73-138928
115:588 pages
90:Doubleday
85:Published
74:Political
847:Pentagon
839:Decision
439:165, 170
290:See also
169:epigraph
62:Language
282:was on
65:English
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893:(1971)
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643:series
581:Online
524:. 1970
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190:Soviet
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27:, see
112:Pages
88:1971
80:novel
70:Genre
592:2014
559:2014
553:: 15
530:2014
480:ISBN
443:ISBN
412:2016
381:2016
350:2015
214:NASA
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145:by
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