The astronauts

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The Astronauts ( Polish Astronauci , published 1951; German translation also under the title The Planet of Death ) is one of Stanisław Lem's early works . The science fiction - novel deals with the exploration of the planet Venus .

action

The novel is set in 2003. The earth is politically united. In the Siberian taiga, near the Tunguska River , almost 100 years after the devastating explosion that took place there, an enigmatic object is found, which it turns out to be of extraterrestrial origin and originated from an exploded spaceship. It contains a kilometer-long magnetized wire. It is possible to decipher a large part of the message stored on the metal reel, but the rest remains indecipherable for the time being.

The message consists of the analysis data of the on-board devices of the spaceship about the earth, which suggests that the spaceship came from Venus and was probably the harbinger of an invasion of the inhabitants of Venus on Earth. At the same time, it becomes clear from the scientists' calculations that the ship was an unmanned probe . The recorder found was a type of flight recorder . After the message has been partially deciphered, it is decided to send an expedition to Venus.

The team of the expedition spacecraft Kosmokrator consists primarily of scientists and the pilot Robert Smith, who is also the fictional narrator. The characters - the Russian astronomer Arsenyev, the Indian mathematician Chandrasekhar, the Chinese physicist Lao Tsu, the Polish engineer Soltyk, the German chemist Rainer and the Russian doctor Tarland - are consistently positive and harmonious. They are not the typical scientists who only and exclusively live for their work, but also people who have matured inside. During the long journey to the neighboring planet, the members of the expedition tell each other inspiring stories, one of which is Smith's failed expedition to Kangchenjunga .

When the cosmocrator reaches Venus, Smith is asked to conduct a preliminary exploration because the spaceship needs a suitable place to land. In doing so, he discovers the “dead forest”, a strange artifact from the past. Smith finds a lake on which the Cosmocrator can descend. In the depths of this, the expedition discovers a pipe, also of artificial origin. When they trace the course of the pipe, a strange white ball is found. The tubes, of which there are many, are in truth powerful conductors of energy. On one of the flights there, a group with Arsenjew and Smith gets into an emergency: Their helicopter is smashed against a rock by magnetic currents and destroyed, so that they have to walk the long way back. According to their calculations, oxygen is becoming scarce and they experience adventures in the strange world of the planet, where they also discover an artificial cave with data carriers.

More adventures follow when the enigmatic white ball becomes invisible and several of the companions disappear. Eventually the expedition discovers a city of the planet's former inhabitants. They examine the remains of civilization and sift through chronicles of the former inhabitants of Venus. They show that this civilization was actually planning an invasion of the earth and wanted to destroy all earthly life. But the strangers consisted of several hostile groups that were themselves at war with one another. As one of the parties faced victory, the other deployed the deuteron charges of the "dead forest," which had originally been a weapon to extinguish life on earth. The inhabitants of Venus destroyed themselves long before the expedition.

Quotes

“ The inhabitants of Venus had a highly developed culture; but all the excellent designers and builders among them had put themselves and their immense skills at the service of destruction. Such a community of living beings had to turn against itself sooner or later. "

“ Beings [...] who set themselves the goal of destroying others carry the seeds of their own ruin - no matter how powerful they are. "

classification

Lem rated his novel in the preface to the 8th Polish edition as "naive". He does not only mean the technical descriptions that have since been overtaken by reality (such as the "electronic brain " Marax ), but also the spirit of the socialist utopia on which the novel is based and which naive the world want to do better than it actually is.

Others

The continued success of this novel enabled Lem to live as a freelance writer. The astronaut was not only translated into German, but also appeared in English, Finnish, French, Japanese, Dutch, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Czech and Hungarian. The novel was the template for the GDR's first “ utopian film ”, which was made in 1960 under the direction of Kurt Maetzig as a German-Polish co-production under the title Der schweigende Stern / Milcząca Gwiazda at DEFA .

Publications:

Web links

  • Cover of Vol. 1 Advance to the Evening Star [1]