Project Gutenberg 2009-11-01 Public domain in the USA. 111 Haseltine, Robert W. Terry, W. E. 1921 1992 Terry, Willis E. Terry, Bill Prelude to Space Produced from Imagination May 1954. 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.) Reading ease score: 83.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: American Literature 34374 2025-08-12T11:51:00.225326 text/html 10023 2024-10-24T20:30:18 text/html 180839 2025-08-12T11:51:03.980300 application/epub+zip 179148 2025-08-12T11:51:01.880382 application/epub+zip 100376 2025-08-12T11:51:00.806367 application/epub+zip 293493 2025-08-12T11:51:05.582287 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 230392 2025-08-12T11:51:03.317405 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 124334 2022-09-14T06:04:31.910389 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 27757 2025-08-12T11:50:59.971334 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 8000 2024-10-24T20:30:18 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 27777 2021-01-05T19:40:27 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20272 2025-08-12T11:51:05.723290 application/rdf+xml 12643 2025-08-12T11:51:01.308361 image/jpeg 3367 2025-08-12T11:51:01.056325 image/jpeg 110558 2021-01-05T19:40:27 application/octet-stream application/zip 10569 2021-01-05T19:40:27 application/octet-stream application/zip 178554 2025-08-12T11:51:00.238338 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog