Project Gutenberg 2016-02-18 Public domain in the USA. 175 Ludwig, Edward W. 1920 1990 Ludwig, Edward William Thorne Spacemen Die at Home Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction October 1951 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Spacemen Die at Home" by Edward W. Ludwig is a science fiction novel written in the early 1950s. Set in a future where interplanetary travel is becoming a reality, the book primarily explores themes of ambition, the intrinsic pull of the stars, and the personal sacrifices that come with the pursuit of dreams. It reflects on the duality of human desires—the longing for exploration versus the longing for stability and companionship. The narrative follows Ben, a young man freshly graduated from the U.S. Academy of Interplanetary Flight, as he grapples with the choice between a life of adventure as a spaceman or a more grounded existence on Earth with the woman he loves, Laura. Through his interactions with Stardust Charlie, an aging spaceman who embodies both the glory and the grim realities of life in space, Ben reflects on the costs of cosmic exploration. After Charlie's unexpected death and the emotional turmoil that follows, Ben ultimately chooses to stay on Earth, opting for a conventional life filled with love, family, and security—a poignant reminder of the sacrifices often made for one's dreams. The story captures the essence of existential dilemma, poignantly emphasizing that not all dreams can be fulfilled without losing something precious in the process. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 85.1 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Space travelers -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels Category: American Literature 54459 2025-06-20T14:32:47.729060 text/html 30794 2024-10-23T00:04:40 text/html 145411 2025-06-20T14:32:49.756083 application/epub+zip 144259 2025-06-20T14:32:48.148070 application/epub+zip 86572 2025-06-20T14:32:47.920120 application/epub+zip 183037 2025-06-20T14:32:51.195083 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 175368 2025-06-20T14:32:49.525057 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 117858 2022-09-23T10:26:42.660680 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 47266 2023-09-22T08:46:57.430427 text/plain 27446 2024-10-23T00:04:40 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16491 2025-06-20T14:32:51.480087 application/rdf+xml 22106 2025-06-20T14:32:47.997103 image/jpeg 4147 2025-06-20T14:32:47.958055 image/jpeg 132174 2025-06-20T14:32:47.741115 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