Project Gutenberg 2020-12-03 Public domain in the USA. 106 Coppel, Alfred 1921 2004 Gilman, Robert Cham Marin, A. C. Coppel, Alfredo José de Arana-Marini Coppel, Alfredo Jose de Arana-Marini Galaxan, Sol Mayan, Earl 1916 2009 Mayan, Earl Eugene Task to Luna Produced from Planet Stories January 1951 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Task to Luna" by Alfred Coppel is a science fiction novella published in the early 1950s. The story revolves around a tense confrontation between an American and a Russian astronaut on the Moon, exploring themes of nationalism, competition, and the absurdities of conflict in the face of a larger unknown. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the novella captures the intense atmosphere of the space race that characterized this period. In the narrative, two astronauts, Randick and a nameless Russian pilot, arrive on the Moon with the intention of establishing their respective countries' dominance in space. As Randick navigates the harsh lunar landscape, he confronts the Russian and ultimately finds himself in a comedic yet poignant situation where their guns are drawn against each other, but their fates change dramatically as they witness an impending invasion from an unknown force. In a moment of shared humanity, they break into laughter despite the grave circumstances, symbolizing a fleeting connection amidst the absurdity of their rivalry before the arrival of yet another potential threat from space. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 84.0 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Space flight to the moon -- Fiction Cold War -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels Category: American Literature 35852 2025-06-25T09:08:37.366429 text/html 11758 2024-10-18T08:49:48 text/html 620156 2025-06-25T09:08:39.023487 application/epub+zip 618962 2025-06-25T09:08:37.789450 application/epub+zip 71073 2025-06-25T09:08:37.544490 application/epub+zip 652697 2025-06-25T09:08:40.115440 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 645438 2025-06-25T09:08:38.818527 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 97931 2022-09-28T20:04:47.970680 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 29685 2023-09-27T09:27:20.153491 text/plain 9867 2024-10-18T08:49:48 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17343 2025-06-25T09:08:41.152447 application/rdf+xml 33104 2025-06-25T09:08:37.649445 image/jpeg 5403 2025-06-25T09:08:37.593426 image/jpeg 696090 2025-06-25T09:08:37.382506 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 en.wikipedia en.wikipedia