Project Gutenberg 2021-03-03 Public domain in the USA. 142 Coppel, Alfred 1921 2004 Gilman, Robert Cham Marin, A. C. Coppel, Alfredo José de Arana-Marini Coppel, Alfredo Jose de Arana-Marini Galaxan, Sol The First Man on the Moon Produced from Planet Stories Spring 1950 Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The First Man on the Moon" by Alfred Coppel is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. The narrative revolves around John Thurmon, a character who is consumed by the ambition of being the first human to land on the moon, yet his journey is tainted by a crime—he has murdered his friend Wayne to ensure that he alone achieves fame. The story intertwines themes of ambition, isolation, and the psychological toll of achieving one’s dreams at any cost. In the story, John Thurmon finds himself alone on the lunar surface following the crash landing of his rocket, having killed his companion Wayne to secure his legacy as the first man on the moon. As he revels in his triumph, he struggles with the reality of his actions and the fear of dying alone. The story takes a dark turn when Thurmon's sense of victory is shattered by the uncanny appearance of Wayne’s corpse, a manifestation of his guilt and madness. Ultimately, Thurmon's mental state deteriorates as he confronts the consequences of his ambition, leading to a tragic and violent climax that underscores the destructive nature of his obsessive quest for glory. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 87.0 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Murderers -- Fiction Space flight to the moon -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery 37477 2025-07-25T13:12:30.328098 text/html 13433 2024-10-18T11:35:40 text/html 407340 2025-07-25T13:12:32.212100 application/epub+zip 406152 2025-07-25T13:12:30.784148 application/epub+zip 79735 2025-07-25T13:12:30.528079 application/epub+zip 439199 2025-07-25T13:12:33.378111 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 432225 2025-07-25T13:12:31.982074 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 106006 2022-09-29T06:38:03.260820 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 31203 2025-07-25T13:12:30.235086 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 11392 2024-10-18T11:35:40 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17432 2025-07-25T13:12:33.507094 application/rdf+xml 30724 2025-07-25T13:12:30.637098 image/jpeg 5110 2025-07-25T13:12:30.581101 image/jpeg 467169 2025-07-25T13:12:30.340136 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