Space Tug

Murray Leinster Space Tug (1953)
As hard science-fiction, this one is harder than usual for Leinster. He spares us the sums and the lectures about protons, but it's otherwise an aspirationally realist prediction of our first forays beyond the Earth's atmosphere. He didn't get absolutely everything right, but he was close and it remains characteristically absorbing and entertaining despite the somewhat dry subject matter. That said, a slightly uncomfortable note is struck by Leinster's otherwise commendable drive for inclusivity which recruits both a Native American and a dwarf to the crew of our space tug.

He was a tiny man, but he had longings and the ambitions of half a dozen full-sized men in his small body. And he'd known frustration. He could prove by mathematics that space exploration could be carried on by midgets at a fraction of the risk and cost of the same job done by normal-sized men. He was, of course, quite right. The cabins and air and food for a space-ship's crew of midgets would cost and weigh only a fraction of what similar equipment for six-footers would require.

Later, when the crew return to Earth they are besieged by admirers and well-wishers, and so our little guy gets amorous fan mail, but it's okay because the lady in question is of similar height. It's well-intentioned, even quite progressive, but comes over as a bit Ricky Gervais now that we've hit the twenty-first century.

Nevertheless, Leinster nearly always scores high in terms of basic readability, and Space Tug is no exception.