On 20 July 1969 man first left his footprint on the Moon. One of science fiction's great dreams had been achieved. At the time, it seemed it must herald a new dawn in space exploration. Further lunar landings were planned, and there was no reason to doubt that there would be a working colony on the Moon by the end of the century. The pictures transmitted, especially that of the Earth seen from the Moon, looking alone and fragile in space, gave impetus to the ecological movement. The manned moon missions were one of those signifi cant moments in history that affects the beliefs, perceptions, hopes and desires of millions.

Science-fiction fans were jubilant. More drama was to follow with the near–tragedy of the Apollo 13mission when for four days the fate of three astronauts hung in the balance as they struggled to return safely to earth. John W. Campbell, Jr., the editor of Analogmagazine and generally acknowledged as the father of modern science fiction, called it ‘the greatest cliff–hanger in history’. But Campbell was also one of the first to recognize that the writing was on the wall for the Apollo programme. Just a few months after the Apollo 13mission he wrote:

Those words announced a story by Stanley Schmidt, ‘The Unreachable Stars’, which appeared in the April 1971 issue. The story is set on Earth millennia hence, where nuclear power provides all the fuel requirements but where technology has otherwise receded and there is little understanding of the nature of space and the stars. The belief that man had once travelled to the Moon is dismissed as legend. Benign aliens try to revive Earth's climb back to the stars. One of the aliens explains the shortsightedness of mankind since the twentieth century. Public pressure had forced governments to look inwards at domestic problems such as pollution, population and poverty.