# Did anyone besides me wonder if Ad Astra was based on Nourse's Scavengers in Space? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-besides-me-wonder-if-ad-astra-was-based-on-nourses-scavengers-in-space/840714 "2019-09-23T17:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-besides-me-wonder-if-ad-astra-was-based-on-nourses-scavengers-in-space/840714/1 "2019-09-23T17:46:40Z")
Alan E. Nourse’s old science fiction tale _[del]Scavengers in Space[/del]_ _Rocket to Limbo_ begins with the phrase _ad astra_. And it’s a conventional slower-than-light-speed “generation” star ship in the first chapter, which disappears never to be seen nor heard from again, a mystery to the generations to follow. The current sci fi film _Ad Astra_ is apparently about a lower-than-light ship that, umm, takes off and disappears, never to be seen nor heard from again, a mystery to the generations to follow. As far as I can tell, though, _Ad Astra_ is not based on _Scavengers_. Did anyone else make the same surmise / wonder about the same connection? ETA: dammit, not _Scavengers in Space_, it’s the Nourse book _Rocket To Limbo_ that I’m thinking of! (could a mod change the misleading thread title, perhaps?) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-besides-me-wonder-if-ad-astra-was-based-on-nourses-scavengers-in-space/840714/2 "2019-09-23T18:14:18Z")
I have no idea, but it’s sure great to see a reference to him nearly 30 years after his too-soon death. Alan Nourse, MD wrote one of my favorite books, “Intern” as Doctor X; he revealed about a decade after its publication that he was its author. It blows me away how many people have read it and remember it; I mentioned it in passing on another board and (I kid you not) most of the people there had indeed read it. It was about his mid-1950s residency in Seattle, Washington, published in 1965. > **[Intern: Doctor X, (Alan E. Nourse): 9780060804916: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Intern-Doctor-X/dp/0060804912)** > > Intern \[Doctor X, (Alan E. Nourse)\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Intern ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-besides-me-wonder-if-ad-astra-was-based-on-nourses-scavengers-in-space/840714/3 "2019-09-23T20:44:17Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Alan E. Nourse’s old science fiction tale _[del]Scavengers in Space[/del]_ _Rocket to Limbo_ begins with the phrase _ad astra_. And it’s a conventional slower-than-light-speed “generation” star ship in the first chapter, which disappears never to be seen nor heard from again, a mystery to the generations to follow. > > The current sci fi film _Ad Astra_ is apparently about a lower-than-light ship that, umm, takes off and disappears, never to be seen nor heard from again, a mystery to the generations to follow. I don’t want to spoil anything but have you _seen_ the current movie Ad Astra? As for the phrase itself, it does go back a few years. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-besides-me-wonder-if-ad-astra-was-based-on-nourses-scavengers-in-space/840714/4 "2019-09-23T23:29:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t want to spoil anything but have you _seen_ the current movie Ad Astra? No, not yet. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-besides-me-wonder-if-ad-astra-was-based-on-nourses-scavengers-in-space/840714/5 "2019-09-23T23:33:34Z")
In that case, you should know that your guess as to the plot of Ad Astra is completely wrong.