# What SF novels would YOU shoot into space on a roadster? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123 "2018-02-19T15:49:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123/1 "2018-02-19T15:49:35Z")
A couple of weeks ago, as many of you know, Elon Musk [launched his car into space](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk%27s_Tesla_Roadster) on a billion-year orbit, give or take some eons depending on material degradation and/or chance impact of meteoroids or planets. He also, however, included a couple of bonus items in the payload: A copy of _The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ in the glovebox, and a copy of Asimov’s _Foundation_ trilogy encoded on a new type of optical storage crystal. That got me wondering, though: what sci-fi books would everyone HERE have included, if they’d built and launched their own car probe? According to whatever criteria you personally choose—'could be books that are humourously apropos, or have some message you wish to carry into the future, or are just a personal favorite. Your choice. My own picks? So far: -_The Man Who Sold the Moon_—Robert A. Heinlein. Seems appropriate, somehow. -_From the Earth to the Moon_—Jules Verne. Also seems appropriate, plus for historical, sentimental reasons. 'Be better from a gun-launch, of course, but hey, whacha gonna do? …aaand, I thought I had a couple of more ideas, but know I can’t remember what they are. Drat. So…anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123/2 "2018-02-19T16:37:53Z")
Well, I definitely wouldn’t include **The Dark Forest** , sequel to **The Three-Body Problem,** as it’s hard to think of a novel more inclined to convinced aliens to destroy our planet. At the other extreme, I’d send **The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet** , a lovely recent book that would convince aliens that humans are good folk worth having around. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123/3 "2018-02-19T17:12:29Z")
Well, since the dash said “Don’t Panic”, HHGttG would have seemed the appropriate choice. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123/4 "2018-02-21T01:01:02Z")
_The Getaway Special_ by Jerry Oltion. I’ve never read it, but it’s about the development of a cheap (as in, a few dollars) starship drive, which effectively lets anyone become a space explorer. Seems appropriate. Also, _The Martian_ by Andy Weir, since I think Mark Watney, the hero, would find the idea amusing. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123/5 "2018-02-21T01:07:33Z")
_The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ was a great choice. _The Man Who Sold the Moon_ was what I thought of before I saw you included it, so I’ll add a vote for it. A copy of Heavy Metal might also be good. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123/6 "2018-02-21T15:25:08Z")
That depends. Do we have the option of launching _all_ copies of the work? ---
**Author:** ![snowmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sf-novels-would-you-shoot-into-space-on-a-roadster/809123/7 "2018-02-22T19:52:07Z")
In a roadster? I could send only one. On the Beach, if we don’t mind considering that Sci-Fi