Search Worlds Without End

Strange objects have been sighted on the moon near Mons Pico and suspecting a communist plot the British Government hurriedly plans a mission to photograph the domes from above closer range. The rocket is not large enough to send a man - enter Chris Godfrey, a 17-year old science whizz with an interest in rocketry and crucially less than 5 feet tall!

The launch site is Woomera Rocket Research Station in South Australia but there may be a Soviet traitor amongst the ground crew...

Published in the US at Blast Off at 0300.

To the lunar domes previously photographed in Blast Off at Woomera and situated near Mons Pico has been added a cone emitting powerful neutron radiation which is causing havoc to the Earth's nuclear power stations. The diminutive Chris Godfrey has the job of piloting a British rocket to plant a homing beacon next to the cone to enable a strike by American rockets carrying Soviet nuclear warheads...

Published in the U. S. as Menace from the Moon.

Both America and Russia plan manned missions to the Moon to examine the wreckage of the structures destroyed in The Domes of Pico. The American astronaut, Morrison Kant, breaks his leg shortly before takeoff, so Chris Godfrey steps in. Both spacecraft arrive at the same time. Unlike Chris Godfrey, the Russian pilot, Serge Smyslov, is unable to leave his Lunar Rover vehicle and both head for the wrecked domes, leading to a tense standoff...

The book predates the first use of a Lunar Rover by 11 years.

Published in the U. S. as First on the Moon.

Thousands of young people are terminally ill as a result of the radiation produced by the lunar structures destroyed in The Domes of Pico. In an attempt to determine whether the fall-out from the domes can have a curative effect on the disease a joint East-West mission is planned under the auspices of the newly formed United Nations EXploration Agency (UNEXA).

The mission is commanded by Chris Godfrey, accompanied by American, Morrison 'Morrey' Kant and Russian Serge Smyslov. The 'patient' will be Tony Hale, from Aston near Birmingham (who goes on to feature in the rest of the series). The mission starts well, but is soon in trouble when a supply rocket crashes...

Published in the U. S. as Outpost on the Moon.

An unmanned probe returning from Venus crashes in the African desert; a Venusian spore on board thrives in its new environment; a grey mold quickly spreading and killing all it touches. An urgent manned mission to Venus is launched from Lunaville, the now permanent Moon base.

Chris Godfrey, Morrey Kant, Serge Smyslov, Tony Hale and Pierre a scientist are sent to try and discover what limits the mould's growth in its natural environment. The plan is to collect samples from the Venusian atmosphere but in the end a forced landing is required...

The first man to pass close to Mars is driven insane by strange 'voices' he hears on his radio. He is unable to record the voices as the Van Allen radiation belts wipe the magnetic tapes clean, so doubt is cast on his account. U.N.E.X.A. (United Nations Exploration Agency) send their crack team (Chris Godfrey, Serge Smyslov, Morrey Kant and Tony Hale) to investigate. After landing on the planet's surface they find traces of an ancient civilization, but then a disembodied Martian appears and demands its people be transported to Earth, where they will enslave the human race. One-by-one the crew are taken over.

This novel introduces the concept of the Ion drive, allowing continuous acceleration of one-fifth g.

Tony Hale, skilled engineer and amateur radio ham, smuggles a home-made transceiver on board an Earth-orbiting satellite during his tour of duty. This proves invaluable as the commander of the satellite, Hendriks, is a megalomaniac and demands to be made 'Dictator of the World'. To back up this demand, he begins destroying swathes of the Earth's surface using a radiation beam. The only secure link between the Earth and the satellite is Tony's radio.

The first manned expedition to Jupiter reaches speeds never experienced before; despite this it takes several months to reach its objective, leading to tensions among the crew, as well as serious vision problems caused by "light slip" A miscalculation in the gravity of Jupiter means that they will not be able to stop in time and will crash into the giant planet. A diversion to the jagged Io offers their only chance of survival.

The manned expedition to Mercury is complicated by the fact that strong solar radiation makes communication with Earth impossible. U.N.E.X.A. decide that telepathy may be the answer. Telepathic twins Gill and Gail volunteer; one accompanying Chris Godfrey and the crew on the mission; the other remaining on Earth. As they near their objective, Gail notices increasingly disruptive personality changes in the crew caused by the radiation, their only chance of survival is to land on the 'dark' side of the planet; however the near absolute zero conditions lead to massive heat-loss. Can they be rescued before freezing to death...

The length of the trip to Saturn means that the crew will undergo 'hypothermia' for the duration of the flight, however a massive increase in meteor activity around Saturn threatens to cancel the mission as the computer on Earth will be unable to manoeuvre the craft at such long distances to avoid collisions. The solution - instantaneous telepathy; twins Gill and Gail maintain a telepathic carrier-wave even under hypothermia which can be modulated to carry telemetry. A landing is attempted on Titan but problems arise requiring the ship to be flown through the Cassini division, a narrow gap in the rings of Saturn...

A drilling project in Dudley in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom hits a cavern 20 miles beneath the surface of the Earth and detects strange microbes. U.N.E.X.A. send Russian Serge Smylov down to search for other forms of life in a rocket-propelled capsule but it is damaged when it hits the bottom of the cavern. Then strange creatures start attacking him...

Published in the U. S. as The Mohole Menace.

The book begins by announcing the death of Chris Godfrey and his three fellow astronauts after a fire and apparent break-up of their spacecraft as it approaches the orbit of Neptune as observed from Earth. The crew have however survived but are stranded as their hypothermia equipment is irreparably damaged.

Published in the U. S. by Washburn Books under the title of Neptune One Missing.

Radio signals begin flooding Earth from the vicinity of Uranus and two ships, each with a crew of four are sent to investigate. The signals are traced to an alien spaceship on Ariel, one of the moons of Uranus. The ships land and all but two enter the alien vessel to converse with the apparently friendly humanoid alien, Vari. One of the two remaining crewmen believe the alien to be malevolent and determines to destroy it...

Chris Godfrey is now deputy-director of UNEXA; he sends his former crew-mates to investigate unexplained perturbations in the orbit of Pluto. They discover that not only are their fuel tanks holed, but a super-dense wandering planet is on course to decimate the Solar system...

This was the last of Hugh Walter's 'exploration' novels as his realistic approach could not envisage travel further afield.

A series of unexplained disappearances from Lunar City leads to the assignment of Morrey Kant, Serge Smyslov and Tony Hale to investigate. Without any leads, Tony Hale devises a bold solo plan and is himself kidnapped.

On a crater on Mars an engineer from Mars Base has been found dead, his spacesuit slashed. Despite having a large number of suspects to interview, Morrey Kant, Serge Smyslov and Tony Hale's questioning flushes out a prime suspect. But Tony doesn't believe they have the right man and hatches a dangerous plan to find the real killer.

A multi-billionaire's grandson gets lost in the Caves of Drach in Majorca. The grandfather employs the team of astronauts (who are on holiday) to investigate. The expedition finds him in a huge and airy underground civilization peopled by practically immortal age-old humanoid beings who hail from the stars and took refuge underground when a Terran Ice-age threatened. The 'Cenobians' have a utopian civilization and avoid contact with the surface to keep it that way, and yet their advanced technology could bring an end to famine and disease.

The Moon's orbit suddenly starts to decay for reasons unknown; discovered when a solar eclipse arrives a few minutes early. The only hope of averting imminent disaster is an experimental anti-gravity device devised by an eccentric, elderly Welsh professor, who disillusioned with mankind, refuses to help...

A recent increase in UFO sightings on the island of Guernsey prompts the arrival of the Chris Godfrey and his friends. They meet 'The Visitors', angelic beings standing seven feet tall. But General Whittle believes the aliens are evil and plans to destroy them with a nuclear missile.

A plane carrying both the UK Prime Minister and US President goes missing over the Bermuda Triangle. Chris Godfrey and company investigate and are captured by strange creatures.