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* CourtroomAntics: To entertain themselves, the passengers stage a mock courtroom where people are randomly selected to be "cross-examined" about the reason for their trip to the Moon. The "court" does tap into the HiddenDepths of several characters, but is essentially in good fun.
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* HiddenDepths: We learn a great deal about the passengers trapped aboard ''Selene'' over the course of the story.
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* ManlyTears: [[spoiler:Safe at last, Harris can no longer help himself when he feels ''Selene'' explode beneath him.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Harris:''' Good old bus - she lasted just long enough.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Harris:''' Good old bus - she lasted just long enough.]]
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* AbsentAliens: Astronauts have myths of "Outsiders," an idea born of long isolation in alien environments. They aren't implied to actually exist.
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* GettingHotInHere: As the temperature inside ''Selene'' starts to rapidly climb, Harris and Hansteen advise the passengers to remove unnecessary clothing (though they don't initially let on that the heat is a serious danger, to avoid panic). Everyone aboard remains in a state of partial undress throughout the rest of the ordeal.
* HumanInterestStory: Maurice Spenser is highly motivated to make his news network the first to report on developments surrounding the ''Selene'' disaster.
* HumanInterestStory: Maurice Spenser is highly motivated to make his news network the first to report on developments surrounding the ''Selene'' disaster.
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* InsufferableGenius: Dr. Lawson, whose misanthropy and lack of patience for others are implied to stem from a lonely childhood at a [[OrphanageOfFear Dickens-esque orphanage]]. Until it [[BurnTheOrphanage burned down]].
* IntrepidReporter: Senior Interplanet News journalist Maurice Spenser hires a freighter to land atop the mountain range at the center of the Sea of Thirst, all to get a close enough look at the rescue operation as it happens.
* IntrepidReporter: Senior Interplanet News journalist Maurice Spenser hires a freighter to land atop the mountain range at the center of the Sea of Thirst, all to get a close enough look at the rescue operation as it happens.
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* RetiredBadass: Commodore Hansteen, veteran astronaut. His fame is such that he boards ''Selene'' under a pseudonym to avoid attracting attention. He coolly steps up to aid Harris and Wilkins in marshaling the passengers, and is a natural leader of high enough caliber that he has to rein himself in to avoid subverting Harris's authority.
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* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Eyeglasses have chiefly fallen out of use, but remain a cultural hallmark of doctors and lawyers. Attorney-at-law Irving Schuster sports a pair.
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* AlmostOutOfOxygen: On paper, ''Selene'' has a few days' worth of usable air; however, the pent-up heat produced by the ship and passengers, unable to radiate away underneath fifteen meters of moondust, causes the onboard air purifier to fail and dramatically shortens the remaining supply. An air supply piped down from the surface only reaches ''Selene'' in time thanks to the cruiser's stock of injectable sleep aids keeping almost everyone unconscious. By the time the air pipe cuts through the inner hull, Harris is so loopy from [=CO2=] poisoning that he nearly scuttles the attempt by opening the supply valve too early while the pipe's other end is still in vacuum.
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* AfraidOfNeedles: Although the sleep aids aboard ''Selene'' are [[FuturisticJetInjector more advanced and less painful than a regular needle]], one passenger outright refuses the shot, initially claiming [[AgainstMyReligion religious reasons]]. [[spoiler:The truth is promptly revealed that he's [[RecoveredAddict freshly recovering from a drug addiction]] and has been psychologically conditioned against being injected with anything.]]
* AlmostOutOfOxygen: On paper, ''Selene'' has a few days' worth of usable air; however, the pent-up heat produced by the ship and passengers, unable to radiate away underneath fifteen meters of moondust, causes the onboard air purifier tofail and dramatically shortens the fail, creating a soon-to-be-deadly carbon dioxide buildup despite plenty of remaining supply. An oxygen. A fresh air supply piped down from the surface only reaches ''Selene'' in time thanks to the cruiser's stock of injectable sleep aids keeping almost everyone unconscious. By the time the air pipe cuts through the inner hull, Harris is so loopy from [=CO2=] poisoning that he nearly scuttles the attempt by opening the supply valve too early while the pipe's other end is still in vacuum.
* AlmostOutOfOxygen: On paper, ''Selene'' has a few days' worth of usable air; however, the pent-up heat produced by the ship and passengers, unable to radiate away underneath fifteen meters of moondust, causes the onboard air purifier to
* CoolBoat: ''Selene'' manages to merge this with CoolStarship, although the former fits more closely given its uniqueness as a "boat."
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* LockedInAFreezer: The temperature-inverse variety. ''Selene'' is buried under fifteen meters of dust with an unusable radio, a [[AlmostOutOfOxygen rapidly dwindling oxygen supply]], and no way to dump waste heat.
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* InstantSedation: The sleep aid injectors used to render the passengers unconscious appear to work pretty much instantaneously.
* LockedInAFreezer: The temperature-inverse variety. ''Selene'' is buried under fifteen meters of dust with an unusable radio, a [[AlmostOutOfOxygen rapidly dwindlingoxygen air supply]], and no way to dump waste heat.
* LockedInAFreezer: The temperature-inverse variety. ''Selene'' is buried under fifteen meters of dust with an unusable radio, a [[AlmostOutOfOxygen rapidly dwindling
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* StellarName: ''Selene'' is named for the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek goddess of the Moon]].
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''A Fall of Moondust'' is a 1961 ScienceFiction novel by Creator/ArthurCClarke. Set sometime in the 21st century, the story takes place in and around the Sea of Thirst, a fictional region of UsefulNotes/TheMoon bearing a sea of incredibly fine moondust that [[SandIsWater behaves like water, upon which "buoyant" objects can float]]. The Lunar tourism authority operates the dust-cruiser ''Selene'', a vessel which rides atop the surface like a boat and takes passengers on sightseeing tours across the Sea of Thirst.
When an ill-timed moonquake creates a disturbance that swallows ''Selene'' beneath the surface and cuts the dust-cruiser off from outside communication, the routine trip becomes a race to stay alive long enough to be rescued, and indeed for those above the surface to even discover that a rescue is needed. Coordinating the effort to survive and stay sane are ''Selene'' captain Pat Harris and flight attendant Sue Wilkins; aided by the vessel's diverse passengers, including [[RetiredBadass retired legendary astronaut]] Commodore Hansteen. The search and rescue effort from above is headed by Lunar Chief Engineer Robert Lawrence and [[InsufferableGenius prickly astronomer]] Dr. Thomas Lawson, who are faced with a ticking clock, their own disdain for each other, and every nasty surprise the Sea of Thirst has left to throw at them.
The book was nominated for a UsefulNotes/HugoAward for Best Novel in 1963.
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!! ''A Fall of Moondust'' contains examples of:
* AlmostOutOfOxygen: On paper, ''Selene'' has a few days' worth of usable air; however, the pent-up heat produced by the ship and passengers, unable to radiate away underneath fifteen meters of moondust, causes the onboard air purifier to fail and dramatically shortens the remaining supply. An air supply piped down from the surface only reaches ''Selene'' in time thanks to the cruiser's stock of injectable sleep aids keeping almost everyone unconscious. By the time the air pipe cuts through the inner hull, Harris is so loopy from [=CO2=] poisoning that he nearly scuttles the attempt by opening the supply valve too early while the pipe's other end is still in vacuum.
* ColonizedSolarSystem: The Moon is developed enough to have its own bureau for tourism, and humans such as Hansteen have ventured to the very outer worlds. The largest settlement on the Moon has a population of just over 50,000.
* DistantFinale: [[spoiler:The final chapter takes place one year after the rescue, featuring Harris setting out on his last tour as captain of the successor vessel ''Selene II'' before transferring to the Space Service.]]
* FightToSurvive: The task of those aboard ''Selene'' is buying enough time for the rescue party to dig them out, with the ingenuity of the rescuers pitted against the clock.
* LockedInAFreezer: The temperature-inverse variety. ''Selene'' is buried under fifteen meters of dust with an unusable radio, a [[AlmostOutOfOxygen rapidly dwindling oxygen supply]], and no way to dump waste heat.
* NoAntagonist: Only the Moon's natural environment.
* OutrunTheFireball: [[spoiler:Moments after Harris, the last person aboard, climbs free of the escape tunnel to safety, the fire that had started in the washroom reaches the liquid oxygen tanks, and there's a shudder and a blast of smoke from the tunnel signaling the explosive collapse of ''Selene''.]]
* QuicksandSucks: While it isn't quite sand, the lunar dust upon which ''Selene'' sails has the same effect when the dust-cruiser is sucked beneath the surface. Averted, however, when Lawrence falls off a dust-ski into the Sea of Thirst during the search effort; he initially panics, before discovering that he's nowhere near dense enough to sink in his pressurized space suit.
* TheRadioDiesFirst: ''Selene'' is cut off from radio contact by the thick dust above as soon as it sinks. Hearing nothing from the craft, ground controllers and Lunar administration initially assume it was crushed by a rockslide.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: At first, everybody on the surface is certain the crew and passengers are already dead. It takes the persistence of Dr. Lawson (who's motivated in the attempt more by curiosity over whether his detection system works properly than any belief that ''Selene'' is still intact) for them to realize there's still people to save.
* SandIsWater: The incredibly fine moondust that makes up the Sea of Thirst is a comparable example, and even flows similarly to water in the Lunar environment. Both ''Selene'' and the Lunar engineers' smaller dust-skis "float" and propel themselves across the surface like watercraft.
* SinkingShipScenario: Systems are starting to fail on ''Selene'' because of the dust crushing the already-sunken craft. [[spoiler:At one point, it sinks even deeper.]]
* TourismDerailingEvent: A fear of Lunar administration in the wake of the apparent loss of ''Selene'' and its passengers. [[spoiler:The epilogue implies tourism on the Moon is as alive as ever following the rescue, with passenger volume higher than before and Harris commanding the larger ''Selene II''.]]
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When an ill-timed moonquake creates a disturbance that swallows ''Selene'' beneath the surface and cuts the dust-cruiser off from outside communication, the routine trip becomes a race to stay alive long enough to be rescued, and indeed for those above the surface to even discover that a rescue is needed. Coordinating the effort to survive and stay sane are ''Selene'' captain Pat Harris and flight attendant Sue Wilkins; aided by the vessel's diverse passengers, including [[RetiredBadass retired legendary astronaut]] Commodore Hansteen. The search and rescue effort from above is headed by Lunar Chief Engineer Robert Lawrence and [[InsufferableGenius prickly astronomer]] Dr. Thomas Lawson, who are faced with a ticking clock, their own disdain for each other, and every nasty surprise the Sea of Thirst has left to throw at them.
The book was nominated for a UsefulNotes/HugoAward for Best Novel in 1963.
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!! ''A Fall of Moondust'' contains examples of:
* AlmostOutOfOxygen: On paper, ''Selene'' has a few days' worth of usable air; however, the pent-up heat produced by the ship and passengers, unable to radiate away underneath fifteen meters of moondust, causes the onboard air purifier to fail and dramatically shortens the remaining supply. An air supply piped down from the surface only reaches ''Selene'' in time thanks to the cruiser's stock of injectable sleep aids keeping almost everyone unconscious. By the time the air pipe cuts through the inner hull, Harris is so loopy from [=CO2=] poisoning that he nearly scuttles the attempt by opening the supply valve too early while the pipe's other end is still in vacuum.
* ColonizedSolarSystem: The Moon is developed enough to have its own bureau for tourism, and humans such as Hansteen have ventured to the very outer worlds. The largest settlement on the Moon has a population of just over 50,000.
* DistantFinale: [[spoiler:The final chapter takes place one year after the rescue, featuring Harris setting out on his last tour as captain of the successor vessel ''Selene II'' before transferring to the Space Service.]]
* FightToSurvive: The task of those aboard ''Selene'' is buying enough time for the rescue party to dig them out, with the ingenuity of the rescuers pitted against the clock.
* LockedInAFreezer: The temperature-inverse variety. ''Selene'' is buried under fifteen meters of dust with an unusable radio, a [[AlmostOutOfOxygen rapidly dwindling oxygen supply]], and no way to dump waste heat.
* NoAntagonist: Only the Moon's natural environment.
* OutrunTheFireball: [[spoiler:Moments after Harris, the last person aboard, climbs free of the escape tunnel to safety, the fire that had started in the washroom reaches the liquid oxygen tanks, and there's a shudder and a blast of smoke from the tunnel signaling the explosive collapse of ''Selene''.]]
* QuicksandSucks: While it isn't quite sand, the lunar dust upon which ''Selene'' sails has the same effect when the dust-cruiser is sucked beneath the surface. Averted, however, when Lawrence falls off a dust-ski into the Sea of Thirst during the search effort; he initially panics, before discovering that he's nowhere near dense enough to sink in his pressurized space suit.
* TheRadioDiesFirst: ''Selene'' is cut off from radio contact by the thick dust above as soon as it sinks. Hearing nothing from the craft, ground controllers and Lunar administration initially assume it was crushed by a rockslide.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: At first, everybody on the surface is certain the crew and passengers are already dead. It takes the persistence of Dr. Lawson (who's motivated in the attempt more by curiosity over whether his detection system works properly than any belief that ''Selene'' is still intact) for them to realize there's still people to save.
* SandIsWater: The incredibly fine moondust that makes up the Sea of Thirst is a comparable example, and even flows similarly to water in the Lunar environment. Both ''Selene'' and the Lunar engineers' smaller dust-skis "float" and propel themselves across the surface like watercraft.
* SinkingShipScenario: Systems are starting to fail on ''Selene'' because of the dust crushing the already-sunken craft. [[spoiler:At one point, it sinks even deeper.]]
* TourismDerailingEvent: A fear of Lunar administration in the wake of the apparent loss of ''Selene'' and its passengers. [[spoiler:The epilogue implies tourism on the Moon is as alive as ever following the rescue, with passenger volume higher than before and Harris commanding the larger ''Selene II''.]]
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