What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I read these books in the early and mid 80s at my public library in Florida. Details I remember:

- The books contained a recurring cast of astronaut-adventurers. In each book they embarked on a manned mission to one of the planets in the solar system, usually (or possibly always) being the first humans to reach it.

- The first book was about the race to the moon. At least two of the main characters of the series were introduced, an American and his rival, a Russian. The Russian was named Serge.

- I seem to recall looking it up and discovering that this was written only a few years before the Apollo moon landing.

- Another book in the series involved traveling to Mercury and landing on the terminus to balance the problems of radiation and sun exposure, and freezing temperatures. They also brought one of a pair of non-astronaut twins that had demonstrated telepathy between them, in an experiment to see if it was a practical method of communication.

- Where they visited outer planets, the time lag in communicating with Earth became a significant factor. In the Pluto story this was described as about 12 hours.
- The Pluto story involved a nuclear-powered space vessel.
- I specifically remember the Moon, Mercury, and Pluto as destinations. Possibly Venus, Mars, and Jupiter as well, and it is my hope that this series has stories about all the Solar System planets.

SPOILERS





- In the moon book, Serge saved the American's life with a resuscitation technique that was similar to CPR but not well known in the US.
- Their return capsule sprung a leak, and the Russian tried to plug it with his shirt, but it got blown out of the capsule through the hole. Instead the American literally blocked the hole with his hand, accepting the subsequent injuries.
- Ultimately Serge and the American became lifelong friends and in most subsequent stories they were partners on the same mission.
- In the Mercury book, there had been some conversation about the possible existence of another inner planet (Vulcan) within the orbit of Mercury. One of the astronauts spotted Vulcan as they were leaving for Earth.
- In the Pluto visit book, they discovered that "Planet X" was actually a superdense object that was responsible for orbital aberrations in the outer planets, and was expected to become a threat to the inner planets eventually. I believe that the writer was inspired by the discovery of Charon.
- Also in the Pluto story, one of the usual characters has to remain behind due to an injury, but later heads a rescue mission to help his stranded friends.

Additional detail on the Mercury book that may be muddled by my imagination. I seem to remember that two main characters got to fighting over the theoretical affections of the telepath twin, who herself was too traumatized by being mentally cut off from her sister to involve herself in this conflict at all. Tensions were dangerously high until someone realized that solar radiation was affecting their behavior, and they maneuvered the ship into Mercury's shadow as they approached. This issue forced them to land on the cold side creating the major mission crisis of the story.

The telepathic twins are in Mission to Mercury by Hugh Walters. The rest of your details also match.

I remember reading this book and a couple of others from the same series, "Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A."

Banjomike wrote: "The telepathic twins are in Mission to Mercury by Hugh Walters. The rest of your details also match.

I remember reading this book and a couple of others from the same series, "Chris Godfrey of U.N..."

Yes, that's it! Thank you!

Glad you found your book series, Timothy.

Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series by Hugh Walters - Banjomike's find. Book 1 is Blast Off at Woomera.