- For the audio release, please see Operation Asteroids (audio)
Operation Asteroids is the third Thunderbirds novel released, and first by World Distributors. Published in 1966, the hardcover novel was written by John W. Jennison and features a brand new adventure starring International Rescue's family of heroes.
Blurb[]
1966 Edition[]
Scott and Alan Tracy and Tin-Tin have blasted off in the spaceship from the tropical island base of the Thunderbirds, heading for the space station where Alan is to relieve John for a spell of duty.
Back at base, an urgent call through from the world mining organisation - a mine working on the Moon has collapsed and valuable robot miners and equipment are buried. Can International Rescue help?
Every plea for help is a call to action for International Rescue. So, with daring, ingenuity, and courage, the entire team plunges once more into the battle against destruction and tyranny in a thrill-packed adventure that will rivet your attention to the very last line.
Plot[]
A freighter carrying Virgil, Brains and Lady Penelope is hijacked by the Hood whilst en route to rendezvous with Thunderbird 3, her crew on a mission to save mineworkers for the Lunar Mining Corporation who were reported trapped beneath the Moon's surface by Mare Imbrium moonbase. The resulting plots and counterplots unveil the scheming mastermind's plot to launch an orbital satellite with a nuclear arsenal capable of annihilating every major city on the globe.
Chapter Titles[]
- Lunar S.O.S.
- Destination Moon
- The Power of The Hood
- Hijacked
- Beyond Mars
- Marooned in Space
- Return to Earth
- Tibetan Hideout
- Roof of the World
- The Pit of Suspense
- Ambush
- Monastery Showdown
Characters[]
(in order of appearance)
- Jeff Tracy
- Tin-Tin Kyrano
- John Tracy
- Scott Tracy
- Alan Tracy
- Virgil Tracy
- Gordon Tracy
- Kyrano
- Imbrium radio controller
- Hansen
- LMC transport controller
- Brains
- Grandma Tracy
- The Hood
- Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward
- Parker
- Woolamoroo guard
- Woolamoroo workers
- Karma
- Doctor Kiyoto
- Professor Yarman
- Professor Sigmund
- Doctor Alistair Bogard
- Cheang
- Lamas
IR Equipment Used[]
Notes[]
- Contrary to the cover's illustration, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 do not accompany 3 to Scott, Alan and Tin-Tin's rescue mission at Archimedes crater on the Moon.
- Interestingly, the Hood's self-assured decrees of victory are backed up by a mention of his triumph as "written in the ancient books" and indications that his hypnotic abilities are a product of supernatural influences he has mastered.
- The basic premise of the Hood's scheme bears an uncanny resemblance to Ernst Stavro Blofeld's plot to ransom the major world powers in the 1971 spy film, Diamonds are Forever.
- This operation is considered enough of a major blow to the Hood's continuing efforts to gain power and prestige that he continues to blame Scott for its failure in both Lost World and Ring of Fire.
- In 2022, the novel would be adapted as an audio adventure for Anderson Entertainment's Thunderbirds range.