They Reached for the Moon by William Oberfield Episode #472

William Oberfield | January 19, 2026

They Reached for the Moon by William Oberfield Episode #472
William Oberfield

THEY REACHED FOR THE MOON

Episode #472 · Written by William Oberfield · Narrated by Scott Miller

They were chosen because they didn’t understand what they were risking. Only beyond Earth’s pull do they begin to sense what the journey is truly changing.

Years of work went into building the rocket, but only moments were spent deciding who would ride inside it. Three earlier missions had vanished without explanation, yet confidence remained intact. This time, two men were sent on a simple task: circle the moon and return.

As Earth shrinks behind them, fear flickers and fades into something far stranger. Thoughts sharpen. Memories grow vivid. Language itself seems to shift. The farther they travel from gravity, the clearer their minds become. Space is no longer empty. It is revealing. And what it reveals forces a quiet reckoning with intelligence, perception, and human limits.

They Reached for the Moon by William Oberfield reflects a moment in early science fiction when space travel was imagined as a psychological experiment as much as a technological one. Written before human spaceflight was reality, the story asks not what machines can endure, but what distance and isolation might unlock—or strip away—within the human mind.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Oberfield wrote science fiction during an era when rockets were still speculative and the moon remained untouched. His work leaned away from technical detail and toward the inner consequences of progress, exploring how environment and circumstance shape awareness and intelligence.

Though Oberfield never became a widely recognized name, his stories reflect the thoughtful, philosophical strain of Golden Age science fiction. They Reached for the Moon stands as a quiet but lasting example of the genre’s curiosity—asking not whether humanity can reach the stars, but what happens when it finally does.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to They Reached for the Moon by William Oberfield — a vintage science fiction short story where space travel unlocks unsettling clarity beyond Earth’s gravity.

ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST

The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.3 million listens.

Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.

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Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.