But the 16 stories in Moon Shots, and even the introduction by Ben Bova, do have one common thread--the authors all seem to hope that, in some small way, their story can inspire readers to look up at the Moon with a bit more respect, and even a bit more longing, than they usually do.

Ben Bova makes his position on humanity's relationship with the Moon crystal clear in his introduction. "The big surprise was not that we reached the Moon. The big surprise was that we stopped going there. Washington had achieved its political objective and shown that Western technology was superior to the Soviets'. All the bright, shining plans that the scientists and engineers (and science fiction folks) had for building permanent bases on the Moon were tossed in the ash can."

To accomplish their inspirational goal, the authors have created stories that range from whimsical--particularly Gene Wolfe's "Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon?" and Robert Sheckley's "Visions of the Green Moon," to hard core science fiction, such as Paul J. McAuley's "How We Lost the Moon, a True Story by Frank W. Allen."

In many of the stories, the Moon is an influence rather than a setting. In Jerry Oltion's "The Moon Tree," the Moon--even a bit of Moon dust carried back to earth--has the power to cast a positive influence over human beings. In Scott Edelman's "The Last Man on the Moon," the only visits to the Moon occur in virtual reality simulations.

As one might expect, not all of the stories are optimistic. But even in the darker stories, the moon remains a haven or a source of inspiration. In Stephen Baxter's "People Came From Earth," the remnants of humanity are living on the Moon after the earth was destroyed by a rogue nanoweapon. And in Michelle West's "Elegy," the main character chooses to dream that he is Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon as he is killed in a voluntary extermination program instituted by the government because of the Earth's overpopulation.

The stories span time from the near future to a distant era. One of the best stories, Eric Brown's "Steps Along the Way," takes place 30,000 years into the future. The technology in that future is able to recover the memories, the feelings, the entire essence of human beings dead for thousands of years.

The story's protagonist is one of those recovered beings, who identity is not revealed until the end of the story. The protagonist is invited to become a fellow in the grand Academy located on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquillity. But first, he is told, he must pass a test--he must counsel a recently regenerated person (the regenerative process being understandably disorienting.)

In the end, the readers discover that the protagonist is none other than Galileo, and the newly recovered person is none other than Neil Armstrong. The academy, it turns out, has been regenerating the greatest individuals in history, to bring them together to work and live on the Moon. The story is an overwhelmingly positive vision of humanity's future, in which we accomplish all that we can dream of today and more. But yet, despite our exploration of the furthest corners of the galaxy, the Moon remains at the center of our mental life. After 30,000 years, Brown is saying it still has the power to inspire. The obvious implication is that it should still be able to inspire us, only 30 years after we first arrived there.