(Doctor) Civilian ship's aide in the Mayflower who brought Noisy Edwards to Captain's Mast for disobeying orders during takeoff. He became Scoutmaster for "A" deck. He saved Bill Lermer's life when Bill was stricken with appendicitis.
(Mrs.) Wife of Dr. Archibald. She helped George Lermer locate his wife after they were separated upon landing on Ganymede.
Auslanders
GanymedeScout patrol of which Bill Lermer became a member. Its members helped build the Lermers' farmhouse. [German Ausländer, foreigner]
Name chosen for "A" deck's Boy Scouts, to signify their [English] time zone also in honor of the founder of the Boy Scouts. Other names were originally proposed, but rejected: Deep Space, St. George, St. Patrick, Sky High, Space Rats, Star Rovers.
Boy Scout troops were organized aboard the Mayflower by Bill Lermer and Hank Jones. When they arrived at the Ganymede colony, they discovered there was already organized scouting there. After some tension between the two groups, eventually they united.
Bruhn (no first name)
Scoutmaster from the Mayflower, who negotiated with the Leda scouting organization to include the Mayflower Scouts in the Ganymede troops.
Captain of the Bifrost who allowed Hank Jones and Bill Lermer to tour the control room. They scoffed at his adventure stories, but later learned he was famous for breaking up a ring of hijackers.
Wing nurse in Leda's hospital. She tended Bill Lermer after his appendectomy.
Paul du Maurier
Leader of one of the exploring parties in the planetary survey sent to choose sites for new settlements on Ganymede; he included Bill Lermer in the party. He was also an employee of the Colonial Commission and assistant scoutmaster of the AuslanderScout troop.
Earth
Earth is frequently called "Terra" in Heinlein stories. The planet is featured in every story (with the arguable exception of Orphans of the Sky); and is, geophysically at least, the same as the "real" Earth. In Farmer in the Sky, emigration to other planets was strongly encouraged because Earth was overcrowded to the point where it could barely sustain the population.
Boy in Bill Lermer's bunkroom aboard the Mayflower who was brought before the Captain's Mast (official disciplinary procedure) for disobeying orders just after liftoff. He beat Bill up after Bill ordered him "stifled" during the panic following the meteor strike in the bunkroom.
Abie Finkelstein
Topographer in the exploration and survey group that Bill Lermer joined.
Mrs. Fishbein (no first name)
The neighbor to whom Bill Lermer gave his pet bird before emigrating.
Boy who proposed "St. George Troop" for "A" deck, to reflect its time zone; an Irish boy promptly objected. He was less formally known as Johnny Edwards.
Jupiter's third moon, on which a farming colony was established. Its atmosphere, with a climate suitable for human habitation, was artificially established and maintained by power stations. It had only one settlement when Bill Lermer and his family emigrated to it. Outlying farms were created one by one by crushing the native rock and seeding it with Earth topsoil and organisms. After the Colonial Commission sent colonists in excess of what the colony could support, survey teams were sent out to find other suitable locations for settlement.
Emigrant brought before the Captain's Mast just after the Mayflower's liftoff, for disobeying ship's rules. She was sentenced to wash dishes for the entire trip.
Happy Valley
Name given to the valley found by the planetary survey team of which Bill Lermer was a member.
Small ship used to shuttle colonists from the Mayflower to Ganymede colony, and for suborbital travel around the moon. It was originally commissioned for use between Ganymede and Project Jove.
Hank Jones
A member of Bill Lermer's scout troop on Earth, who emigrated in the Mayflower. Although the two did not get along well on Earth, they slowly became good friends during the voyage.
Junior Council
Representative body in the Mayflower, chosen from emigrants under 18 years old. They had little influence on decisions aboard the ship, although they actively lobbied the Senior Council.
Scout who suggested "St. Patrick Troop" as "A" deck's Scouting name; he got into a fight with the English Scout who had proposed St. George, and both ideas were rejected.
Molly Kenyon
George Lermer's draftsman on Earth, whom he married just before emigrating to Ganymede. (Emigration criteria favored married couples.)
Peggy Kenyon
Molly Kenyon's 12-year-old daughter. She became a member of the Junior Council aboard the Mayflower. Peggy could not adapt to the lower pressure of Ganymede's atmosphere, and lived in a sealed room in the Lermer house. She died shortly after the quake that decompressed her room and wrecked the colony's power plant.
Eagle Scout who emigrated to Ganymede with his father, stepmother, and stepsister. He helped organize scouting on the colony ship Mayflower, but on arriving at the colony he learned that organized scouting had preceded them; after some mutual resentment he joined a Ganymede troop. He worked as a farmhand for Johann Schultz while waiting for his own farm to be prepared from bare rock, then built the family farmhouse and fields with help from the Schultzes and fellow Scouts. He survived the quake that damaged the colony's power plant, and joined a survey team to find locations for new settlements. While on the expedition, he found nonhuman artifacts. Although after the quake and the death of his stepsister his parents were ready to return to Earth, he decided he belonged in the colony and would stay no matter what. (During the survey, for which he worked as cook, he earned the nickname "Doctor Slop".)
George Lermer
Bill Lermer's father, an engineer. After arriving on Ganymede and learning that the original colonists were woefully unprepared to accept the influx of new settlers, he took a job in Leda to support the family while Bill prepared the farm.
Mabel
Milk cow purchased by the Lermers for their homestead on Ganymede. She was named by Peggy Kenyon. She died in the aftermath of the quake that wrecked the atmosphere plant, and was replaced with Mabel II.
Space ship originally intended for long-range exploration, but converted to a colony ship when more advanced models were designed for exploring. Bill Lermer and his family emigrated to Ganymede in it.
Scout from "Troop Ninety-Six, New Jersey", who questioned the authority to organize Scouting in the Mayflower; he was overruled and disallowed from the meeting.
mutations
Earth plants were genetically altered to better survive the conditions in extraterrestrial colonies.
Collaborator in a test of Bill Lermer's psychological fitness to be a colonist. Bill was needled and subjected to various annoyances to determine is self-control and "flash point."
Name given to mountains south of the valley surveyed by the exploration team of which Bill Lermer was a member; they were named after team leader Paul du Maurier.
pay dirt
Earth soil completely sterilized and then reinfected with organisms necessary for plant growth. It was combined with crushed Ganymede rock to create farms.
Colonist on the Mayflower who was continually in trouble for "trying to live his own life, wild and free, no matter what it did to the rest of us." He was equally troublesome after they reached Ganymede.
Ganymedean colonist who worked the farm neighboring that of Bill Lermer's family. He gave much help and useful advice to Bill, as well as hiring him while the Lermers waited to have their farm readied for production. Johann had the only tree in the colony, and earned the nickname "Johnny Appleseed"by distributing seeds to everyone who would take them. He was frequently called "Papa Schultz", and his wife was known to everyone as "Mama". Their children included
Anna
Gretchen, about Bill Lermer's age
Hugo, a Cub Scout
Johann Jr. (called Yo), a 20-year-old who worked for the chief engineer in Leda
Kathy, an artist who'd painted the tiles on the family stove
[mentioned in passing] Song sung at the first meeting of the Mayflower Scouts.
Senior Council
Governing body in the Mayflower, chosen from the colonists. The Captain reviewed all their decisions as legal head of the ship, but never overruled them.
Interstellar ship that was under construction when Bill Lermer emigrated to Ganymede. It was actually the Star Rover III. The first was lost; the second was obsolete before it was finished and so was converted to a colony ship, the Mayflower.
Woman who complained about travelling conditions and just about everything else aboard the Bifrost. She ultimately decided not to board the Mayflower. Her husband Joseph is also mentioned.
Tolley (no first name)
Chairman of the common council on Ganymede, who had to deal with the new immigrants' complaints.
