Identify an SF story: the captain had a cat and a metal prosthetic hand

January 3, 2024 9:23 AM

Anybody recall a YA book (or short story collection) from the early 1960s featuring a spaceship whose captain had a metal hand, and a cat who lived on the bridge?

The cover may have depicted a conventional rocket (like an Atlas) launching.

posted by Rash to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

If it’s got a cat, look at Andre Norton books.
posted by lothar at 9:32 AM on January 3 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I'm familiar with, and it wasn't her.
posted by Rash at 9:48 AM on January 3

Longshot, but Sail 25 by Jack Vance?
posted by Jacen at 11:45 AM on January 3

Tuf Voyaging by George R. r. Martin
posted by tofu_crouton at 12:34 PM on January 3

someone recently recommended the science fiction section of Stack Exchange for SF questions
posted by neuron at 6:41 PM on January 4

Tug Voyaging is late 70s/early 80s, and the captain (for all his other idiosyncrasies) has no prostheses. Great read though. I’d love to see the parallel universe where this hit big instead of Game of Thrones, and HBO has a long-running series on the adventures of the one-man Ecological Engineering Corps.
posted by sesquipedalia at 10:03 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]