Editing Orphans of the Sky (section)

==Place in Heinlein's ''Future History'' series==
A reference in "Universe" to Heinlein's ''[[Future History (Heinlein)|Future History]]'' series is a passage describing Joe-Jim's enthusiasm for the works of "Rhysling, the blind singer of the spaceways". Rhysling is a poet and the central character of a story, "[[The Green Hills of Earth]]", that Heinlein was to publish six years later.

In Heinlein's 1973 novel ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'', the ''Vanguard'' is briefly mentioned as the sister ship of ''New Frontiers'', which was commandeered by the Howard Families in the 1958 novel ''[[Methuselah's Children]]''. It is revealed that the vessel had been bound for [[Proxima Centauri]] but never landed colonists there. The ''Vanguard'' has been discovered, with its crew long dead because of an unexplained failure in its mechanisms, and its records destroyed or illegible. Its path is traced back, and the descendants of Hugh's people are found, flourishing as highly intelligent savages on a planet which scientists dub "Pitcairn Island" (a reference to the saga of the [[HMS Bounty|HMS ''Bounty'']]). 

Although the Starship ''Vanguard'' was launched in 2119 according to the story's prologue, the timing of the main events in the story is indicated as being vaguely "centuries" or "generations" later. Heinlein produced at least four ''Future History'' timelines over the years (1939, 1941, 1950, 1967). In the 1950 version, he designates "2600" as the timing for "Universe" and "Common Sense" --  the very end of the sequence of tales.<ref>[https://www.nitrosyncretic.com/nsp_rah-fhcharts.php "The Future History Charts, 1939-1967" @ Robert Heinlein Archives]</ref>