When Bruce Robinson's father decided to take the job offered him on the Moon, his space-loving son saw an end to his drab life as an earthbound high-school student. What neither Bruce nor the other three members of the Robinson family could foresee was that within two weeks they'd be the world's leading experts on life upon the planet Venus. To more experienced interplanetary travelers than the Robinsons, the actions of the crew of the gleaming Moon-bound space ship, Aurora, would have seemed suspicious. But the crew's interest in the mysterious government cargo, stowed in the ship's hold, did not cause the unsuspecting family any serious concern. Not until the captain and his mate abandoned the crippled Aurora, as she lurched through the Venusian mists to a certain crash landing, did the Robinsons awake to their peril.