Contradictions between Heinlein's Time Line 3 and The Rolling Stones

Heinlein's Time Line 3 is his second most important and detailed timeline, after the Future History Timeline. If I got the books in correct order, it began with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, when Heinlein re-used the character Hazel Stone and the longevity of the Loonies from previous (1952) story The Rolling Stones. However, from the start the contradictions began. Matters became worse after The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and To Sail Beyond the Sunset.

This page is not a timeline, but a follow-up of the contradictions as they appear in the book. They are referenced by Chapter and Page (in my Del Rey/Ballantine Books edition)

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This file contains spoiler information. It's recomended that those who haven't read the books should not read this page

Chapter I, p.20: Roger Stone was born on Earth, and lived for some time here. This can only fit with the other timelines if Hazel Stone had moved to Earth between Moon's victory in the War of Independence and Roger Stone's birth. The problem is that she was 14 years old when Roger was born, so what would be the reason to send her back to Earth?
Chapter I, p.22 and 23: Before they leave the Moon, Hazel says she is 95 years old, and Roger corrects her to 85 years old. These two ages place the departure in either 2149 or 2159. However, in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, Hazel Stone mentions that Roger Stone left the Moon in 2148, the same Year she mentions as the begin of their family's Wanderjahr (Chapter XVII, p.214)
Chapter V, p.64: There's a reference to the Big Quake of '31, remembered by the twins Castor and Pollux, who were born around Year 2133 (plus or minus 1 Year).
Chapter VII p.97: The Maneuver at perigee, after falling from the Moon and getting DV to go to Mars is given as 4 g for 1 minute. This is too much; as can be seen in my reconstruction of these maneuvers, the thruster should fire for only 15 seconds. I guess Heinlein was hindered by his use of unscientific units :-)
But the Earth - Mars transfer orbit gives a hint to the time when it happened. If the Year were 2148, then the optimum time for departure from Earth would be 2148-08-04, arriving on 2149-04-20. There's no departure in 2149; the next one is on 2150-09-23. These computations can be done at the page Hohmann Transfer in the Solar System.
However, arring at Mars on 2149-04-20, the closest times for the departure to Venus would be on 2149-01-13 and 2149-12-13, contradicting Chapter XI p.150, where Venus departure is given as 96 days later.

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Created: 1998-12-30

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