It's Great to Be Back!

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"It's Great to Be Back!" is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, it was first published in The Saturday Evening Post in the July 26, 1947 issue and later reprinted in The Green Hills of Earth (and subsequently The Past Through Tomorrow)..

A physical chemist and his wife (the MacRaes), who have been in residence in Luna City for some time, spend much of their time volubly regretting having ever left Earth. When this attitude results in social conflict with "Loonies" who love their home, the pair feel isolated, misunderstood, and put-upon. They decide to return "dirt-side", only to discover that the Earth of their imaginations bears only the faintest of resemblances to the actuality, which includes things unheard of in Luna, like smog, unpleasant weather, the common cold, and repairmen who refuse to make house calls. Ultimately, they discover that all they really want is to go back to Luna City, where they are welcomed with open arms by their peers (now that they have stopped complaining all the time) and settle down to be happy "Lunatics".

This story is well written. It is, in many ways, fairly typical of Heinlein's work in this vein: he is working hard to present Life Off Earth in a positive light, in hopes of luring humanity into investing in the Space Program, which was one of his major interests.

v • d • e Robert A. Heinlein's Future History Collections The Past Through Tomorrow, The Man Who Sold the Moon, The Green Hills of Earth, Orphans of the Sky, Revolt in 2100, The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe Short stories "Life-Line", "Let There Be Light", "The Roads Must Roll", "Blowups Happen", "The Man Who Sold the Moon", "Delilah and the Space Rigger", "Space Jockey", "Requiem", "The Long Watch", "Gentlemen, Be Seated!", "The Black Pits of Luna", "It's Great to Be Back!", "—We Also Walk Dogs", "Searchlight", "Ordeal in Space", "The Green Hills of Earth", "Logic of Empire", "The Menace from Earth", "If This Goes On—", "Coventry", "Misfit", "Universe", "Common Sense" Novels Methuselah's Children, Time Enough for Love, To Sail Beyond the Sunset