“The Astronauts”, one the most famous novels by Lem, was initially published in 1951; since it had to comply with the schematics of the so-called socialist realism in communist Poland, Lem was reluctant to authorize reissues. His first novel dedicated to interstellar travel presented author's exceptional imagination and faith that reason eventually would overcome political madness. The story of Earth attacked by Venus, previously destroyed in a fratricidal battle, remains a moving vision of results of primitive practicism and struggle for power.