"The Black Pits of Luna" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a Boy Scout on a trip to the Moon and his novel way of finding his lost brother.

Included as part of his Future History, it originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, January 10, 1948, and was collected in The Green Hills of Earth (and subsequently The Past Through Tomorrow).

The short story is told from the viewpoint of Dick Logan, a Boy Scout who has accompanied his father on a business trip to the Moon alongside his mother and little brother, "Baby Darling".

[citation needed] Per Jerome Winter, "The Black Pits of Luna" is one of four short stories that helped Heinlein reach a more mainstream market via The Saturday Evening Post, the other four being "The Green Hills of Earth” (1947), “Space Jockey” (1947), and “It’s Great to Be Back!” (1947).

[2] In her 2019 book The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein Farah Mendlesohn wrote that the character of Dick is portrayed as more responsible than his entitled parents, which she states is implied to be a result of his participation in the Boy Scouts.