Identify this sci-fi book - young man, teleporters, alien planet survival? [duplicate]

Question

I read this book probably 25 or more years ago. - Maybe 1988 or so. I keep thinking it was Heinlein (or really any classic sci-fi authors) but I haven't found it yet. I think it was a short book, not a huge novel. Maybe even a short story.

Here's what I remember...

Young boy lives on earth and uses a teleporter to go to school in a far away city. Each morning he uses it to get to school then uses it to come back after school. One day he has a test in one of his classes to see if he can survive on an alien planet (maybe, that part is fuzzy) so they use the teleporter (I think?) to transport him to an alien planet to survive. Maybe the transporter breaks and they can't get him back. Maybe. I can't remember if any classmates go with him or if he's alone and I can't really remember what happens on the planet.

I'd like to re-read it, if i can figure out what it is. That's all I remember. Ideas?

Answer 1

Aha - googled with the right combo of words and found it. Tunnel In the Sky by Robert Heinlein!

A Malthusian catastrophe on Earth has been averted by the invention of teleportation, called the "Ramsbotham jump", which is used to send Earth's excess population to colonize other planets. However, the costs of operating the device mean that the colonies are isolated from Earth until they can produce something to justify two-way trade. Because modern technology requires a supporting infrastructure, more primitive methods are employed — for example, horses instead of tractors.