Description

The first wave of space exploration in the 20th century all but ground to a halt, the victim of national and ideological rivalries which had spent themselves, and of politicians who gutted funding for special interests and pork barrel spending. But the universe still beckoned, and many different factors worked to keep the dream of space alive and growing. A generation grew up, knowing that there was nothing impossible about space travel, and wondering why we had gone to the Moon-and then stopped cold. New propulsion systems, such as solar sails, and more efficient reaction drives were developed, making spaceflight less expensive, taking it away from the exclusive club of government-funded programs. And if the US had lost interest in space, other nations had not. Humanity moved out once again into the infinite ocean of space, this time to stay. “New York Times” best-selling author James P. Hogan shows that even on a frontier planet like Mars, there’ll still be crime-and crime-fighters. Another “New York Times” best-selling writer, John Ringo, takes a sardonic look at some of the non-human heroes of the space frontier. The last story by the late Charles Sheffield, renowned scientist and Hugo and Nebula Award-winner brings back his most popular character, the not-quite-mad scientist Arthur Morton McAndrew. Space scientist Travis Taylor envisions the ultimate solar-powered spaceship. Paul Chafe, author of many popular episodes in Baen’s best-selling Man-Kzin Wars series, tells of how a billionaire with a heart of brass decided to give us the stars-while getting even richer, of course. And Gregory Benford, two-time Nebula Award winner and distinguished expert on astrophysics, looks fartherinto the future, when the space frontier has been domesticated by people who are as strange to us as we would be to Lewis and Clark. Also on board are: John Campbell Award winner Wen Spencer; Margaret Ball, co-author with Anne McCaffrey of the top-selling “PartnerShip”; and more. “Cosmic Stories” is the genuine article in science fiction, and a book that will appeal to a broad spectrum of the SF readership.