Space Fiction
Let's pretend you've won a trip to space. You'll no doubt stay at the International Space Station, where you'll see Earth in a way you've never seen before. Hopefully all goes well while you're up there, but who knows? Read the following pieces of space fiction to see all the possibilities!
The Martian by Andy Weir
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be long gone before a rescue could arrive...But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training...Is Ender the general Earth needs?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers.
2001, a Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
From the savannas of Africa at the dawn of mankind to the rings of Saturn as man ventures to the outer rim of our solar system, "2001: A Space Odyssey" is a journey unlike any other. This allegory about humanity's exploration of their universe and the universe's reaction to humanity was the basis for director Stanley Kubrick's immortal film and lives on as a hallmark achievement in storytelling.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
In "The Martian Chronicles," Ray Bradbury, America's preeminent storyteller, imagines a place of hope, dream and metaphor--of crystal pillars and fossil seas--where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a vanished, devastated civilization. Earthmen conquer Mars and then are conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race. In this classic work of fiction, Bradbury exposes our ambitions, weaknesses and ignorance in a strange and breathtaking world where man does not belong.
Contact by Carl Sagan
In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who--or what--is out there? In "Cosmos," Carl Sagan explained the universe. In "Contact," he predicts its future--and our own.
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