Human Space

Highlighting men and women across the globe who have dedicated themselves to pushing the limits of space exploration, this book surveys the programs, technological advancements, medical equipment, and automated systems that have made space travel possible. Beginning with the invention of balloons that lifted early explorers into the stratosphere, Ted Spitzmiller describes how humans first came to employ lifting gasses such as hydrogen and helium.

Adam Cain is back as the head of Cain's Crusaders, a small band of super-secret agents working for the head of the galactic Expansion, doing the dirty jobs no one else wants to do. Adam's latest mission is to rescue Arieel Bol, an important religious figure from the planet Formil, who just happens to have supernatural powers, or so it seems. And to top that, she's also is the most beautiful alien in the galaxy. Yet when a 30-million-credit bounty is placed on their heads, Adam and Arieel will have to use all of their combined "powers" to survive.

Having placed a bounty on the heads of the alien Klin and Kracori races, humanity must now face the desperate wrath of mankind's worst enemies, who have once again joined forces for a preemptive strike against the Earth. Their plan is brilliant...and only the special abilities of ex-Navy SEAL Adam Cain can save the planet. It's a frantic race against time, as Adam and Sherri Valentine arrive on Earth just in time to help mount a ragtag defense against the Kracori fleet. But will it be enough?

Probes can explore the depths of space in ways that would kill human beings. The information they provide can spur countless innovations here on Earth. Learn how probes work and the exciting possibilities that their discoveries may inspire.

Renowned space historian John Logsdon traces the greatest moments in human spaceflight by weaving together essential, fascinating documents from NASA's history with his expert narrative guidance. Beginning with rocket genius Wernher von Braun's vision for voyaging to Mars and closing with Elon Musk's contemporary plan to get there, this volume traces major events like the founding of NASA, the first American astronauts in space, the Apollo moon landings, the Challenger disaster, the daring Hubble Telescope repairs, and more.

The Klin. It's a name that has invoked fear throughout the galaxy for over four thousand years. Now the evil aliens are back and more powerful and deadlier than ever. And this time it's the Klin against the entire galaxy, not just the species who have pissed them off. Leading an army of billions of killer robots and a fleet of invincible starships, the Klin are determined to be the last species standing in a war that reaches from one end of the Milky Way to the other.

Having returned from the Andromeda Galaxy as heroes, the team soon learns that the remaining Nuoreans in the Milky Way aren't too thrilled with the fact that the Humans destroyed their homeworld of Nuor. Now they're going to make Adam and his friends pay for it. After placing an exorbitant bounty on the heads of each team member, nearly every creature in the galaxy becomes a hired killer. Although Adam's never been one to run from a fight, this may be too much for even him.

Adam and his crew are faced with the ultimate challenge: to save the Milky Way Galaxy from the Nuorean invaders. This time their backup will be two-and-a-half MILLION light-years away. They knew this could be a one-way trip, but the stakes were too high not to try. Someone had to step up and be the hero, and Adam's eclectic mix of humans and aliens have been there before. Yet even in victory, they could lose, trapped in a far, distant galaxy with no way to get home. But first things first, Adam Cain and the gang have to cut off the Nuoreans' link to the Milky Way before it's too late.

The Scorched Earth in the title doesn't refer to the Human's homeworld. Rather it describes the path of death and destruction that Adam Cain burns on his way from Earth to the planet Juir as he seeks revenge for the killing of one of his closest friends. But there's more. Sherri and Arieel have been taken prisoner by the Juirean leader, with a date for their execution already set. The aliens may have thought Adam was dangerous before, but they ain't seen nothing yet.

When Adam and Riyad journey to the planet Visidor to help free their alien friends Kaylor and Jym from vindictive local law enforcement, they thought all it would take would be wowing the locals with their celebrity. After all, they'd just saved the galaxy from the evil Sol-Kor menace. Now begins a wild adventure involving the most powerful galactic corporations to ever exist—stronger than any so-called empire—along with hordes of angry drug-runners and more, all in a desperate race to discover a secret that will alter the balance of power throughout the Milky Way galaxy—forever.

The war with the Sol-Kor within their home galaxy has finally begun, spearheaded by the revenge-seeking Hal'ic, whose massive fleet of warships is commanded by none other than Admiral Andy Tobias. In the meantime, Adam Cain and his gang are stranded on Kor, trying to survive the battering the planet is taking at the hands of the Hal'ic. But soon they'll find their way to Silana, the second capital of the Sol-Kor, where Queen J'nae has taken Panur, along with the prototype trans-dimensional starship the Star Panther. The very survival of the universe is at stake.

CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson has one simple task: Watch an ambassador’s dog while the diplomat is conducting sensitive negotiations with an alien race. But you know dogs - always getting into something. And when this dog gets into something that could launch an alien civil war, Wilson has to find a way to solve the conflict, fast, or be the one in the Colonial Union’s doghouse. "The Dog King" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

The Conclave is a confederation of 400 alien races - many of whom would like to see the Colonial Union - and the humans inside of it - blasted to extinction. To avoid a conflict that neither side can afford, Conclave leader General Tarsem Gau appoints Hafte Sorvalh to resolve an emerging diplomatic crisis with the humans, before the only acceptable solution is war. "The Back Channel" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

The Colonial Defense Forces usually protect humanity from alien attack, but now the stability of the Colonial Union has been threatened, and Lieutenant Heather Lee and her squad are called to squash a rebellion on a colony world. It seems simple enough - but there's a second act to the rebellion that finds Lee captive, alone, and armed with only her brains to survive.

In an effort to improve relations with the Earth, the Colonial Union has invited a contingent of diplomats from that planet to observe Ambassador Abumwe negotiate a trade deal with an alien species. Then something very bad happens to one of the Earthings, and with that, the relationship between humanity’s two factions is on the cusp of disruption once more. It’s a race to find out what really happened, and who is to blame. "The Observers" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

Colonial Union diplomat Hart Schmidt is back home for Harvest Day celebrations - to a family whose members wonder whether its youngest son isn’t wasting his life clinging to the lowest rung of the CU’s diplomatic ladder. When his father, a legendarily powerful politician, presents him with a compelling offer, Schmidt has to take stock of his life and career. "This Must Be the Place" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

Visionary space industrialist Dan Randolph is dead, but his protege, pilot Pancho Barnes, now sits on the board of his conglomerate. She has her work cut out for her, for Randolph's rival, Martin Humphries, still wants to control Astro and still wants to drive independent asteroid miners like Lars Fuchs out of business. Humphries wants revenge against Pancho, and, most of all, he wants his old flame, Amanda, who has become Lars Fuchs's wife.

For Mason Guthrie, a sudden arrest, railroad trial, and quick conviction for the "vandalism" of fixing things around his tenement building come as a shock. For Rosa Fuentes, it's just more confirmation that, to Earth's rulers, they're nothing but commodities to be bought and sold. Together - along with Rosa's disturbingly capable AI - they break out and make their way off Earth to start a new, free life. Unfortunately, the folks they stole a billion credits from along the way would like those back.

When corporations go to war, standard business practice goes out the window. Astro Corporation is led by indomitable Texan Pancho Lane, Humphries Space Systems by the rich and ruthless Martin Humphries, and their fight is over nothing less than resources of the Asteroid Belt itself. Fighting escalates and the lines between commerce and politics, boardroom and bedroom blur. And the keys to victory will include physics, nanotechnology, and cold hard cash.

In this epic conclusion to the first series in the Human Chronicles Saga, Adam Cain and his band of Human warriors are presented to the Supreme Leader of the Galaxy. With only minutes to live, Adam convinces the Juirean leader that Humans are not the enemy, but that both their races have been part of a diabolical plot for galactic domination orchestrated by the Klin. And yet just when the truth dawns on the Juireans, the planet Juir is attacked by Kracori forces, which leads to a whole new set of problems for Adam and his band of Human Super-Men.