Showing results by author "Michael Cassutt" in All Categories

One of the most elusive and controversial figures in NASA's history, George W. S. Abbey was called "the Dark Lord", "the Godfather", and "UNO" (unidentified NASA official) by those within NASA. Yet Abbey had more influence on human spaceflight than almost anyone in history. From young pilot and wannabe astronaut to engineer, bureaucrat, and finally director of the Johnson Space Center, Abbey's story has never been fully told - until now. The Astronaut Maker takes listeners inside NASA to learn the real story of how Abbey rose to power and wielded it out of the spotlight.

Twenty years have passed since the mysterious Near-Earth Object nicknamed Keanu appeared in the night sky and transported an assortment of humans from all over Earth into its interior. There they discovered that Keanu was an immense long-range spaceship - and they were not its only inhabitants. They joined forces with the aliens called the Architects, who had come from a distant galaxy to seek help in fighting the vicious Reivers. And they defeated them - or so they thought.

When it first appeared, the astronomers named the asteroid Keanu. A Near Earth Object, from a distant constellation, it was headed directly toward our sun. But when we went to meet it, it turned out to be far more than a huge rock hurtling through space...

Three years ago, an object 100 miles across was spotted on a trajectory for Earth's sun. Now, its journey is almost over. As it approaches, two competing manned vehicles race through almost half a million kilometers of space to reach it first. But when they both arrive on the entity, they learn that it has been sent toward Earth for a reason. An intelligent race is desperately attempting to communicate with our primitive species. And the message is: Help us.

Returning home after eight months overseas, Air Force lieutenant Rick Walsh learns that his girlfriend, Maia, has been kidnapped. Walsh's determination to find her leads him into a conspiracy that spans two universes, because Maia is from an alternate world - and she's not the only person who knows how to walk between the two.

In the near future, war has torn the United States apart. Small communities barely scrape by amidst climate change and economic collapse. Powerful nation-states struggle over whatever resources remain - technology in California, money in Chicago, oil in Texas. Some small hope has arrived in the form of the Hocq, a group of aliens on a mission to bring their advanced knowledge to Earth. But as hostile governments across the globe vie for that knowledge, a Hocq named Harrek defects into outlaw territory.