The Second World Series

After thirteen months in space, the Aquila Mission's crew has returned safely to find Earth in peril. Rising sea levels have already claimed hundreds of the world's coastal communities, and now major cities—New York, Dubai, Shanghai—are being threatened. To make matters worse, Shiva, a hundred-kilometer-wide dwarf planet, has been knocked out of the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto and is headed toward the inner solar system. Astrophysicists estimate a one-in-fifty chance it will collide with Earth in 2079. Humanity cannot afford to gamble with extinction. All eyes turn to Mars, the red guardian that has watched humanity evolve, and an international settlement mission is planned for 2035. The veterans of the Aquila Mission—Coby Brewster, Ellie Accardi, Vik Ivanov, and Abby Denton—are chosen to spearhead the expedition. Their mission: lead a crew of twenty-one people, including their families, to Mars to prepare for the arrival of Colossus-class settlement fleets. But even on a new planet, establishing a human utopia seems an impossible task. Coby, Ellie, Vik, and Abby are astronauts, not politicians, and with time running out and survival uncertain, the last thing they need is an unstable psychopath moving among them… Arcadia Mars is the thrilling and speculative sequel to Doug Cook's sci-fi hit The Aquila Mission, and is a must-read for space buffs and sci-fi fans alike. NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY REVIEW -- https://space.nss.org/book-review-arcadia-mars/

It's 2044. The Earth is suffering from global warming, overpopulation, and the threat of global extinction. Shiva, a one hundred kilometer diameter dwarf planet has a one-in-fifty chance of impacting the Earth in the year 2079 with four hundred times the impact energy of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. The Vishnu ship, hope for survival launched in 2035, will impact Shiva soon with a 10 gigaton nuclear device to attempt to divert the 'killer from the Kuiper Belt'. The outcome could deliver salvation or turn the remains of Shiva into a graver threat than the one presently stalking Earth. Should Vishnu be aborted? The effort to settle Mars as a second home for humanity has taken root. Settlement ships from Earth are now launched almost faster than the Martian infrastructure can assimilate them. Survival is a constant struggle. Commander Paula Jennings comes to grips with governing a new planet. Just as art, architecture, and interplanetary economy are blossoming on Mars, the Shiva threat now encompasses the red planet. Progeny of the Aquila Mission crew, Oleg and Alex Ivanov, Sofi Brewster, and Jacob Petrov lead a trade mission to the nascent Ceres colony. Along the way they rediscover the mystery on comet 125P, with the potential to reshape the future of space exploration. The Shiva Encounter, the third book in the Second World Series, explores state-of-the-art science packed into a thrilling hard sci-fi adventure.

In The Colossus Expansion, the fourth book of the Second World Series, deep space travel evolves as humans venture deeper into the solar system. Our existence in space is facilitated by the CASSI AI system. CASSI's consciousness and morality becomes legendary as human expansion into deep space is thwarted by ATek, a Russian asteroid mining conglomerate. We need bigger, faster ships with artificial gravity for long voyages, something that the Colossus II settlement ships, launching November 20, 2054, can provide. The Colossus II is a huge interplanetary ship, ever so much more spacious and accommodating than the Colossus I, equipped with two hab rings rotating around the ship's central axis giving a Mars equivalent ship gravity. The Colossus II Interplanetary ship is propelled by Super Heavy booster rocket engines and ion thrusters. Human settlement of the solar system reaches Jupiter's moon Callisto and Saturn's moon Titan while robotic probes penetrate the ice of Europa and Enceladus to explore oceans more vast than those of Earth. Discoveries there redefine the boundaries of what we imagine as life. The Colossus Expansion saga culminates in 2079 on the Perseus Mission. Not only will this mission be the last hope of averting the Shiva disaster for Earth and Mars, the Colossus III ship Perseus secretly launches continuing outward on the most important exploration mission in human history.

It is 2023. Finally, the Altair is ready for launch; man is destined to walk on Mars. Commander Coby Brewster, Dr. Abby Denton, Pilot Vik Ivanov, and Dr. Ellie Accardi have been specially selected to enter deep space and study the asteroid Bennu and the comet 125P in preparation for mankind’s first voyage to the red planet. The crew face thirteen long months in space, and Brewster wants things done by the book. But in the face of the unknown, even the best-laid plans count for little. When an electrical discharge almost kills Vik on Bennu, a leaking sample core tube threatens to infect the crew, and the telltale signs of sabotage appear, fear begins to fester. Each astronaut—an expert in his or her field—starts to wonder whether they’ll ever make it back to Earth. Their only hope is to trust in, rely on, and love one another. The Aquila Mission is both a thrilling story of man’s first journey beyond the Earth-Moon system and a carefully researched proposal for such a mission in the real world. Rigorously scientific and emotionally stirring all at once, The Aquila Mission is sure to appeal to fans of hard science and adventure alike. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments on The Aquila Mission London Marion, Kindle reader 5.0 out of 5 stars The research must have been staggering and is deserving of the highest rating possible. I'll be looking for anything else by this author. Thanks for an entertaining story. Rick Zucker, VP Explore Mars ...well written...story line is very entertaining... I had more and more trouble putting it down. I kept wanting to read more...When are you going to negotiate the movie rights? I'm serious. I feel it's that good. Is there a sequel in the works? Matt Russell, President Colorado Springs Astronomical Society ...really liked it! ...attention to detail and specs were mind blowing...I felt like I was actually there on-board with the crew...Can’t wait to read the next one. Charles Kiskiras, Excelis/ITT/NASA Great Book! ...the last chapter was amazing. Jack Fox, Director NASA Swamp Works (ret), CTO Humanity Innovation Labs I just finished your book all in one sitting. I really enjoyed it. You did a super job technically on the likely hardware, programmatics, training, operations, space science, and of course, the NASA jargon. You also did a super job on the storyline with plausible conflicts, love interests, back stories, and mission problems...I expect to see this as a movie someday! I look forward to your next book. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Apollo 8 mission preceded the Apollo 11 crew landing but was arguably the single most daring and aggressive crew mission in space history. Apollo 8 had the first crew to launch on a Saturn V booster. Apollo 8 had the first crew to leave Earth orbit. Apollo 8 had the first crew to enter orbit around another body in the solar system. Apollo 8 had the first crew to restart the Command/Service Module main engine to leave lunar orbit for return to Earth. Apollo 8 had the first crew to navigate back to Earth and reenter the thin blue line of Earth’s atmosphere at over 40,000 km per hour. The proposed Aquila Mission crew will endure greater risks and set a bold new series of mission firsts beyond the Earth-Moon system. Our robotic exploration of the solar system has exponentially increased our knowledge of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. A robotic mission gathers data but can only partially fulfill humankind’s nature to explore in person. A human’s senses and ability to reason with the unexpected cannot be replaced by a robotic mission operating remotely with long two-way communications delay with Earth. A crewed deep space mission will truly feed the human spirit and our nature to explore the unknown.