Travel to the Stars . . . A Dream Fulfilled or Humankind's Worst Nightmare?Ed Walker's last mission almost ended in catastrophe. Although the NASA astronaut had been able to save the lives of his crewmates, he's still in danger of going down in history as the commander of the mission that wrecked the International Space Station. So he can hardly believe his luck when he's chosen to head the first manned exploration of the outer solar system.One of his new crew members is the young physicist David Holmes, who is studying the mysterious disappearance of three space probes.But as their spaceship approaches interstellar space, humanity's most pressing question is no longer: Are we alone in the universe? It is rather: Are we ready for the truth?