Moonfall

it's The 21st Century, And All Is Right With The World. Or So It Seems. vice President Charlie Haskell, Who Will Travel Anywhere For A Photo Op, Is About To Cut The Ribbon For The Just-completed American Moonbase. The First Mars Voyage Is About To Leave High Orbit, With A Woman At The Helm. Below, The World Is Marveling At A Rare Solar Eclipse. but All That Is Right Is About To Go Disastrously Wrong When An Amateur Astronomer Discovers A New Comet. Named For Its Discover, tomiko is A Sun-grazer,an Interstellar Wanderer With A Hundred Times The Mass And Ten Times The Speed Of Other Comets. And It Is Headed Straight For Our Moon. in Less Than Five Days, If Scientists' Predictions Are Right, tomiko Will Crash Into The Moon, Shattering It Into A Cloud Of Superheated Gas, Dust, And Huge Chunks Of Rock That Will Rain Down On The Earth, Causing Chaos And Killer Storms, Possibly Tidal Waves Inundating Entire Cities...or Worse: A Single Apocalyptic Worldwide Extinction Event. in The Meantime, The Population Of Moonbase Must Be Evacuated By A Hastily Assembled Fleet Of Shuttle Rockets. There Isn't Room, Or Time Enough, For Everyone. And The Vice President, Who Rashly Promised To Be Last Off (i Will Lock The Door And Turn Off The Lights), Is Trying To Figure Out How To Get Away Without Eating His Words. in moonfall, mcdevitt Has Created A Disaster Thriller Of Truly Epic Proportions, Featuring A Cast Of Unforgettable Characters: The Reluctant Russian Rocket Jockey Entrusted With The Lives Of Squabbling Refugees; The Woman Chosen To Be First On The Moon; The Scientist Who Must Deflect The Possum (possible Impactors) Knocked From Orbit Or Witness The End Science Itself. And At The Center Of It All Is Charlie Haskell, The Career Politician Who Discovers His Own Unexpected Reserves Of Only Himself And His Country, But For All Humankind. moonfall, is A Spellbinding Tale Of Heroism And Hope, Cowardice And Passion Played Against The Awesome Spectacle Of Human History's Darkest Night. publishers Weekly racing Neck And Neck With Doomsday, This Breathless Near-future Thriller Pits Young, Single And Politically Hopeful U.s. V.p. Charlie Haskell And A Gigantic International Cast Of Heroic Helpers Against An Interstellar Comet That Blows The Moon To Lethal Smithereens And Threatens To Wipe Out Life On Earth. Just Before The Comet Is Spotted, Cancer-riddled President Kolladner Dispatches Charlie To The Ceremonial Opening Of The U.s.-led Commercial Moonbase, Setting Charlie Up For A Spacewalk Into Destiny. Loaded With Flaming Action And Fortified With Characters From Today's Headlines, The Novel Hurtles Cinematically From One Point Of View To Another So Rapidly That The Characters, Except For Charlie, Tend To Blur Into One Another. After Mcdevitt Explodes The Moon Midway Through The Novel, Fearsome Tsunamis Wreak Havoc On Both American Coasts. With A Murderous Gang Of Rocket-hating Backwoods Militants Thrown In For A Whisker Too Much Good Measure, U.s. Know-how And Rough-riding True American Grit Save The Day On The Ground. In Space, Charlie Faces More Perils Than Pauline Didand Loses Some Of His Credibility As A Result. Overall, Though, Mcdevitt's Scrupulous Research And Ability To Bring The Arcane Intricacies Of Space Engineering Within The Grasp Of The Earthbound Make This A Fine-tuned Disaster To Remember. (apr.) It's the 21st century, and all is right with the world. Or so it seems. Vice President Charlie Haskell, who will travel anywhere for a photo op, is about to cut the ribbon for the just-completed American Moonbase. The first Mars voyage is about to leave high orbit, with a woman at the helm. Below, the world is marveling at a rare solar eclipse. But all that is right is about to go disastrously wrong when an amateur astronomer discovers a new comet. Named for its discover, Tomiko is a "sun-grazer,"an interstellar wanderer with a hundred times the mass and ten times the speed of other comets. And it is headed straight for our moon. In less than five days, if scientists' predictions are right, Tomiko will crash into the moon, shattering it into a cloud of superheated gas, dust, and huge chunks of rock that will rain down on the earth, causing chaos and killer storms, possibly tidal waves inundating entire cities...or worse: a single apocalyptic worldwide "extinction event." In the meantime, the population of Moonbase must be evacuated by a hastily assembled fleet of shuttle rockets. There isn't room, or time enough, for everyone. And the vice president, who rashly promised to be last off ("I will lock the door and turn off the lights"), is trying to figure out how to get away without eating his words. In Moonfall, McDevitt has created a disaster thriller of truly epic proportions, featuring a cast of unforgettable characters: the reluctant Russian rocket jockey entrusted with the lives of squabbling refugees; the woman chosen to be first on the moon; the scientist who must deflect the "possum" (POSSible IMpactors) knocked from orbit or witness the end science itself. And at the center of it all is Charlie Haskell, the career politician who discovers his own unexpected reserves of only himself and his country, but for all humankind. Moonfall, is a spellbinding tale of heroism and hope, cowardice and passion played against the awesome spectacle of human history's darkest night. HarperPrism 2 moonfall 5 chapter one 7 21 AARON BROKE RUTH CAREER HR MARK 50 YEARS AGO TODAY 21 Hit 715th Against LA Dodgers In Atlanta 21 21 Innocent "Exhausted But Fit" 21 chapter two 27 27 27 27 MOONBASE 27 System Covers 700 Miles, Will Serve Two Million Passengers Daily 33 World War II Leader Became Honorary U.S. Citizen 64 Years Ago Today 33 Passed Safety Inspection Last Week 33 India Announces New Education Effort 33 Sun's Glare Had Hidden Celestial Visitor 33 chapter three 35 47 47 47 47 Russian Scores First Human Victory Ever Against MIT Program 47 Graham: The Role Of Genetic Has Been Vastly Exaggerated 47 Cop Shows Distant Second 47 Preyed On Handicapped 47 chapter four 61 61 61 61 FLIGHT 61 Approved, John C. Chandler, Director 73 LA. Monorail Still Losing Money In Third Year Of Operation 74 Solarcars, Public Transport, Powersats Credited With Turnaround 75 Karen Baker Won Emmy For "I Left My Heart On The LTA" 75 Madison DA Will Ask Maximum 20-Year Sentence 75 chapter five 83 83 83 83 EVACUATION 83 94 MBI DENIES SOME WILL BE STRANDED 94 Pageant Will Run All Week 94 Only Four-Term President Died April 12,1945 94 "I'll Lock The Door And Turn Off The Lights" 94 Twentieth-Century Dictator Idi Amin Overthrown On This Date 95 Tourists Flee Southern Vacation Sites 95 chapter six 113 113 113 113 IMPACT 113 Almyer:"A Time To Put Politics Aside" 116 Poor People's Crusade Mobilizes Volunteers 116 NASA Coordinates Early Warning System 116 Evacuees Celebrate Arrival At Skyport 116 Televangelist's "Flights For Faith" Sold Bibles, Medical Supplies 116 Does First True Artificial Intelligence Live In Minneapolis? 116 chapter seven 157 157 157 157 TRIGGER 157 chapter eight 200 200 200 200 BELL-RINGER 200 chapter nine 244 244 244 244 PHYSICS AND POLITICS 244 "The entire world appears to be kneeling in prayer tonight___" 265 chapter ten 266 266 266 266 BELLWETHER 266 epilogue 288 In the year 2024 Vice President Charlie Haskell is at the new American Moonbase for its opening ceremonies when an amateur astronomer discovers a gigantic new comet headed straight towards the Moon. With only five days until impact evacuation of all personnel seems improbable and the panic on Earth is of epic proportions