The Aquila Mission

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.
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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.

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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.