Trappist-1 — Tony Harmsworth

TRAPPIST-1 – THE SEQUEL TO MOONSCAPE AND MOONSTRUCKTrappist-1 is Mark Noble Space Adventure 3. [It is suggested, but not essential, that you read Moonscape and Moonstruck first.] Following the 2030 discovery of quantum spolding (space folding), interstellar exploration becomes a possibility. NASA, together with private space exploration companies, begin work on the complex physics, technology, and hardware to turn it into reality. After a test flight to Mars, more hazardous than anyone anticipated, the starship Spirit and its two Rimor shuttles set off for the dwarf red star, Trappist-1, almost forty light years from the solar system. Haven, the fifth Trappist planet, has continents and seas, icecaps, glaciers and mountains, but the ubiquitous plant life they find is, at first, dull and uninteresting. However, it doesn't take long for them to discover that Haven isn't a place on which to find shelter. It does, in fact, have the most terrifying secret. As realisation dawns, Mark and his team end up in an existential struggle. When they finally appear to have resolved their disastrous visit to the planet's surface, they discover an even bigger surprise awaiting them in orbit. It promises so much. Could it be enough to revitalise the whole mission and turn failure into success? Harmsworth's Mark Noble Space Adventures, of which Trappist-1 is book three, contain no space battles, or fantasy environments, but follow real science as closely as possible. Having said that, in order to travel between the stars, there must some suspension of belief to allow for the development of quantum spolding, for which Tony requires your forgiveness. Who knows, though, whether it might foretell the future? In this story, Tony blends hard science fiction with a large dollop of imagination, and a substantial pinch of horror to add flavour.