The Last Astronaut

Sally Jansen was once the leading astronaut at NASA. Then a mission to Mars ended in disaster, and she withdrew into a quiet, anonymous life, sure that she would never fly again.

A large alien object has now entered the solar system and is heading in a straight line for Earth. It sends no signal of its own and gives no sign that it hears the transmissions aimed at it. With time short and few options left, NASA turns to Jansen and asks her to command a mission to meet it.

The flight is dangerous, and for Jansen it also offers the chance at redemption she has wanted since her failure. As the object slowly starts to give up what it holds, it becomes clear that the outcome rests on her.

This is a near-future science fiction thriller built around a first-contact mission. Its tone is tense and often frightening, and it follows a haunted commander into deep space, where survival is the immediate concern and the fate of humanity sits behind it.