When NASA
finally loses its funding and the media claims that the public
has turned its back on space, only James Looven and Amy, his
daughter's best friend seem to be outraged. Railing against
the world's stupidity, they soon realize that support for
the space program is more widespread than they have been led
to believe. Lacking government funding, they rally the many
thousands who don't want humanity to die at the bottom of
a gravity well, and even while Earth reels from famine and
resource scarcity they decide to build their own program.
Working
with hundreds of likeminded others they realize that the return
to space is not only possible but surprisingly easy. Only
when they go further afield do they find that the solar system
through a telescope is very different than the reality of
stepping on an asteroid. In the distant stretches of the asteroid
belt they make a discovery about Vesta that changes forever
how humanity thinks about the asteroid as well as the potential
of such materials.
The only
question that remains is whether they want to return to Earth
and her many problems.