The vast and mysterious universe is explored in this reprint anthology from award-winning editor and anthologist Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld magazine, The Best Science Fiction of the Year). The urge to explore and discover is a natural and universal one, and the edge of the unknown is expanded with each passing year as scientific advancements inch us closer and closer to the outer reaches of our solar system and the galaxies beyond them. Generations of writers have explored these new frontiers and the endless possibilities they present in great detail. With galaxy-spanning adventures of discovery and adventure, from generations ships to warp drives, exploring new worlds to first contacts, science fiction writers have given readers increasingly new and alien ways to look out into our broad and sprawling universe. The Final Frontier delivers stories from across this literary spectrum, a reminder that the universe is far large and brimming with possibilities than we could ever imagine, as hard as we may try.

An analysis of NASA's plans for continuing human spaceflight after retiring the space shuttle / Congressional Budget Office -- The budgetary implications of NASA's current plans for space exploration / Congressional Budget Office -- NASA : assessments of selected large-scale projects / U.S. Government Accountability Office -- NASA cost management hearing : Scolese testimony / Christopher Scolese -- National Aeronautics and Space Administrations : overview, FY2009 budget, and issues for Congress / Daniel Morgan and Carl E. Behrens -- U.S. civilian space policy priorities : reflections 50 years after Sputnik / Deborah D. Stine.

Star Trek was right — there is only one final frontier, and that is space... Human beings are natural explorers, and nowhere is this frontier spirit stronger than in the United States of America. It almost defines the character of the US. But the Earth is running out of frontiers fast. In Brian Clegg's The Final Frontier we discover the massive challenges that face explorers, both human and robotic, to uncover the current and future technologies that could take us out into the galaxy and take a voyage of discovery where no one has gone before... but one day someone will. In 2003, General Wesley Clark set the nation a challenge to produce the technology that would enable new pioneers to explore the galaxy. That challenge is tough — the greatest we've ever faced. But taking on the final frontier does not have to be a fantasy. In a time of recession, escapism is always popular — and what greater escape from the everyday can there be than the chance of leaving Earth's bounds and exploring the universe? With a rich popular culture heritage in science fiction movies, books and TV shows, this is a subject that entertains and informs in equal measure.

What are our motivations for going into space? Where does our long-term space future lie? Why, and how, should we strive to reach, if not for the stars, at least for the Moon and Mars? This exciting book looks first at the progress that has already been made in our attempts to explore and expand beyond the Earth. Current and past space technologies and space stations are described, and the effects of the space environment on the human body are explained. A discussion of the merits of the robotic exploration of space is followed by a look at our exploration of the Moon and Mars. Final chapters touch on propulsion methods required for leaving our solar system, and ask which of the possibilities for future space travel is most likely to succeed. This thought provoking book will appeal to all those with an interest in the future of space exploration.

This clear, succinct, and elegant contribution to the 'Very Short Introductions' series surveys the history of global exploration and assesses the motives, for good and ill, of those who undertook it. Stewart Weaver traces the history of exploration from the first explorers (including Polynesian and Micronesian peoples, the ancient Greeks, Marco Polo, and Ibn BattÐta), to the European discover of America, the Enlightenment and exploration (focusing on James Cook), and the race to the north and south poles