The first wave of space exploration in the 20th century all but ground to a halt, the victim of national and ideological rivalries which had spent themselves, and of politicians who gutted the funding for special interests and pork barrel spending. But the universe still beckoned, and a generation grew up knowing that there was nothing impossible about space travel, and wondering why we had gone to the Moon-and then stopped cold. New propulsion systems and more efficient reaction drives were developed, making spaceflight less expensive, taking it away from the exclusive club of government-funded programs. Humanity moved out once again into the infinite ocean of space, this time to stay. All new stories of the conquest of the solar system by: Charles Sheffield, Gregory Benford, John Ringo, James P. Hogan, Wen Spencer, Margaret Ball, Jack McDevitt, Fact & fiction by space scientist Travis Taylor, and more!