George O. Smith 3 hr 49 min read

Sauntering to the spaceport in the fresh spring air, Paul Grayson savors his last free walk before months of canned air and cramped viewports, eyes drawn to Alpha Centauri low in the sky.

George O. Smith's 1950 story is a fast hard-SF space opera of a mission to the nearest stars. Sharp, atmospheric golden-age SF. Read it for a rousing tale of interstellar enterprise and intrigue, launched by a man savoring the open air one last time.

In its time

Published in 1950, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

3 hr 49 min read (a novel-length work, settle in).