From the the #1 bestselling author and astronaut Chris Hadfield, an edge-of-the seat Cold War thriller set against the backdrop of the real 1970s Space race between the US, the USSR and China.
1975. A new Apollo mission launches into orbit, on course to dock with a Russian Soyuz craft: three NASA astronauts and three cosmonauts, joining to celebrate a new dawn of Soviet-American cooperation.
But a third power is rising in the race to dominate Space. As NASA Flight Controller Kaz Zemeckis listens in from Earth, three of the six astronauts are killed in a depressurisation accident. And from a remote location in east Asia, a capsule secretly launches with China's very first astronaut aboard, purpose unknown . . .
Full of Cold War intrigue and real historical characters, Final Orbit accelerates to a thrilling conclusion-and brings to life the loneliness, majesty and pure rush of Space flight, with all of the hard-won experience of a writer who is himself one of the most decorated astronauts alive. CHRIS HADFIELD is one of the most seasoned and accomplished astronauts in the world. A verteran of three space flights, he serves as capsule communication-CAPCOM-for 25 Shuttle missions, as NASA's director of operations in Russia and as commander of the International Space Station. Hadfield's debut novel, The Apollo Murders, became an instant #1 bestseller in Canada, as did his second, The Defector. His first work of nonfiction, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, his photo book, You Are Here, and his children's book, The Darkest Dark, also debuted at #1, remaining on the lists for months, and went on to become international bestsellers. Hadfield is the co-creator and host of the BBC TV series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes, and helped create and host the National Geographic series One Strange Rock. He advises SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and other space companies, chairs the board of the Open Lunar Foundation, leads the CDL-Space international tech incubator and teaches a MasterClass on space operations.
