Moonseed

Author: Stephen Baxter

This is one of a trilogy of novels that Baxter wrote exploring what might have happened if the history of NASA had gone differently. In this instance, he imagines that the Apollo 18 mission actually went ahead, but among the Moon rocks it brought back was a strange substance described as "moonseed". When some of this substance contaminates a NASA mission to Venus, Venus blows up. The resulting cosmic radiation that bathes the Earth triggers the moonseed, which starts to disintegrate the planet by heating up the core. In a desperate race against time to escape the inevitable destruction of the Earth, a team of scientists attempt to terraform the Moon to provide a refuge.Why it's on the list:Like all too many of Baxter's novels, this is a story that ends with the destruction of the Earth; but it creates an unusual mixture of Moon novel and disaster novel that is terrifyingly convincing in its detail.

Books in Nasa Series (4)

Voyage

Titan

Moonseed

Voyage