Moonfall

Moonfall is a 1998 hard science fiction novel by American writer Jack McDevitt. The book depicts the impact of an interstellar comet on the Moon and how the catastrophic effects are handled. The novel was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1998. Plot summary In 2024, Charlie Haskell, the vice president of the United States, is on the Moon to inaugurate the first moonbase. An interstellar comet is discovered to be on course to impact the Moon and shatter it. A rescue mission gets underway to take the thousand-something population of the base off the Moon, with the support of the L1 space station (near the Earth-Moon L1 point) and Skyport, a larger geocentric space station. Haskell, in a moment of zealousness to show responsibility, promises the public to get off the Moon only after everyone else has. Subsequent analysis reveals that the existing rescue plan would result in about 10 people not being able to get off the Moon before the impact. The VP chooses to stick to his promise. Some volunteers, along with a few randomly selected people, also stay back.