The fourth astronaut’s selection for the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) is kind of a fluke or an afterthought, and he is not as well qualified or as experienced as the other crew members. In the year 2021, he finds himself in the Orion Crew Module sitting on top of the huge SLS rocket that is launching in ten minutes. He is extremely nervous and fears he will have a heart attack or stroke. He wonders what he is doing here on the mission to save the world. The book flashes back to 2016 and begins describing events that led to placing the fourth astronaut on that rocket. Dr. Art Bennett, an aerospace contractor, is in Washington, DC to brief an important budget panel at the Pentagon. The panel is headed by a two-star general, Leonard Brown. Art is presenting his Galaxy Defense Plan which establishes that our Solar System is currently in a danger zone within the Milky Way Galaxy. General Brown and the budget panel reject the entire Galaxy Defense Plan.
