Alpha Centauri: The Return

Alpha Centauri: The Return

Chronicles the return of part of the first interstellar expedition to the Alpha Centauri system, and the attempts to get a return mission to retreive the remainder of the crew (see Sawyer's World). It also covers the events of the Chinese mission to Epsilon Eridani, hinted at in the first book.

• Publisher's page: Alpha Centauri: Sawyer's World
• Available on Amazon

Ships and Crew

Ships of the First Expedition

USS Robert A. Heinlein - US, fleet flagship, non-lander, returns to Earth

Xing Hua - China, non-lander, missing

Chandrasekhar - India, lander, first landing returns to Earth

Krechet - Russia, lander, second landing, abandoned on Kakuloa

USS Poul Anderson - US, backup lander, lands on planet Able (Sawyer's World)

Anderson Landing Party

Acting Captain Elizabeth Sawyer PhD - US, pilot and geologist

Fred Tyrell, PhD - US, geologist

Ulrika Klaar, PhD, - (Russia? Europe?) zoologist

Roger Dejois, PhD, - France, biologist/ecologist

Jennifer Singh, PhD - India, botanist

Pavel Kasynsky MD, Russia, physician, biologist

Peter Finley, PhD - (Cdn), geologist/hydrologist

Naomi Maclaren (Aus-US) engineer

Chinese Ships (secret expedition to Epsilon Eridani)

Xinglong Hua - 'Dragon' class, similar to Anderson class, but fusion tokamak is smaller, lighter, and internal. The warp ring is still external.

Tianlong Hua - sister ship to Xinglong Hua.

Chinese Crew

Note, as is customary with Chinese names, the family name is given first.

Lee Shing - Captain of Xing Hua and Xinglong Hua

Zhing Yuan - Captain of Tianlong Hua

Other named personnel (gender given for those unfamiliar with Chinese names)

Chen Jingyun - first officer and navigator of Xinglong (M)

Wang Wei - scientist (M)

Zhang Min - scientist (F)

Cheng Jun - pilot of Xinglong (M)

Ping Wei - medic, lands with Xinglong (M)

Jian Qing - on Xinglong (F)

Fusheng Bai - scientist on Xinglong (M)

V-class Ships (Return mission)

Endeavour - prototype of the class

Victoria - based on Endeavour but with some modifications. Named for the only ship of Magellan's fleet to complete the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

Vostok - Russian-operated sister ship of the Victoria. Named for the ship to discover and first circumnavigate Antarctica, and for the early Soviet manned spacecraft.