Moonfall (novel)

Moonfall, a 1998 hard science fiction novel by American author Jack McDevitt, explores the consequences of an interstellar comet striking the Moon and the subsequent efforts to manage the disaster. It received a Nebula Award nomination for Best Novel in 1998.

The story is set in 2024, where U.S. Vice President Charlie Haskell is on the Moon to celebrate the opening of the first lunar base. An interstellar comet is detected on a collision course with the Moon, threatening to shatter it. A rescue operation is launched to evacuate roughly a thousand people from the base, supported by the L1 space station and Skyport, a larger Earth-orbiting station. In a show of responsibility, Haskell publicly vows to leave the Moon only after everyone else. However, analysis shows the existing plan will leave about ten people behind. Haskell keeps his promise, and some volunteers and randomly selected individuals also remain.

The rescue uses five large SSTO spacecraft, which dock with smaller ferries—moonbuses and a Micro—in orbit to collect passengers. A last-minute, risky plan employs the Micro to evacuate the final group just before impact. The comet hits, shattering the Moon. The resulting debris field endangers the rescue ships and Earth. Impactors, some hundreds of meters wide, strike Earth, particularly devastating the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. coasts face multiple tsunamis, and direct impacts cause widespread destruction. The president, who declined a coastal evacuation, is distraught. The novel follows various characters, including residents, journalists, and extremist militia members.

One SSTO is destroyed by a large debris piece. The Micro is damaged, and Haskell performs a successful EVA repair. A tsunami hits the U.S. capital, and the president dies in an aircraft malfunction during rescue. Haskell, still in space, becomes president. He and the Micro's passengers are rescued by the *Percival Lowell*, a nuclear-powered ship originally intended for a Mars mission.

A mile-long debris fragment, nicknamed "Possum," is found on course to devastate the U.S. mainland and potentially cause global catastrophe. Nuclear missiles are ruled out due to fallout risks. Instead, a plan to redirect Possum using the SSTOs and *Percival Lowell* is devised.