Rocheworld

Rocheworld

Cover of the first edition
Author	Robert L. Forward
Original title	The Flight of the Dragonfly
Cover artist	Gerry Daly
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Rocheworld series
Published	Simon & Schuster
Followed by	Return to Rocheworld

Rocheworld (first published in serial form in 1982; first book publication, under the title The Flight of the Dragonfly, 1984) is a science fiction novel by Robert Forward which depicts a realistic interstellar mission using a laser driven light sail propulsion system to send the spaceship and crew of 20 5.9 light-years (ca. 34 trillion miles; ca. 56 trillion km) to the double planet that orbits Barnard's Star, which they call Rocheworld, where they make startling discoveries stranger than anything ever encountered before.

It had four sequels, written in collaboration with Julie Forward Fuller and Margaret Dodson Forward, which detail the exploration of the other worlds in the Barnard System: Return to Rocheworld, Marooned on Eden, Ocean Under the Ice, and Rescued from Paradise.

In Rocheworld, a small group of civilian and military personnel crew humanity's first manned exploration of another star system. Against the protests of General (Later Senator) Beareguard Darlington Winthrop III, the mission begins under the command of Major General Virginia "Jinjur" Jones and George G. Gudunov. Winthrop however, eager to fulfill a personal vendetta against Gudunov, uses his considerable influence to get Colonel Alan Armstrong, who had hoped to be second in command just for the sake of it, on the crew with the intention of promoting him after the mission is on its way. This plan is foiled however, and the expedition proceeds on its one way mission to Barnard's Star, where planets have been discovered by Robot Probes.

Using a laser-pumped light sail spacecraft known as Prometheus, the journey to their destination of Barnard's star lasts 40 years. The crew use a drug called "No-Die" which slows their aging process, whilst proportionately lowering their effective I.Q., but allowing them to arrive only a decade physically older than when they left.

However, all does not go as planned, and soon a dangerous disease erupts among the crew. The ship's doctor, William Wang, is taken off No-Die, where he sacrifices himself to treat the rest of the crew.