The Return is a 2000 novel written by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes. The book details a fictional account of the future of space travel, specifically space tourism. Although set in the near future, it now seems somewhat dated as events that happened shortly after its release, such as the Columbia disaster and recent space tourism advances such as SpaceShipOne and Virgin Galactic, are not included. Most of the corporations within the novel have fictional names; however, it is often quite clear that they are references to real corporations such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Nike. Overall, the book heavily supports the view that tourism is needed to drive the space industry.
