title: Stepping Stones to the Stars: The Story of Manned Spaceflight
author:  Terry C. Treadwell 
description: <div><div><B>Terry C. Treadwell</B>&#160;is the author of <I>German Fighter Aces of World War One</I><div><div>and <I>Ironworks: The Story of Grumman and Its Aircraft</I>, as well as articles in magazines such as <I>Foundation</I>, the magazine of the Smithsonian Institution. <B>Henry Hartsfield </B>is a retired United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut who logged&#160;more than&#160;480 hours in space.</div></div></div></div>
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  ![Cover](images/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Falling Free
  
  
    
  
  
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  _( Barrayar )_
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Lois Mcmaster Bujold
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Leo Graf was an effective engineer… Safety Regs weren’t just the rule book he
  swore by; he’d helped write them. All that changed on his assignment to the
  Cay Habitat. Leo was profoundly uneasy with the corporate exploitation of his
  bright new students—till that exploitation turned to something much worse. He
  hadn’t anticipated a situation where the right thing to do was neither save,
  nor in the rules…
  
  
  Leo Graf adopted 1000 quaddies—now all he had to do was teach them to be free.
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Lois McMaster Bujold
  
  
  ## Falling Free
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 1
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The shining rim of the planet Rodeo wheeled dizzily past the observation port
  of the orbital transfer station. A woman whom Leo Graf recognized as one of
  his fellow disembarking passengers from the Jump ship stared eagerly out for a
  few minutes, then turned away