This second edition of a book first published in 1996 features an updated final chapter and three new chapters—two of them previously unpublished—representing some additional thoughts on space stations written between 1996 and 2009. Here is a link to the publisher's information about the book, and the book's Table of Contents is below.

Introduction to the Second Edition

Preface by Gregory Benford

Acknowledgments

I. Parameters

1. Beyond the Planet Earth: Polemical Introduction

2. Into the Sea of Stars: Definitions and History of the Space Station in Fiction

3. The Wheel in the Sky: Space Station Design and Appearance

II. Functions

4."Factory in the Sky": Space Stations as Businesses

5. Killer Station: Space Stations as Haunted Houses

6. City in the Sky: Space Stations as Communities

III. Transformations

7. Exiled from Earth: The Traveling Space Station

8. "Home on Lagrange": The Space Habitat

9. The Web between the Worlds: The Space Elevator—and Beyond

IV. Iconography

10. "Stranger Station": Space Stations in the Universe of Science Fiction

11. This Strange Tomorrow: The Future of Space Stations in Life and Literature

V. Appendices

12. Step to the Stars: The International Space Station in the Context of Science Fiction

13. A Handful of Stars: Space Stations in the 1990s

14. The Problems of Space Flying: How Science Fiction Inspired the Space Station

15. "The Aim of Astronautics": The "Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction" Report on Space Stations in Science Fiction

16. The Fountains of Paradise: An "Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction" Overview of Space Stations and Space Colonies in Science Fiction

VI. Bibliography

Works Involving Space Stations

Other Works Cited

VII. Index