There is also a book out there that, while unrelated to this new movie, actually bears the same name. The book Ad Astra has no discernable intentional connection to the finished movie. Written by Jack Campbell (which is a pen name for John Henry), the book is a collection of short stories revolving around space exploration but are all focused around human psychology. The new Pitt movie also touches on such things, given that it is really about McBride’s own journey through his life to find his lost-in-space father. Ad Astra contains about a dozen connected stories in this Campbell anthology, but if you’re looking for something more serialized there’s also his Lost Fleet saga which actually tells a continuing story about trying to explore and conquer the galaxy. Just without Pitt's Roy McBride.