The Way to Amalthea
"The Way to Amalthea" (Russian: Путь на Амальтею, romanized: Put' na Amal'teyu) is a science fiction novella by Soviet writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, published in 1960 and written in 1959. An English translation, titled "Destination: Amaltheia", was published in a collection of the same name of Russian science fiction writers in 1963 by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow.[1][2]
Plot summary
A cargo spaceship, propelled by a photon engine with a large reflective mirror ("sail"), visits the Jupiter system to deliver a cargo to a manned science station on Amalthea. Damaged by meteorites, the spaceship falls into Jupiter, but survives the pressure and floats in the dense atmosphere; the crew manage to work around the damaged mirror and start the main engine to escape Jupiter and finally reach Amalthea.