The Lonely Ones

"The Lonely Ones" by Edward W. Ludwig is a science fiction story from the 1950s about astronauts on the spaceship Wanderer, traveling far into space to find other life. The story looks at how being alone affects people's minds, along with hope and feeling cut off as they travel through the huge, empty universe. When the crew gets close to Proxima Centauri, they are both excited and worried. After going past many dead planets, they are thrilled to see a gray planet that they think might have life, but after landing they realize they can't connect with the advanced, telepathic beings there because they are not as developed. Even though they are upset, they understand that humanity is small in the universe and that they need to keep exploring, and feel hopeful as they decide to head to Alpha Centauri, showing their search to connect and understand will keep going.