Half a Life is a collection of science fiction short stories by Russian novelist Kir Bulychev.

In a distant, but unspecified future, human cosmonauts discover the alien ship floating in space, a derelict.

Entering the ship, they soon realize that it was automated - run by robots with the apparent mission of collecting biologic specimens from different planets.

(The purpose of this exploration remains undetermined, but one of the humans speculate that it may have been a lucky break for mankind that the ship never returned home.)

As Spartak flew at interstellar speeds, the gap of time between her departure and return was even greater on Earth, and her crew are forced to consider whether they have wasted their lives away.