In addition to the curriculum, CIPS offers an optional science fiction component to supplement the curriculum. In this captivating story, a multi-generation alien spaceship named Wandering Star visits the Earth to learn about the planet and its inhabitants. 

The main characters are four very different young aliens who are junior officers aboard Wandering Star: Kinet, Stas, Modulas, and Teract.  In their small "splintership", the four aliens explore Earth and visit with its people.  They repeatedly find themselves in situations relevant to the material seen throughout the course. 

For example, in a fiction reading connected to Unit 3, Kinet compares human models of friction to the interaction between the splintership and the walls of Wandering Star's launch bay after a problematic launch.

The Chronicles of the Wandering Star was written by science educator and science fiction author Kelly McCullough, and illustrated by Carlos Lopez.