Atmosphere

Joan Goodwin has been passionate about the stars since she was a child. A kind and low-key person, she is content with her life as a university physics and astronomy professor and as Frances’ aunt. Until she stumbles upon a NASA advertisement seeking female scientists to participate in a space program.
Joan, who yearns for nothing more than to go to space, is chosen among thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980 and begins her training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, alongside an exceptional crew: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are always kind and good-natured; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked very hard to now act good; the compassionate Donna Fitzgerald, who hides her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the charming and mysterious engineer who can fix any machine and fly any plane.
As the new astronauts become friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan discovers a passion and a love she has never imagined, and begins to doubt everything she thinks she knows about her place in the tangible universe. And then, in December 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.
A passionate story about the transformative power of love – this time among the stars. Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best.