Elma launches into her standard speech about the need to send women into space in order that the resulting colonies will be sustainable, only to be stopped in her tracks. Using all the resources at her disposal and pushing herself outside of her comfort zone to become the public face of space travel, Elma finally manages to get women recognized as candidates for the astronaut program-only to be confronted, once again, with a panel of men apparently questioning her dedication. To this point, Elma has consistently found her skills as a pilot (a former WASP in World War II) and mathematician under-utilized: because of her position and her marriage to a senior NACA engineer, she is always just outside the room where decisions happen. Later, when her own calculations make it clear that earth is facing runaway global warming, her involvement switches to a suddenly accelerated space program with the aim of colonizing Mars.
Having survived a meteor strike which wipes out the US eastern seaboard, pilot and mathematical genius Elma is immediately thrown into the heart of the immediate response. This scene, near the climax of The Calculating Stars-the first in the opening duology of novels in the Lady Astronaut series-is a pivotal moment for Dr. "This is what NASA never had, a heroine with attitude."Why don't you sit down, Miss York, and tell us why you want to be an astronaut." (p. "In The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal imagines an alternate history of spaceflight that reminds me of everything I loved about Hidden Figures." - Cady Coleman, Astronaut `The Lady Astronaut series might be set in an alternate past, but they're cutting-edge SF novels that speak volumes about the present.' `Kowal masters both science and historical accuracy in this alternate history adventure.' - Andy Weir The Moon colony is well established, but tensions are rising on Earth-both from those who see themselves being left behind on a disaster-laden planet, and those who don't believe in equality for all.īut even with personal sacrifices and political tensions, Elma York, the Lady Astronaut, dearly wants to go on the first mission to Mars-despite everything that stands in her way. It's 1961, and the Earth's gaze is turning to Mars.
THE SECOND IN THE NEBULA AND LOCUS AWARD-WINNING SERIES
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