Kowal, Mary Robinette

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Kowal

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Mary Robinette

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2018 - 20203
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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The Fated Sky
    2018 - Kowal, Mary Robinette
    The Fated Sky is the sequel to The Calculating Stars, and it revolves around protagonist Elma York’s voyage to Mars. It takes place between 1961 and 1963, a decade after a meteorite destroyed the east coast of the United States. The novel focuses on the effort of the International Aerospace Coalition, which replaced NASA, to send a rocket to Mars, after having established a colony on the moon. The novel focuses on the technological advancement that is increasing as more research is being done on space exploration, such as the development of rockets, communications between the Earth, the moon, and the rocket bound for Mars. The novel also raises the issue of the potentially inaccurate electronic computation machines which may jeopardize the mission, making mathematician and astronaut Elma a vital member of the crew. Her purpose is to calculate and verify all navigation computations to make the journey successful.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The Calculating Stars
    2018 - Kowal, Mary Robinette
    This science fiction and alternate history novel follows the life of mathematician Elma York and her husband, NASA engineer Nathaniel York, in the aftermath of a meteorite strike that destroyed the east coast of the United States of America in 1952. Following this disaster, it is up to Elma to calculate and assess the repercussions the strike will bring to the planet’s climate and humanity’s survival in the long term, leading to the decision that humankind must leave Earth. The novel focuses on Elma’s role as a computer in the newly founded International Aerospace Coalition and the calculations that are required to put humans in space, as well as on Elma’s campaign to bring women to the space program as astronauts. Directly related to this are the short term effects the meteorite strike is causing throughout the planet and the creation of conditions to minimize these effects. However, the novel shows that all scientific progress at this time is focused on the mission to abandon the planet and colonize the moon.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The Relentless Moon
    2020 - Kowal, Mary Robinette
    The Relentless Moon is the third instalment in the Lady Astronaut series. The narrative takes place simultaneously with The Fated Sky. While the second novel is set in a rocket on the way to Mars, The Relentless Moon follows a new protagonist, astronaut Nicole Waring, on the International Aerospace Coalition’s (IAC) colony on the moon. With the threat of the Earth First movement, who are undermining the efforts of the IAC, both on Earth and on the moon, Nicole becomes responsible for the maintenance of the lunar base, as well as with finding the possible saboteurs hiding in the base. While the novel focuses on many of the political implications of the space program, the efforts to stem the climatic impact of the meteorite strike on Earth and the technological needs to establish the newly founded colony are also two of the main topics of the narrative.