4 1/2 stars.

This was an infinitely fascinating book. I was surprised I enjoyed it so much because I never really cared about space exploration all that much. I was a young child when man first walked on the moon and of course I remember the hoopla and celebration. It was on every channel, all 5 of them, on the tv. I could hardly escape it. Everything was space food "like the astronauts eat" TANG! But since I was a young child, I just didn't care, I don't know why not. Maybe I was too preoccupied by my Barbies and swimming that summer. Maybe I thought it was "boys stuff", idk. At any rate, it didn't capture my imagination, then or now. Which is weird because I do like watching shows and reading books about space and my mind become boggled by the "billions and billions" of galaxies, etc. I did major in chemistry so I am interested in science.

So, yes, this book was quite interesting. There are so many things I never bothered to contemplate about space travel and the International Space Station. What it feels like to blast off. How quickly one reaches orbit. How the ISS travels at 17,500 mph. Like, huh? It's in free fall. Okay but huh? I never bothered to give much thought to how the human body deals with weightlessness. How the fluids shift, how the muscles and bones weaken. How it feels to try to sleep in weightlessness. How hard it is to do EVERY SINGLE SIMPLE THING. On and on. There was one point where mice were sent to the ISS and I chucked to myself imagining mice trying to deal with weightlessness. Like, what happened?

I've only ever been off the mainland of the US, one time, when I went to Hawaii. I remember feeling so far away from loved ones, in the middle of a vast ocean. How alien the landscape. It made me feel insecure and anxious to know if something terrible happened, like a terrorist attack, and planes were grounded, it would be so hard to get back home. I couldn't just take a train back home. Or rent a car, worse case scenario. Imagine being off the PLANET!?! To see it from orbit, spinning around down there, people oblivious. Home, planet earth! I would feel so lonely. What if something went wrong and you couldn't get back home? Ah, and the thought of a space walk... don't get me started. I was a nervous wreck reading about that. No thanks! I am not an adventurous person, I guess is the reality. Not now, not as a child. That's probably how I managed to not care about the astronauts and their great achievement back then.

So read this just because it's about something extraordinary few human beings will ever experience. Wonder at the bravery, the fortitude, the intelligence, the sacrifice. Your mind will boggle, I promise.