On the Orbit

In the novel, which became the winner of the Booker Prize in 2024, one day on the International Space Station is described. Throughout the narrative, we will observe Earth through the eyes of astronauts. They witness an amazing spectacle that... is inaccessible to us; they notice familiar places; they imagine what their loved ones are up to; they feel sad that they cannot be close to them; they grieve over losses that can no longer be compensated. Reading this miniature book, filled with philosophical meaning and deep emotions, we cannot help but feel the value of the entire world and the uniqueness of each life.
Samantha Harvey, in her book, inadvertently acted as a prophet, predicting some important changes in the architecture of the new American lunar program related to the development of new initiatives in space exploration. But perhaps more importantly, she engaged her readers in the process of realizing humanity's place in space, doing so realistically, soberly, with gentle fantastical assumptions. Perhaps this is what we need to direct our gaze towards the starry sky without losing our connection to our home planet.