P.NE. In orbit

The novel, which won the Booker Prize in 2024, tells the story of one day on the International Space Station. Throughout the story, we will look at the Earth through the eyes of astronauts. They observe an amazing spectacle that is inaccessible to us; notice familiar places; imagine what their loved ones are doing; are sad that they cannot be with them; grieve over losses that can no longer be compensated. Reading this miniature book, filled with philosophical meaning and deep experiences, we cannot help but feel the value of the whole world and the uniqueness of each life. Samantha Harvey in her book unwittingly acted as a predictor, guessing some important changes in the architecture of the new American lunar program associated with the development of new initiatives in space exploration. But what is even more valuable is that she involved her readers in the process of understanding the place of man in space, doing it realistically, soberingly, with soft fantastic assumptions. Perhaps this is what we need to direct our gaze to the starry sky without losing touch with our home planet. Alexander Khokhlov, space engineer