Flying 250 miles above Earth, traveling at 17,500 mph, the International Space Station (ISS) remains in Earth’s orbit, a constant curved journey of 16 orbits each 24 hours, 16 sun rises and 16 sunsets. A crew of four astronauts and two cosmonauts are traveling for nine months aboard ISS: Roman and Anton (Russia, cosmonauts), Shaun (American), Chie (Japanese), Pietro (Italian), and Nell (British). The novel comprises one 24-hour period of this mission, one of the last before ISS is retired. At this same time, the U.S. has sent a mission of four astronauts to the moon, the first lunar mission since the Apollo missions.

There isn’t much external action, apart from the standard, day-to-day tasks of the mission: hours of necessary exercise; performing science experiments on mice and plants; and studying themselves, in the form of blood, urine samples, questionnaire monitoring and cognitive testing; and humdrum chores, such as cleaning air vents, taking out the trash, etc. The reader gets the idea that ISS has ended its useful life, and not much else is to be gained from its occupancy. Astronauts who have spent their lives in disciplined preparation for this career are stuck in an aging apparatus while the new, exciting pursuit begins, the return to the moon, as staging for Mars and beyond.

During these 16 orbits, each traveler reflects, in a stream-of-consciousness manner, about their careers, personal lives, belief in God, and state of the Earth, all from the perspective of viewing Earth from this vantage point. We get in the head of each astronaut, as they remember how they came to the revelation that this career path was worth the personal sacrifices required. Time with children is lost; time with spouses, causing either sadness or relief, since one is a newlywed, while another is almost divorced; one astronaut misses her mother’s death and funeral. Personal mementos prompt these thoughts, as do views of their homelands from above.

The astronauts track an enormous typhoon heading for the Philippines, sending photos and video to meteorologists back home. Harvey describes what can be seen on Earth from orbit, no borders or boundaries, just the colorful array of vegetation, sand, rock, ice, and water. The curved orbit gives a constant sensation of falling, a condition astronaut’s brains adapt to during their first 24 hours on ISS. It is all a great deal to process, and interesting that some increase in faith in God, while others grow more cold. The descriptions of space and Earth are beautiful, poetic. This is a book that poses more questions than it answers. The biggest question appears to be: why do humans do this? Why sacrifice so much to go beyond our home? A slow, contemplative book, one that must be approached with that mindset to be appreciated.