Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut
by Samantha Cristoforetti
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Pub Date Aug 31 2021 | Archive Date Sep 14 2021
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Description
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Follow a female astronaut through every moment of her ascent as she trains for a mission to the International Space Station and discovers the wonders of life 250 miles above Earth
The countdown is over. Today, I woke up on Earth and I’ll fall asleep in space.
Two hundred days orbiting Earth on the International Space Station. Five years working and training with the aerospace community across the world. A lifetime of choices leading to the stars. These are the components of Samantha Cristoforetti’s dream, a dream she invites us to share in this intimate account of an astronaut’s journey to space. She views the triumphs and disappointments of that journey with a poet’s eye and a philosopher’s mind—and an engineer’s gift for detail that brings each experience into sharp focus. With Cristoforetti as our guide, we’re called to become “apprentice astronauts” and experience the world anew through the visor of a space suit’s helmet. Bonding with crew members to tackle challenges as a team, lifting off from the launchpad in a roar of engines, discovering the strange wonders of weightlessness, seeing Earth with a fresh perspective after a bittersweet return to solid ground . . . all these moments and more reveal what it really takes to escape our planet’s gravity in pursuit of a goal.
Advance Praise
“Incredible detail and great writing.”—Scott Kelly, NASA astronaut and author of Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery
“Cristoforetti belongs to a new category of astronauts who are just as adept at posting a witty Facebook post as they are at performing a science experiment in minimal gravity.”—Wired
“From the mundane to the sublime in a second. . . . full of illuminating observations from what Cristoforetti calls the ‘cosmic perspective.’”—Guardian
“An incredible odyssey.”—Financial Times
“Lately, I have become as fascinated by the way humans relate to science and the natural world as I am to the scientific breakthroughs themselves. . . . So this diary of what it is like to do through astronaut training for a 200-day mission to the International Space Station crossed my desk at exactly the right time. ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti writes with honesty. Her prose is simple and down to Earth, which increased my empathy for her story.”—Stuart Clark, BBC Science Focus Books of the Year
“Cristoforetti is remarkable. . . . a brilliant book.”—Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2
“An enthralling book. . . . Many of us are dreaming of an escape from Earth at present—and Cristoforetti’s absorbing tale of becoming an astronaut and venturing into space offers just that.”—Gwendolyn Smith, Mail on Sunday
“Fantastic . . . for anyone who has any interest in space exploration whatsoever.”—Robin Ince
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781615198429 |
| PRICE | $17.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 400 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Anjali L, Reviewer
I was thrilled to get my hands on this ARC; I've been wanting to read more about Italian astronaut Cristoforetti ever since "meeting" her in Terry Virts's book How to Astronaut. From the author's note at the start to the very last page, Cristoforetti comes across as likable, relatable, and extremely smart and capable. She details the years of training leading up to her 2014-15 mission on the International Space Station, and although I was chomping at the bit to get to the actual space part of the memoir (halfway through), I imagine that my feelings mirrored her own impatience to get there, despite the training being fascinating, important, and necessary. Cristoforetti writes well, shifting seamlessly from entertaining anecdotes about training to poetic musings about the beauty of Earth as seen from space. I was delighted to learn she will be taking command of ISS Expedition 68 in 20222, and will follow her career with interest. My heartfelt thanks to The Experiment Publishing, Samantha Cristoforetti, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
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