The novel “The Calculating Stars” by Mary Robinette Kowal was published for the first time in 2018. It’s the first novel in the Lady Astronaut series. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards as the Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year and the Sidewise Award for Alternate History Novel of the Year.

In 1952, a meteorite hits the Earth in the Chesapeake Bay. The short-term consequence is the destruction of Washington D.C. and most of the east coast of the USA. In subsequent years, temperatures drop but scientists’ calculations indicate that the heat absorbed by the water will be released over the years causing strong and rapid global warming.

The International Aerospace Coalition is formed to develop a space program capable of colonizing the Moon and reaching Mars. Elma York was a pilot in the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II but the newly formed astronaut corps accepts only men and they’re all white.