A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct
scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they
watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling
through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of
oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.
Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the
death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers
over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction.
The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth,
they have never felt more part — or protective — of it. They begin to ask, what is life without
earth ? What is earth without humanity ?
This week's book is Orbital by Samantha Harvey and we'll be meeting at Ye Olde Cocke on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.