Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

An epic novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program about extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.
 
In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins training to be an astronaut at Houston's Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond; mission specialists John Griffin and Lydia Danes; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer. As the new astronauts prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined and begins to question everything she believes about her place in the observable universe.
 
Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.
 
Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, creating complex protagonists, and telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love - this time among the stars.
 
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'Thrilling ... heartbreaking ... uplifting. Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel, Atmosphere, is the fast-paced, emotionally-charged story of one ambitious young woman, finding both her voice and her passion, as she fights to become one of the first female NASA astronauts in the 1980s. You'll barrel through this electric novel, rooting for the women to not only succeed in the space program, but to soar. A pitch perfect ending ... I loved it.' - Kristin Hannah, author of The Women
 
'NASA? Space missions? The 80s? This is a collection of all the things I love. Great story, excellent research and accuracy, and a thrilling conclusion.' - Andy Weir, author of Project Hail Mary' and The Martian
 
'TJR is surely the queen of escapist fiction' - Sunday Telegraph