Orbital

Pietro is an Italian astronaut onboard the International Space Station. He is described as the “mind” of the station, which speaks to the easy and level-headed way he considers everything around him. He is also depicted as being cynical about the larger forces that dictate the mission of the station, which underlies his sense of humor. This extends to the potential developments of the space program, which could involve using robots to replace humans to perform mechanical tasks in space. Pietro believes that the one thing that separates him from a robot is his capacity to critically connect the purpose and results of his work to the meaning of human existence. By contrast, a robot can only provide quantitative interpretations of results but no qualitative insights.

Pietro knows that his ability to travel to space is the result of human progress, but he knows that progress has its negatives too. He once told his daughter that progress is beautiful but not necessarily good. He understands that the billionaires who fund the space missions are the greatest benefactors of their efforts, much to the disadvantage of the underprivileged masses around the world.

Pietro’s relationship to a fisherman in the Philippines emphasizes The Human Cost of Climate Change as a theme. Pietro and the fisherman met when Pietro and his wife visited the Philippines on their honeymoon. Pietro has been a benefactor to the fisherman’s family, sending him money to support his children’s education. As the typhoon approaches the fisherman’s island of Samar, Pietro privately urges him to get out, knowing that the task of leaving his home behind is a tall request for the fisherman.

Anton is one of two Russian cosmonauts onboard the International Space Station. He harbors a strong ambition to travel to the moon, which catalyzes his envy toward the new lunar mission crew. Anton’s ambitions plague him in his sleep, causing him to have recurring dreams of the moon and the Apollo 11 mission. As a child, his father told him fables of Russians on the moon, which encouraged him to fulfill those stories in reality. 

Anton is depicted as a thoughtful member of the crew. While working on the heart cell experiment, he expresses how moved he is by the profundity of preserving cells taken from a diverse set of people in space. His colleague Roman is less enthused, knowing that the experiment implies the negative impact that microgravity has on their bodies. Later, Anton is moved to tears when Chie shares her grief with the station crew.

Anton’s ambitions are frustrated by the appearance of a lump on his neck, which he thinks endangers his chances of completing his mission on the station. With his career potentially over, Anton is forced to reckon with The Inevitability of Endings. He considers how to pivot his life, beginning with the dissolution of his marriage when he returns to Earth. He has sensed that his marriage was on the brink of collapse for some time. However, the appearance of the lump catalyzes his decision to end the relationship and radically alter the direction of his life.

Shaun is an American astronaut on the International Space Station. He is described as the “soul” of the crew, largely because he is characterized by his faith in God. Though he does not try to impose his faith on his colleagues, there is a general awareness among them of the role his faith plays in his life. Nell wants to debate him on the existence of God, but she understands that any argument would be moot because they approach the vast emptiness of the universe with wildly different interpretations.

Throughout the novel, Shaun is concerned with understanding a lecture from his early days in school. The lecture was about the painting Las Meninas, created by Spanish artist Diego Velázquez in 1656. His wife, whom he met in school, has sent him a postcard of the painting with the content of the lecture written on the back. Shaun believes that if he can identify the subject of the painting, he can unlock its meaning. His theories range from the painting being about everything to being about nothing. It is only when Pietro points out that the subject of the painting is the dog, who is the only figure in the painting who isn’t trying to elicit anyone’s attention, that Shaun understands that the painting is about the trap of vanity.

This resonates with another question that Shaun is reckoning with regarding his efforts on the space station. Envious of the new lunar mission, whose efforts eclipse those of the crew on the space station, Shaun tries to make sense of what his work means in his interpretation of a meaningful universe. He realizes that most of humanity’s scientific endeavors have been attempts to extend their power over the universe, which is rooted in vanity. This disillusions him from the need to stand out as an actor in history, writing the next chapter of humanity’s attempts at space exploration. As Pietro also points out, it isn’t up to him to decide history, as it has already been written out by billionaires and the systems of power that serve them.

Nell is the British astronaut on the International Space Station. Her ambitions for space grew out of a traumatic experience. As a child, she watched the 1986 Challenger disaster, which sparked an early obsession with the seven astronauts who died onboard. She lit candles to commemorate their birth anniversaries for three consecutive years, which her father interpreted as a manifestation of faith. In truth, the tragedy made space feel real to her; she supposed that if she died while trying to reach it, she would accept her death. In space, Nell faces her fears by going on spacewalks with Pietro. Her first spacewalk is a surreal experience, altering her perception of the world as she floats above it. She acclimates by comparing her spacewalks to freediving, one of her favorite hobbies. The vastness and hostility of the ocean mirror those of space.

Nell finds it difficult to share her experiences with others, including her loved ones. When responding to an email from her brother, who is sick, she finds it difficult to talk about her loneliness without making it seem like she is trying to argue for herself. Her reserved nature also makes her hesitant to debate with Shaun about his faith, even though it is a discussion she wants to have with him. The loneliness of space challenges her to reach out, however, especially as she fears that her memory is becoming tenuous. She struggles to recall the details of one family vacation from her childhood, worrying that she may be conflating it with another.