Description
The Fated Sky continued the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the Moon. Elma York, the noted Lady Astronaut, is working on rotation, flying shuttles on the Moon and returning regularly to Earth.
But humanity must get a foothold on Mars. The first exploratory mission is being planned, and none of the women astronauts are on the crew list. The International Aerospace Coalition has grave reservations about sending their 'Lady Astronauts' on such a dangerous mission. The problem is the need for mid-journey navigation calculations. The new electronic computation machines are unreliable and not easily programmed. It might be okay for a backup, but there will have to be a human computer on board, and all the computers are women.