Leaving Orbit

Winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, Leaving Orbit is a compelling reflection on the decline of human spaceflight as we have known it, capturing the final days of NASA's shuttle program in 2011. Through visits to Florida's Space Coast and interviews with NASA employees, astronauts, and space enthusiasts, Margaret Lazarus Dean explores the achievements and implications of ending an era of space exploration, pondering what it means for a nation no longer actively pursuing space.