Lydia ducked in at the last moment and snagged the seat behind Joan. She leaned in toward Joan’s ear.

“Did I miss anything?”

Joan shook her head. “You’re fine.”

“I heard today is about Apollo 1,” Lydia said.

Joan and Griff both turned to look at her.

“Really?” Griff said.

“Yeah,” Lydia answered.

“Oh, gosh. I’m not sure I…” Joan said.

“You’re not sure what? That you can handle it?” Lydia said. “Because if not, then you should probably leave the program.”

Joan and Griff turned to the front of the room, and as they did, Griff raised his eyebrows at her. But Joan didn’t engage. Lydia was entirely right.

The instructor, a man with a crew cut who, Joan learned, was Jack Katowski, walked to the front of the room.

“It’s important that you understand what’s at stake here,” he said. “For those of you coming from the military, this will be less of a surprise. But for you civilians, this may be the first time in which you have embarked on an endeavor with this magnitude of risk. Going into space is not for the faint of heart. Great men have died in the pursuit of space exploration. If you are not prepared to face the sacrifices that may be required in order to serve this country in this unprecedented undertaking, it is best that you realize that now.”

Joan could hear people shifting in their seats, leaning forward.

“We have lost nine men here at NASA over the last twenty years. All but one during training or testing. Here today, I’d like to talk to you about the weight of what you are signing up for. And I’d like to start by making sure you all understand the significance of the Apollo 1 fire.”

Joan looked at Griff and took a deep breath. She felt Lydia’s hand, ever so briefly, on her shoulder. And then it was gone. When Joan turned to acknowledge her, Lydia frowned and gestured for her to pay attention.

“As you are all aware, Apollo 1 was supposed to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, originally designated as AS-204. But in January 1967, a fire erupted in the cabin during a launch rehearsal. All three astronauts—Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee—were locked inside. None of them survived. At NASA, we honor the people we have lost by referring to them as being ‘on an eternal mission.’ But please do not let the euphemism soften what happened here—and what you all risk, by being a part of this program.”

He pressed a button. Within seconds, Joan realized he was playing the recorded audio from inside the cabin of Apollo 1.

“Flames!”

“We’ve got a fire in the cockpit. It—”

Every muscle in Joan’s body tensed as she heard a man screaming. And then another and another.