Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who was so kind as to spend an hour on the phone with me talking about dark matter, axions, and the challenges for female-identifying persons in the sciences. Bonus: she didn’t make me feel like an idiot for even a nanosecond. I know Mae would have had a new shero if she’d met this kickass science maven. You can find her on Twitter at @IBJIYONGI.

Colin Bischoff, who took time out of his busy schedule doing observational cosmology to read several pages of the book and school me on all things physics. He kept me from making Mae look like a dumbass, and I am forever grateful. He ALSO gave me the opportunity to casually drop into conversation that I have to return a physicist’s email. You can find Colin on Twitter at @colinflipper. (Special thanks to Robin Kirk and Jenn Barnes for getting us in touch.)

Allison Campbell, my cool astrophysicist friend: Thank you for understanding what I was trying to do with this book, and advising me on dark matter and how an astronaut might go about having her cake and eating it, too.

Matt Anderson, for our lively email back-and-forth about geophysics: Dude, geophysicists are COOL. Thank you for making that so clear. Ben says hi.

There are many people who’ve been a part of helping me authentically portray Hannah’s struggle with addiction. Since their experience with addiction or loved ones’ addiction is their story to tell, I won’t be naming them here, but I am in awe of their vulnerability and generosity.

A huge thanks to someone I can name, Dr. Diana Deister at Boston Children’s Hospital, who was incredibly generous, answering questions via email and phone. All mistakes in the book are, of course, my own. The work she and everyone at this fantastic institution does on behalf of young people suffering from addiction is so incredibly important. Extra thanks to Megan Gallagher for helping me navigate the Boston Children’s system.

Andrew Sullivan’s article in New York Magazine, “The Poison We Pick” (Feb 19–March 4 2018), was incredibly helpful in understanding the nature of opioids, why people use them, and what we’re up against with this epidemic. A powerful must-read. Also, we need to take down these companies that are killing our loved ones, and those in power who let them. Who’s with me?

This book was mostly written in Bournemouth, UK, Bäch, Switzerland, Sitges, Spain, and Scottsdale, AZ—thanks to the housesitting fam for opening up their homes to me and trusting me with their desks and pets, and for my in-laws, Linda and Walt Fehst, without whom a certain rocket woman wouldn’t have had a safe place to land this ship.