58 pages • 1-hour read
Atmosphere: A Love Story
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Chapters 12-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section discusses anti-gay bias, gender discrimination, and child abuse.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Winter 1982”
In late January, six months into their relationship, Vanessa and Joan sit listening to records in Joan’s apartment. Vanessa tries to convince Joan to love David Bowie. Vanessa is frustrated because Steve has been called away to other duties and hasn’t been able to fly with her lately. He’s the only NASA pilot who allows her to take the controls, respecting her expertise where the other men don’t. She worries that NASA will never allow her to fly the shuttle, no matter how qualified she is. Then, Barbara and Frances arrive at Joan’s door.
Barbara shoves Frances, who is asleep, into Joan’s arms, demanding that Joan take her for the weekend because Barbara’s current boyfriend, Daniel, is taking her to New York. She insists that this man could be her chance at happiness because he’s wealthy and stable. Joan agrees to take Frances. Vanessa emerges from the bathroom, where she was hiding from Barbara. She stays the night but leaves before Frances wakes.
In the morning, Joan lies, saying that she begged Barbara to let her take Frances for the weekend, and Frances is gleeful. On Monday, Joan drops Frances off at school. Barbara promised to be home in time to pick her up. That afternoon, however, Joan is forced to cancel her scheduled flight time when the school secretary calls because no one came to pick up Frances. The secretary confides that Frances often stays late after school.
Joan takes Frances home, assuming that Barbara will show up eventually. Frances throws a tantrum. Stunned, Joan waits for Frances to calm down. Barbara finally returns home after Frances has fallen asleep, explaining that her flight was canceled and it took her all day to find a connection. Joan says she can’t miss her flight hours again, and Barbara retorts that she thought family was more important than a job.
Several days later, Joan is running errands with Vanessa when she realizes that she’ll be late for her turn to pick Frances up from school. Joan wants Vanessa to drive her to the school so that she can make it on time. Vanessa says she doesn’t know how to act around children. After a brief argument, Vanessa relents. Despite Vanessa’s concerns, she interacts well with Frances and offers to buy everyone milkshakes. At a local diner, Vanessa shows Frances how she always orders a strawberry milkshake and dips her peanut butter and jelly (PBJ) sandwich into it. Frances dubs this combo “the Vanessa,” and Vanessa laughs about the strange legacy she’s leaving behind.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Summer 1982”
For weeks at a time, Vanessa is sent to work with a support team at Cape Canaveral in Florida. On a rare day when Vanessa is back in Clear Lake, Hank offers to take her up in the jet for more flight hours. She apologizes to Joan for missing their time together, but Joan understands and won’t ask Vanessa to sacrifice her ambitions and dreams. She has discovered that fitting Vanessa into her life has been easier than she would have guessed. One night, Vanessa shares that she hasn’t had her funeral nightmare in months because of Joan.
In late August, Vanessa talks about a friend who sometimes flies her girlfriend to Costa Rica for weekend trips away from prying eyes. They discuss going themselves. Though they don’t have time for such a long trip, they agree to fly somewhere over Labor Day weekend.
Vanessa takes Joan flying in her small plane over Big Bend National Park. Vanessa says that flying makes her feel peaceful and hopeful. She explains that in 1903, a newspaper article claimed that humans were millions of years away from being able to fly, but only 69 days later, the Wright brothers successfully flew their plane. This makes Vanessa wonder what “impossible” things she could do. Joan watches Vanessa fly and thinks that she “believe[s] in a God that had led them here. That led their lives to intersect. That led Vanessa to need what Joan had to give. That led Joan to have what she needed” (221).
Chapter 14 Summary: “Summer 1983”
Over the next year, Joan and Vanessa’s relationship settles into comfort. One night, Joan and Vanessa have dinner with Lydia, Griff, Donna, and Hank. They argue about which space-themed song is the best. Vanessa argues for “Space Oddity.” Joan says that she heard a song on Sesame Street, in which Ernie sings about not wanting to live on the moon because none of his friends are there. She decides it’s the best, and everyone laughs.
Lydia is annoyed by their joking because so much is at stake. On Saturday, the seventh shuttle mission will launch, carrying Sally Ride. She’s worried that if anything goes wrong, “everyone will blame it on the fact that she’s a woman. And then none of us will go up there for a very long time” (224). Joan knows this is true, even though the mission includes four men. Two days later, the launch is successful, and six days after that, the shuttle lands safely at Edwards. Sally Ride becomes the first woman in space, and now any of them have a chance.
Later, NASA hosts the Bicentennial Balloon Meet, at which many enthusiasts will display hot air balloons. Joan brings Frances, Barbara, and Barbara’s boyfriend Daniel to the picnic for spectators. Daniel is 10 years older than Barbara, and Joan finds him “perfectly nice, albeit arrogant” (226). Barbara is wearing a large diamond ring, but Joan doesn’t comment. They watch the balloons take off. Finally, Barbara announces that she and Daniel are engaged. Frances didn’t know and doesn’t seem happy.
In September, Antonio tells Joan that she has been selected for a space mission scheduled for November 1984, on the shuttle Discovery, and will need to begin training for her duties immediately. She’ll be the first woman from Group 9 to go. He asks that she be mindful of those who weren’t selected and will be upset. She agrees that supporting her teammates is her top priority. Antonio says that her camaraderie and respect for her teammates was a big part of his decision. Joan thinks she could see herself in Antonio’s role someday.
When the official announcement is made, Lydia confronts Joan. She feels certain that it should have been her, believing that she’s smarter and harder working. Frustrated, Joan says that isn’t true. Defeated, Lydia says she’s trying to ask for advice. She needs to understand what she’s missing. Joan explains that Lydia needs to learn that it isn’t just about her: “You’re not better than anyone on this crew. You cannot be. And you cannot want to be. If you are, you won’t be prepared to do the hard stuff, if you’re too worried about whether you’re winning some imaginary race. It’s about the collective, not the individual” (238). The two hug, though Lydia claims to hate it.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Fall 1983”
In the fall, Barbara throws herself into the role of suburban wife, hosting neighborhood parties with Daniel every Sunday. One evening, Barbara says that she didn’t send Joan a wedding invitation because she knows she’s coming and didn’t give her a “plus one” since she never dates. Joan objects, saying she might bring a friend for company, if not a date. Barbara insists that it would be embarrassing for her to bring another woman and might make her “look like a… you know…” (241). Daniel notices Joan’s discomfort and pulls Barbara aside to talk. Barbara then stiffly states that she would be happy for Joan to bring whatever guest she wishes.
Joan invites Vanessa to be her guest at the wedding. They agree that it wouldn’t be too suspicious. Besides, Vanessa likes spending time with Frances. At the wedding, Joan is the maid of honor. During the vows, she looks at Vanessa, hoping to convey that she would take similar vows if they could. At the reception, Vanessa meets Joan’s parents. Frances confides to Joan that she hates Daniel, and Vanessa tries to distract her. Joan’s parents praise Vanessa as a good friend, and Joan wishes she could explain what Vanessa means to her. For the first time, she sees the appeal of marriage. She wants what “Donna and Hank had. And what every marriage in the whole godforsaken country had. The right to exist and to love and be proud and happy” (247).
Late that night, Vanessa says she regrets that she can’t give that to Joan. She wants to live in a little bungalow and wake up next to her every morning, but they can’t have that. Instead, she’ll “wake up every single day and choose [her]” and belong to Joan until the day she dies (250).
A week later, Antonio calls Vanessa into his office. She has been assigned, along with Steve, Hank, Griff, and Lydia, to the shuttle mission right after Joan’s, in December 1984.
Chapters 12-15 Analysis
These chapters focus equally on Joan and Vanessa’s growing relationship and the deteriorating relationship between Joan and Barbara. Contrary to Joan’s longstanding fear that a romantic relationship would require her to sacrifice large swaths of her own life and personality, she slowly discovers that a relationship can increase a person’s life instead. For Joan, the difference isn’t only a matter of falling in love with the right person, though that’s important, but also a matter of avoiding the traditional dynamics of heterosexual relationships. After all, only through observing heterosexual relationships did Joan learn to fear and disdain marriage, thus highlighting the sexist, even oppressive, attitudes often perpetuated in relationships between men and women. Crucially, the relationship between Barbara and her new fiancé (and then husband), Daniel, perfectly encapsulates that unequal dynamic. Just as Joan always feared, Barbara’s personality seems to disappear beneath Daniel’s worldview and priority, further underscoring the far more equal dynamic between Joan and Vanessa by comparison.
Despite Joan’s fears however, Barbara clearly wants the kind of life that Daniel offers, revealing an ambition for wealth and comfortable living for which she’s willing to sacrifice her daughter’s happiness. This leads to increasing tension between Joan and Barbara and further deteriorates their already fraught relationship as Frances’s happiness hangs in the balance. The family dynamic between these three is as important to the narrative and Joan’s character arc as her romance with Vanessa. Both are crucial to the story’s emotional core and themes. Joan and Barbara have vastly different perspectives and priorities in life. While both have ambitions that require sacrifice, the novel clearly positions Joan’s ambition as positive and aspirational while portraying Barbara’s ambition of wealth and status as narrow, self-centered, and ultimately cruel, thus complicating the theme of The Relationship Between Ambition and Sacrifice. Crucially, the primary difference between them stems from what they’re willing to do and sacrifice to realize those ambitions. Barbara’s increasing neglect of Frances demonstrates her willingness to sacrifice her daughter’s safety and happiness, placing her firmly on the wrong side of the equation.
Nevertheless, Joan maintains the family dynamic she always had with her sister. Though she tries to speak up for Frances several times, she ultimately keeps her thoughts to herself rather than pass judgment on Barbara and risk her ire. Joan’s inability to confront Barbara and be honest about her feelings is a weakness she eventually regrets and indicates a larger character flaw: Though she’s courageous in the face of physical danger, such as spaceflight, she has a tendency to retreat from emotional danger rather than face a difficult confrontation. This is one reason she resisted her feelings for Vanessa for so long in the first place, and it’s a personal obstacle she’ll have to overcome by the novel’s conclusion.
In addition to Joan’s relationships, this section expands on the motif of legacy, particularly as it connects to the theme of Navigating Gender and Sexuality Discrimination. In previous chapters, Joan reflected on her hope that she and the other women in Group 9 would pave the way for young girls to become astronauts in the future. She hopes to defy current stereotypes and discrimination against women, leaving a legacy for Frances and all young girls to imagine different possibilities for themselves. Now, Lydia considers the other side of this coin: the fear that any perceived failure on their parts now (real or imagined) could irreparably damage that potential legacy. Referring to Sally Ride’s first spaceflight, she states, “If this does not go well, […] everyone will blame it on the fact that she’s a woman” (224), thus diminishing every young girl’s potential for the future. In other words, they hope that their legacy will remove gender discrimination, but if they aren’t careful, they could accidentally reinforce it instead.
Ironically, Lydia’s competitive nature against the other women in Group 9 reinforces gender discrimination and hurts her own cause. Only after Joan, who is her antithesis, is chosen for a space mission first does she begin to see the error of her ways. Significantly, in the scene when she asks for Joan’s advice, the dialogue between them highlights the core differences between their worldviews and underscores the sense of shared responsibility that is integral to their work. When Joan argues that the collective must come before the individual, she echoes her earlier thoughts on the interconnectedness of humanity, which provides both belonging and obligation to each other’s care. Thus, the novel draws out the connection among the people in the NASA community and thematically highlights The Need for Love and Belonging, arguing that the kinship of community is just as important and powerful as romantic love.
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