Vance, the author of a biography of SpaceX founder Elon Musk and a writer at Bloomberg Businessweek, is well-positioned to tell the story of the modern fight for the skies. The characters behind this new fight to dominate the skies are just as interesting as the ones Wolfe wrote about decades ago. In “When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach,” Ashlee Vance writes about a new kind of space race marked by private companies launching rockets and putting a massive number of satellites into orbit. “When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach,” by Ashlee Vance (Ecco)ĭuring the space race of the 1960s that was chronicled by Tom Wolfe in “The Right Stuff,” the era was personified by larger-than-life heroes like John Glenn, Gus Grissom and Alan Shepard. “That’s what she dreams of.This cover image released by Ecco shows "When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach" by Ashlee Vance. “I really want to go home, to return to familiar walls, so that my child can go to her teacher and hug her,” Oksana said. Videos of Milana performing are a distant memory of a life before the war - and of a place they hope to someday return. She wishes their small home could fit a keyboard. Her mother, Oksana, works as a manicurist. He awaits paperwork that would allow him to get a job and earn enough for the family to live together. There’s no room for him in the temporary housing where Milana and her mother live. Her father, Oleksandr, was stuck for a year in Russian-occupied territory before joining his wife and daughter recently in Poland. Piano or voice lessons are at the bottom of the family’s list of needs. But it’s hard: “I have to do homework and tests in both schools,” she said of keeping up with both countries’ curricula. She boasts of a good grade on a recent Polish assignment. Milana can now translate for her parents. Gnap and others said teachers see growing tensions between Poles and newcomers in schools. Others still feel disconnected from Poland. Some Ukrainian students are becoming more proficient in Polish, making plans to attend universities here, and forming relationships. “The thing to worry about is what is happening in Ukraine, not exams,” Olha said, her voice trembling. She was calm about the test but shaken by the news of the dam collapse in southern Ukraine, the war’s latest humanitarian and environmental disaster. The rite of passage felt surreal - there was no graduation ceremony, and everything seemed unclear. She took Ukraine’s final exam this month. Shelling and power outages often interrupted lessons. Olha Andrieieva, 17, attended a Polish school and followed classes online for her former school in Balakliia, in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. “There are kids ending high school now who don’t know the chemical formula for water,” said Gnap, whose schools have about 1,500 students. The foundation’s aim is to provide them with a high-quality education, even as its funding has been cut amid global economic struggles. To prepare, Polina attends Saturday classes at one of three Ukrainian schools set up in Poland by the group Unbreakable Ukraine.įounder Viktoriia Gnap said the schools’ teachers - also refugees - consider the overall level of the students’ knowledge quite low. It’s being given in 47 cities in 30 countries, according to Maryna Demyanchuk, a professor helping to administer it at one of Warsaw’s centers. Polina is this month taking Ukraine’s final state examination, which students must pass to enter universities there. She wonders whether it, too, was bombed by Russian forces targeting schools.Įuropean Union countries agree on a new package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine Milana’s not sure what became of her primary school. It also means her music school, where she studied piano and singing after her other lessons. Friends she can now only send text messages. The place that greeted her with balloons on her first day. Milana and her family lost nearly everything they loved.įor Milana, that means school. Russian forces occupied Milana’s hometown in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, destroyed her house with a missile on the second day of the war, and uprooted her family. There’s simply no time - and no money - for anything else. In the evenings, her mother helps her follow Ukraine’s curriculum to keep up with lessons back home. During the day, she attends public school in Poland, where she and her mother fled from the war in March 2022. WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Nine-year-old Milana Minenko doesn’t play piano anymore.
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