Helen Kane

Helen is a 53-year-old American astronaut who has recently retired from active duty at NASA at the beginning of the novel. The retirement was a begrudging one, and Helen is anxious to be included in the crew that Prime Space will send to Mars. Helen is doggedly ambitious and hyper-focused on her career goals, qualities that have frequently put her at odds with her daughter Mireille, who believes that Helen cares more about space travel than she does her own daughter. Helen's husband Eric was Mireille's primary parent, but he has passed away, and Helen and Mireille's relationship is suffering even more without this mediator.

Helen expresses some interesting thoughts about her gender and her career choice. When Boone Cross tells her about his grandmother's contribution to NASA, she fails to relate this story to herself as he intends: two women working in space travel. In fact...