The Calculating Stars

Elma's husband and IAC rocket engineer; supports her emotionally at the launch, uses arithmetic drills to manage her pre-conference anxiety, and reacts with controlled fury to the blackmail revelation.

Taiwanese IAC computer and chess champion who works alongside Elma at Mission Control, feeding Teletype data during the Hercules 7 launch.

Major Lindholm's wife; hosts Elma after the disaster, turns off the television coverage, and offers domestic comfort including an inadvertently antisemitic remark.

Family friend who coordinates refugee relief at the airfield and organized flier drops to Black neighborhoods using Elma's plane.

French IAC engineer who plays chess with Helen at Mission Control and impulsively kisses Elma on the cheek when Parker achieves orbit.

Acting U.S. president who receives the climate briefing in an underground bunker and facilitates the UN proposal to colonize space.

UN representative who proposes the colonization of outer space as humanity's response to the Meteor-triggered climate catastrophe.

Military officer and IAC astronaut; dismisses Elma repeatedly on gendered grounds, harbors personal animosity from wartime history, but becomes the first human in space aboard Hercules 7.

Pilot and Life magazine journalist who failed astronaut selection but negotiated a press deal; gives a qualified answer on racial inclusion at the press conference.

IAC computer department colleague who banters with Elma about Bubbles and the gendered dynamics of the workplace.

Black mathematician and chemist who refuses the air show, confronting Elma on racial exploitation and structural exclusion.

Black pilot who agrees to fly in the air show despite Coleman's withdrawal, pragmatically oriented toward action.

Black pilot who tests Elma's motives with pointed questions before cautiously agreeing to participate.

Military officer who hosts the recruitment conversation with the Black pilots at a bowling alley; tries to smooth over tensions.

IAC engineer who sexually harasses Elma during the Atlas rocket test; later fired by Nathaniel for grabbing a computer.

Former bomber squadron captain turned TV science host who invites Elma to appear on his show after a girl was inspired by her.

Director Clemons's secretary who greets Elma at his office door.

Head of the IAC computing department who summons Elma for the phone call and manages scheduling.

Senator's wife and astronaut candidate; politically sharp, socially fluent, and a steadying presence for Elma before and during the press conference.

IAC director who waives Elma's formal interview out of conviction, later deflects race questions at the press conference with institutional platitudes.

Hostile North Carolina senator who repeatedly expresses disbelief at technical explanations during the hearings

Nazi-era rocket scientist whose presence in Clemons's office forces Elma into silent moral compromise

Diaphanous blonde astronaut wife who charms Elma with talk of marital benefits of weightlessness and shreds tinfoil anxiously during the crisis

Fellow astronaut who publicly defends Elma against Parker's Miltown attack by citing how she saved his and Malouf's lives.

Astronaut who corroborates Elma's mathematical speed under pressure, deflecting Parker's attack.

Artemis 9 crew member who points out the rocket to Elma on the gantry before boarding.

Elma's brother who calls to ask her to come early to Tommy's bar mitzvah, voice faltering with unspoken emotional need

Elma's elderly aunt who attends synagogue with the family and watches the rocket launch, giving Elma an emotional benediction to pursue spaceflight.

Skeptical boat passenger who dismisses the space program as corporate conspiracy and condescends to Elma

Old friend of Elma's on the Chicago boat tour whose conventional life—mortgage, children—contrasts with Elma's displaced existence

Chinese-American WASP pilot and one of two non-white women observed in the astronaut candidate line.

Astronaut candidate who arrives in a pantsuit, inadvertently clueing Elma in on appropriate attire; asks sharp questions about approved press answers.

Brazilian astronaut candidate with a master's in engineering; selected as the first woman in space, chosen partly for her story-value to the IAC.

IAC engineer who designed the Sirius rocket; subject of Basira's romantic interest.

Brilliant Black woman and IAC computer, barred from the astronaut program by discriminatory application rules; a sharp voice on racial exclusion.