Sharing Space

An Astronaut's Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change

By: Cady Coleman

Narrated by: Cady Coleman

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman shares the wisdom that helped her overcome the barriers of others’ expectations—and how to work on a team both in close quarters and remotely.

In 2010, Cady Coleman boarded a rocket and blasted off into space for her third NASA mission, a six-month expedition to the International Space Station where she was the only woman on her six-person crew. After years spent overcoming obstacles in competitive and elite environments, including grappling with her own doubts and needing to overturn the expectations of others, Coleman became a success story in a role that wasn’t built with her in mind—a mother who is also an astronaut, scientists, Air Force pilot, and leader. Her determination and her amazing experiences give her a unique perspective on how to set yourself up for success, and on life here on Earth.

In Sharing Space, Cady shares counterintuitive insights integral to her success, such as how to leverage insecurities to beat expectations, how to know when to adapt and when to instead press for change, and how to be the glue that holds a disparate team together so it can be shaped to thrive. Illustrated with stories from her life and training, Cady takes listeners from meteorite hunting in Antarctica to launching a $1.6 billion telescope into space to the wonder of spending six months living and working in zero gravity. This book will inspire anyone eager to escape a box in which they have been (unfairly) placed or to develop the confidence to succeed, even when they’re not an obvious “fit.”

©2024 Cady Coleman (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Cady Coleman reveals not just the extraordinary thrill of living and working in space but shares practical and inspiring advice on how to overturn other’s expectations to succeed. By showing how she stayed positive despite the obstacles to earning her spot as an astronaut and sharing the tools she’s learned about team building and how and when to speak up for change, her story is a unique roadmap for leaders everywhere."
—Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton

"Cady does a marvelous job of sharing the joys, worries and realities of spaceflight—and the complex road to get there. For anyone who has felt life’s obstacles are insurmountable, Cady’s path and ideas will help show the way."
—Chris Hadfield, New York Times bestselling author of The Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

"Sharing Space is a wise, personal, and inspiring story about how to live a good and purposeful life. Coleman interweaves her narrative of becoming an astronaut and working in space with lessons learned about teamwork, family, confidence in the face of setbacks, courage, and pushing mental and physical limits in service of a mission larger than yourself. Her accomplishments are impressive, but what really shines through is her humanity—especially her commitment to breaking down barriers and using her own position and perspective to expand opportunities for others to achieve their own dreams. Before I read this book, I already wanted to be an astronaut. After reading it, I want to be a better person."
—Katie Mack, author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)