With an inquisitive mind and a love for science, Dharini is full of exuberance and ambition... as well as the naivete of a teenager who has yet to face real loss in her life. Taking place over the sixteen days of the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle mission of 2003, Dharini delves into the world of an imaginative young woman whose personal tragedy seems somehow linked to the greater cosmos. When a sudden accident forces her to confront questions she cannot answer, Dharini struggles to overcome a numbing grief and begins to grasp the vastness and mystery of a universe that cannot be fully explained.