Justina Ireland’s story, “A Theory of Flight,” imagines a future in which one woman recognizes the barriers of getting to space, so she takes the issue into her own hands with an open-sourced rocket, kickstarting a revolution to open up the skies to everyone.
Ireland received acclaim for her best-selling novel, Dread Nation, which imagines an alternate Civil War. The appearance of zombies after the battles of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville alter the war forever, and a young woman is caught in the middle of a conspiracy. Ireland is also the author of books including YA novel Promise of Shadows, Vengeance Bound, and Star Wars: Lando’s Luck.
The Verge spoke with Ireland about representation in space travel and why the practice feels like...