The story is about Marisol, a young girl from Dallas who dreams of becoming an astronaut. She attends a space camp and after completing an obstacle course, she makes it to the second phase of training along with nine other cadets. Marisol meets new friends, including Nick and Jessa, and they work together to overcome challenges in the space flight simulator. Although Jessa is chosen for the mission, Marisol is determined to continue pursuing her dream and is inspired by her father's words to never give up.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. Marisol from Dallas wants to be an astronaut.
2. Marisol attended space camp every summer since she was little.
3. Marisol's heroes are Valentina Tarashkova and Sally Ride, two of the first women to go to space.
4. Marisol's parents thought she was strange for only eating freeze-dried space food.
5. Marisol's dad did not approve of her dream to go to space and wanted her to aim for a more practical career.
6. Marisol saw a flyer for space cadet tryouts at school and was determined to join.
7. Marisol's dad initially refused to let her go to the tryouts, but eventually agreed if she completed all her chores.
8. Marisol traveled to the Space Center in Houston for the tryouts.
9. There were about 100 cadets, mostly boys, at the tryouts.
10. Only 10 cadets would make it to phase two of the training.
11. Marisol met a girl named Jessa and a boy named Nick at the tryouts.
12. Marisol and the other cadets went through various training exercises, including an obstacle course and zero-gravity training.
13. Marisol and Nick became friends, but Marisol was determined not to get distracted from her goal.
14. The cadets worked together to solve a problem in a space flight simulator.
15. Jessa was chosen as the top performer and would join the crew for the next mission.
16. Marisol was initially disappointed but ultimately supportive of Jessa's success.
17. Marisol exchanged numbers with Nick and they promised to keep in touch.
18. Marisol considered giving up on her dream of becoming an astronaut, but her dad encouraged her to keep pursuing it.
19. Marisol decided to continue working towards her goal of becoming an astronaut.