Astrid has loved the stars and space for as long as she can remember. "I want to be an astronaut " she says to everyone who will listen. While her mama is away, Astrid and her papa have fun acting out the challenges an astronaut faces on a space mission -- like being in zero gravity ("I can do that all day long " she says), eating food from a kind of tube, and doing science experiments with the help of cookie sheets. When at last it's time to meet Mama at the air base, Astrid wears her favorite space T-shirt to greet her. But where exactly has Mama been? Channeling a sense of childlike delight, Ken Wilson-Max brings space travel up close for young readers and offers an inspiring ending.