Building 30

Building 30, a facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, serves as the classroom where Ryland Grace trains the Hail Mary's primary and backup science specialists, Martin DuBois and Annie Shapiro, in the biology of Astrophage. It is within this building that Grace, already deeply involved in the project, receives the crucial information that he possesses the genetic markers for coma resistance, a fact that ultimately leads to his being drafted onto the mission itself.

Training and Oversharing

Grace walks to Building 30 after a session at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, where he had been testing the IVME (in vacuo microbiology equipment) kit. Upon entering a small conference room, he finds Martin DuBois, who stands and shakes his hand. DuBois's meticulous paperwork and notes are arrayed in front of him, while Annie Shapiro's sloppy notes and wadded papers lie strewn on the table next to his empty seat. When Shapiro is momentarily absent, DuBois informs Grace that he and Shapiro have begun a sexual relationship, stating, "I thought it prudent to inform you. There should be no secrets within the core mission group." Grace is taken aback, but DuBois explains that as the primary science specialist, he will be setting out on a suicide mission, and if he is deemed unfit, Shapiro will go in his place. He adds that they are "enjoying very active sexual encounters" and that there is no need for condoms due to birth control and thorough medical examinations. When Shapiro returns, she confirms the relationship, and DuBois announces, "I've told Dr. Grace about our sexual relationship," to which Shapiro replies, "Cool. Yeah, we've got nothing to hide." Grace, attempting to move on, begins to discuss the Astrophage's Krebs cycle, but Shapiro interrupts to ask DuBois if they can meet in the bathroom down the hall for sex after the lesson, a proposal DuBois finds agreeable.

The Revelation of Coma Resistance

During the training session, DuBois turns the conversation to Grace himself. He notes that they are "birds of a feather," and when Grace asks what he means, DuBois reveals that Grace has the coma-resistance markers, just like the rest of the crew. Grace is stunned, having never been told this by Eva Stratt. DuBois speculates that Stratt only told people who needed to know. Grace grumbles, "It's my DNA. Someone should have told me." DuBois deftly changes the subject, asking Grace if he has any experience teaching, to which Grace replies that he has a lot. This conversation in Building 30 is the first time Grace learns of his own genetic suitability for the mission's medically induced comas, a fact that Stratt had kept from him.

Narrative Role and Significance

Building 30 functions as a space where the personal and the professional collide, revealing the human dynamics behind the Hail Mary project. It is here that Grace, who has been a peripheral figure in the mission's science, is confronted with the intimate lives of the astronauts he is training. More critically, it is the site where he discovers his own hidden qualification for the mission, a piece of information that Stratt had deliberately withheld. This revelation foreshadows Grace's eventual, involuntary recruitment as the mission's science specialist after the explosion at Baikonur, transforming him from a trainer into a central participant in the suicide mission.