The novel follows a team of six astronauts who embark on a year-long mission to explore the asteroid belt. As they travel deeper into space, the isolation and confinement of the mission start to take their toll on the team. The astronauts begin to experience a range of psychological symptoms, including dementia and hallucinations.
As the mission progresses, the team struggles to maintain their sanity and complete their tasks. They become increasingly paranoid and distrustful of one another, and their relationships begin to fray. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the mission control team closely monitors the astronauts' behavior and psychological states.
As the year draws to a close, the mission ultimately fails, with the team unable to complete their objectives. However, the real twist is revealed when the astronauts return to Earth and discover that they were never meant to succeed in the first place. Mission control had been using the astronauts as guinea pigs in a study of prolonged exposure to space, with no intention of actually achieving the mission's goals.
The team is left to grapple with the knowledge that they were set up to fail, and the psychological toll of their isolation and the knowledge that their suffering was ultimately for naught. The novel ends on a haunting note, as the astronauts are left to wonder what other experiments they may have unwittingly participated in during their time in space.
