According to the fourteenth edition of The Encyclopaedia Britannica from 1965, The Beatles are an English rock band comprised of three men and two woman; often regarded as one of the most influential bands of the fifties and sixties. The world’s first same-sex marriage law was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1878. In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. Dr Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed in 1965. Rocketships do not exist and man has never been to space. 

Orda, Earth's nearest neighbour, is described as follows: 

The planet Orda is a member of the Solar system, at equal distance from the Sun as Earth and seemingly of equal size. In the wider sense, it may be regarded as composed of an atmosphere, which encircles a variety of geographical features and surface waters. The rotation of Orda appears to be perfectly uniform and has, similar to Earth, two principal motions: a yearly revolution about the Sun and a daily rotation about its axis from west to east. The planet Orda is on the same elliptical orbit as Earth and leads by two and a half days. The size of a pea held at arm’s length, it is most easily seen at dusk and dawn and can appear bright, bluish, white and green, half lit and half in shadow. 

"At ten past eight on Saturday morning, the twenty-second of May, 1965 the greatest moment in the history of the world announced itself with a very short, high-pitched -beep-."

"With a suddenness that startled all the listeners, a sound like that of a drum falling from a great height boomed from radios in Bunting and beyond. Far over Ford's garden and over Marlow Field it echoed on and on and on but, unlike thunder in the mountains, it did not roll into silence but abruptly resounded again and again and again."

"His father grabbed the object with both hands. 'Well then unstuck it,’ he cried and together they pulled and pushed but try as they might, the object on Ford’s arm would not come off and no amount of prying and prodding did anything to loosen it."

"We have discovered that, enciphered within the objects was a communique: an invitation to meet, one year from today, midway between our two planets. By means of Orda's invitation, sixty people have been bound to fulfil that meeting as ambassadors of mankind. Sixty people and sixty people only. They have already been selected and are currently being prepared for their grand voyage."

"Ford had simply never been a part of anything, really. He’d never joined a club, wasn’t in a band, didn’t play sports and hardly ever went to the pub. Once he’d been to a concert but he’d left early on account of it being too noisy. He’d never joined a political party or religion and he’d certainly never joined an expedition into space. Surely, soon the powers that be would realise he shouldn’t be involved and he’d be sent home, to read about the rocket launch like everyone else— if there was even going to be a rocket launch at all."

"Meanwhile, many miles away, an elderly couple put their game of dominos on pause to put to paper an idea, more absurd and more ambitious than could ever be dreamed, that would throw a mighty big spanner in the works of history."

"Though her stories were some of the most bizarre he’d ever heard—she had once found two dozen bobby pins in a hairdresser’s stomach—Ford slowly felt his desire to be alone ebb away. Ms Albright spoke as if they were not in some great trouble. Only yesterday they’d been told they’d be detained for a year, after which they’d be put into a rocket, which had yet to be built, and shot up into space to represent mankind to an alien race. Granted, even to Ford, who typically didn't question authority, that all sounded absurd. He'd probably misunderstood the Man on the TV. Then again, here he was: in a camp patrolled guards, which he was not permitted to leave, with a dome for a home, wearing an obscure bracelet and he'd just had breakfast with a coroner, who had a cat named Dennis in her freezer and a proclivity for telling stories about death."

"At that same moment, many miles away, a woman entered her classroom to find on her blackboard an envelope addressed to Elle Davis - Westfield Comprehensive, the content of which would ultimately save her life and those of many others."

"'Four people for what?' said Elle, doing her very best to prevent impatience from appearing in her voice.

Mr Abbott sat up and cleared his throat. 'Let me be as clear as can be. The purpose of our expedition is to thwart the Powers That Be from fulfilling their primary objective, that is, to construct a means to attain the altitude required for an extraterrestrial rendezvous between—’

'It’s simple,' interrupted Mrs Abbott, patting her husband’s knee. 'We’re going to sabotage the launch.’"

"Like a dragon the burner roared, the metres moved; all the dials were in the green. Fear and excitement grew in equal measure. Elle raised her head. She'd long ago made up her mind; she wouldn't be deterred. The only way forward was up, up into the darkness in three, two, one…"

"Hope, Elle had once read, was a memory of the future; the belief that things which once were true, would one day be true again. Elle had taken that quote to heart when first she’d read it; but now, alone, tired, sorrowful and afraid, it sounded like a lie. "

"The lights flickered. Thunder expanded into a deafening bellow. Everything shook and shuddered and clanged from little bolts to giant beams. The level of crying and wailing, cheering and shouting, cussing and praying rose beyond comprehension as the rocketship let out a dreadful roar. If not for the weight of some invisible elephant pressing him down in his seat Ford would've thought the earth itself had been torn apart and the ship was sliding down a bottomless pit. Instead, the ship was hurtling itself upwards, riding atop a thunderstorm; more noisy, more tumultuous, more overwhelmingly fearful than Ford could have ever imagined."