To Be Taught, if Fortunate

The title phrase comes from the opening audio recording on the Voyager Golden Record, spoken by Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and launched into space in 1977:

I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of the immense universe that surrounds us and it is with humility and hope that we take this step.

Chambers wrote the novel out of a desire to see "real people" centered in a narrative that takes place in space, as science fiction generally focuses on what she refers to as "the elite".[1]

To Be Taught, if Fortunate follows four astronauts in their research mission to four planets. The explorers sleep for extended periods of time while they travel between the planets. The book chronicles their adventures and explores how to decide what is important to the protagonists.

Emily VanDerWerff, writing for Vox, praised the novella as a "quick read [...] but ultimately a rewarding one, as it considers what it is that makes us human on both an individual and a collective level".[2]