PROJECT HAIL MARY — ANDY WEIR
TIMELINE
TWO THREADS — ONE STORY

Project Hail Mary tells two stories simultaneously. The present-day thread begins mid-mission with Ryland Grace waking up with no memory; the flashback thread slowly reconstructs the ten years on Earth that led to the mission. They converge when Ryland's memory is fully restored — just as he meets Rocky.

PRESENT — Aboard Hail Mary, Tau Ceti system
FLASHBACK — Earth, years before launch
BOTH — Present chapter with flashback sequences
CONVERGENCE — Memory fully restored
FLASHBACK EVENTS — IN EARTH CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

The flashbacks appear scattered across Chapters 3–26 in the novel, but in Earth time they run in this sequence:

~Year 0
Ch. 3, 5
Stratt visits Ryland's classroom. He is recruited. Studies Astrophage — Larry, Curly, and Moe. Lightproof closet. Spectroscopy breakthrough. Sun-seekers confirmed.
~Year 1
Ch. 5, 6
Project Hail Mary revealed. Mission takes shape. Ryland moved to the aircraft carrier. Beetles designed. Petrovascope built.
~Year 2–3
Ch. 8, 13
Geneva meeting. Centrifuge artifact exchange. Auckland Prison — Stratt and Easton standoff. Blackpanels concept. Hull radiation shield solved.
~Year 3–4
Ch. 14, 17
Famine maths. Greenhouse plan. Radiation talk. Rocky's biology revealed by Andy Weir document. Rocky boards the Hail Mary for the first time.
~Year 4–5
Ch. 17, 21
NBL training. DuBois accident. Stratt's trailer. Meknikov confrontation.
~Year 5–6
Ch. 21, 23, 26
Death-wish meeting. Baikonur — the last days on Earth. Coma genes revealed. Launch party. Launch.
~12 Years pass
Journey
Ryland sleeps in coma. Both crewmates die in transit. Hail Mary arrives at Tau Ceti. Ch. 1 begins.
THE NOVEL — AS WRITTEN, CHAPTER BY CHAPTER
01
AWAKENING
Present
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI SYSTEM · ~12 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH
Ryland Grace wakes up with no memory. Two dead crewmates. Robot arms. Tubes. A hatch above him. He deduces he is in space, on a ship, alone — but cannot remember why.
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02
THE GRAVITY PROBLEM
Present
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI SYSTEM
He reaches the cockpit. Sees an alien star. Calculates his position — 12 light-years from home. A memory flash: he saw an email about the Petrova line. The sun is dying.
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03
THE LIGHTNING ROUND
Flashback
EARTH · RYLAND'S CLASSROOM · ~12 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT
Stratt arrives at his school. He answers her questions about Astrophage. She tells him he is now assigned to the mission, whether he likes it or not. His name — Ryland Grace — is revealed.
Earth chronology: The very beginning — Year 0 of the mission programme.
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04
PANIC. ANOTHER SOLAR SYSTEM.
Present
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI SYSTEM
He buries his two dead crewmates. Understands the mission. Identifies Tau Ceti. The Astrophage is what powered the ship here. He is the last survivor of a mission he cannot yet remember joining.
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05
WHY THE HECK DO YOU GO TO VENUS?
Flashback
EARTH · RYLAND'S LAB · EARLY MISSION PROGRAMME
Ryland studies Larry, Curly, and Moe. Builds the lightproof closet. Spectroscopy breakthrough. Astrophage navigates by light — specifically toward Venus. Project Hail Mary is revealed. The mission begins taking shape.
Earth chronology: Year 0–1. The scientific groundwork that makes the mission possible.
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06
THE ALIEN SHIP
Present
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI SYSTEM
He wakes alone in the dormitory. Conquers zero-g. The Petrovascope shows a mystery light — and then an entire alien ship. "Holy fucking shit."
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07
THE CYLINDER APPROACHES
Present
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI SYSTEM
Engine flash communication. The alien ship sends a cylinder. Ryland does an EVA. The cylinder reveals a xenonite sample — a gift and an invitation to meet.
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08
THE GENEVA MEETING
Flashback
EARTH · GENEVA · MID MISSION PROGRAMME
Stratt's meeting. The centrifuge proposal. The alien artifact from the xenonite cylinder is studied. They want to meet — "they want to meet."
Earth chronology: Year 2–3. The scientific establishment begins to accept the alien contact.
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09
DOCKING — FIRST CONTACT
Present
HAIL MARY / BLIP-A · TAU CETI SYSTEM
Ryland decides to dock. Blip-A approaches and locks onto the Hail Mary. The xenonite tunnel is established. Through the wall, for the first time, Ryland sees an alien form.
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10
ROCKY REVEALED
Present
XENONITE TUNNEL · TAU CETI SYSTEM
The hex wall opens. Rocky is revealed. Jazz hands — five fingers on each hand. The thumbs-up. First words exchanged. Base-six mathematics. "I am not alone."
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11–12
LANGUAGE — CLOCKS — NOT ALONE
Present
XENONITE TUNNEL · TAU CETI SYSTEM
The squarelock is built. Sonar revelation — Rocky navigates by sound, not light. Language lessons begin: numbers, yes/no, vocabulary explosion. Rocky reveals he lost 23 crewmates. The Eridian clock ticks. "You are not alone."
Ch. 11 storyboard → Ch. 12 storyboard →
13
AUCKLAND PRISON
Flashback
EARTH · AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Stratt confronts Easton at Pare Prison. The blackpanel concept is proposed for the Sahara. Ryland learns the full scope of the mission. The hull radiation shield problem is solved by Dr. Lokken. The Petrova wavelength is named.
Earth chronology: Year 2–3. The mission infrastructure is being built.
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14
ROCKY BOARDS THE HAIL MARY
Flashback
EARTH · AIRCRAFT CARRIER / BAIKONUR
The famine timeline. Greenhouse plan. Rocky's full biology is studied. The detonation test. Rocky — in a xenonite room built into the Hail Mary — boards the ship for the first time on Earth and assembles a globe.
Earth chronology: Year 3–4. Pre-mission hardware testing is complete.
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15–16
ROCKY MOVES IN — "I'M NOT GOING BACK"
Present
HAIL MARY / BLIP-A · TAU CETI SYSTEM
Rocky crosses the tunnel for the first time and moves into the Hail Mary. Ship tour. Rocky reveals he has been alive 46 years. Gravity test. Rocky gives Ryland his entire remaining fuel supply. "You are good human."
Ch. 15 storyboard → Ch. 16 storyboard →
17
ASTROPHAGE HAS A PREDATOR
Both Threads
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI / FLASHBACK: NASA NBL
Rocky stares at Ryland every morning. An NBL flashback. They enter orbit around Adrian. Rocky perceives colour as texture. EVA sample collection. The predator organism is found in the samples. Rocky's eureka — carapace bolt upright. "Astrophage has a predator!"
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18–20
ROCKY BURNS — "FRIEND DO THAT"
Both Threads
HAIL MARY · 1.4G ORBIT / FLASHBACK: LAUNCH PARTY
Flashback: the break room, the launch party, beetle Steve. Present: Rocky proves relativity wrong (to him). The 1.4g EVA. Rocky is catastrophically burned rescuing Ryland. Rocky unconscious for 40 hours. Heals. "Friend do that." The sample is analysed.
Ch. 18 → Ch. 19 → Ch. 20 →
21
TAUMOEBA — MEMORY RESTORED
Convergence
HAIL MARY · FLASHBACK: DEATH-WISH MEETING / BAIKONUR
The final flashbacks complete Ryland's memory: the death-wish meeting, Baikonur, the last days on Earth. Taumoeba is named. The Venus and Threeworld experiment is set up. The lights go out.
This is the convergence point. By the end of Chapter 21, Ryland's memory is fully restored. He knows who he is, why he is here, and what Stratt told him before launch. The two narrative threads — present-day Ryland and flashback Ryland — have fully merged. Everything from Chapter 22 onward is a single, continuous present-day story.
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22–25
LIGHTS OUT — NITROGEN — TAUMOEBA-35 WORKS
Present
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI SYSTEM
Total darkness — emergency boot. Beetles retrieved in 6G. George launches. Orbit decays. Nitrogen kills Taumoeba — the eureka moment. Course back to Blip-A. Taumoeba-35 survives both Venus and Threeworld atmospheres. Both worlds can be saved. Rocky prepares to leave.
Ch. 22 → Ch. 23 → Ch. 24 → Ch. 25 →
25b
"I'M GOING HOME"
Present
HAIL MARY · TAU CETI SYSTEM
Final gifts exchanged. Rocky departs for Erid with the Taumoeba solution. Ryland is alone again. He has enough Astrophage to go home, but barely enough food to survive the trip. "I'm going home. Four years alone. But I'm going home."
Timeline note: Rocky and Ryland are now separated — heading toward different stars for the first time since Ch. 9.
26–28
ALONE — TAUMOEBA LOOSE — ROCKY'S SHIP
Both Threads
HAIL MARY (ALONE) · FINAL FLASHBACK: BAIKONUR JAIL
Ryland alone. The Petrovascope ritual — watching Rocky's engine flare. Baikonur jail flashback. Taumoeba escapes twice. Nitrogen purge. Alarm built for the fuel bays. The horror: Taumoeba-82.5 eats xenonite. Rocky's entire ship is made of xenonite. Rocky is dissolving.
Ch. 26 → Ch. 27 → Ch. 28 →
29
THE FIST-BUMP — TO ERID
Present
HAIL MARY · BETWEEN TAU CETI AND 40 ERIDANI
Ryland finds Blip-A. Rocky is dying — his burns from Ch. 19 have reopened, and his ship is failing. Ryland saves him. He chooses to take Rocky home to Erid instead of returning to Earth. The fist-bump. Two ships heading toward 40 Eridani together.
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30
LIFE ON ERID — THE CLASSROOM
Present
ERID · 40 ERIDANI SYSTEM · YEARS LATER
Years have passed. Ryland lives in a xenonite dome on Erid. He eats meburgers — his own lab-grown tissue. Rocky brings news: the Taumoeba solution worked. Both Earth and Erid are saved. The final fist-bump. The last human from Earth — teaching twelve Eridian children about the speed of light.
Timeline note: The fate of Earth is confirmed — the Taumoeba solution was delivered and it worked. Sol is safe. Earth lives.
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