Trivia

Prot's departure for his home system, which is "near the constellation Lyra", is scheduled for 5:51 a.m., July 27th. On that day in New York City the sun rises at 5:48, while Lyra itself is beginning to set in the west (and eventually before sunrise as the year wears on). This implies that Prot must "grab" an Earth-skimming beam of sunlight while he still has a clear line-of-sight to K-Pax, in a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity. See more