Why so many scenes out of focus?

Not a cinematography expert by any means, but I don't get why so many scenes are out of focus, it's VERY distracting.

In the scene where Kalpana Chawla speaks to José, you can see her face blurred. Maybe this was intentional to foreshadow her tragic fate? Yet, other scenes show actors' faces totally or partially out of focus. Perhaps it's some particular filming style or "artistic choice". Or maybe I'm just overthinking it.

Other than that, it's a great movie, I really enjoyed it. Reminded me a lot of "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Men of Honor", but I have a soft spot for space travel.