In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

1. The Feeling of Flying On the one hand is the idea. On the other, the reality. Sometimes the latter fails to live up to the former. The reality of experience doesn’t always measure up to the way we picture it. So often in the case of space exploration, however, it is the idea that utterly fails to do justice to the reality. For example, countless descriptions of the Space Shuttle document its specifications to the smallest of details. But knowing that the vehicle stands 184 feet tall and weighs 4.5 million pounds fueled for launch doesn’t begin to capture the experience of standing at the base of the vehicle as it towers on the launchpad. “I wasn’t intimidated by it,” recalled astronaut Mike Lounge of the first time he saw the fully stacked vehicle. “Well, that’s not exactly true. The first time we went down to the Cape on our class tour, my reaction when seeing the pad, at seeing the orbiter and all that, is, ‘My God, this stuff’s too big. It can’t possibly fly.’ I think that’s a common reaction. I knew how big it was, but it’s different when you actually see it and you’re walking underneath the orbiter and all this stuff. But having gotten over that, it was kind of fun to be there with the hardware. Everyone enjoys hardware over simulations and paper.” If the vehicle itself transcends expectations, nasa’s astronauts found that so, too, did the experience of actually flying aboard the Space Shuttle. Those expectations would have gradually mounted during months of mission preparation and training, but the experience would truly begin in earnest when the highly anticipated launch day arrived. For an astronaut, that first launch day comes only after years with nasa. Since 1978 astronauts have first been selected as “candidates” and must complete an initial orientation period, replete with training in almost every aspect of the agency’s work, before becoming official members of the corps. 2 | the feeling of flying Then there are ground assignments supporting the program in ways that have nothing to do with getting ready for a mission. And then, finally, years after selection, there’s the crew assignment. Followed by more training and preparation. There’s practice on the general things that will occur during the mission, like launch and landing, to make sure everyone is ready. There’s practice for all the things that theoretically could occur during the mission but shouldn’t, the potential anomalies and malfunctions the astronauts have to be ready for. There’s training on mission-specific tasks, the unique things each astronaut will have to do on this particular flight. There’s preparation, working with the scientists or engineers or companies or countries responsible for the mission payloads to make sure that those, too, are ready to go. So when launch day finally arrives, it’s a long-awaited culmination of a great deal of time and effort. Astronaut Terry Hart recalled his launch day at nasa’s Kennedy Space Center (ksc) in Florida, home of the Space Shuttle’s launch complexes: “It was a clear, cool morning there and we went through the whole morning, going through the traditions of having breakfast together, and there was always a cake there for the crew before they go out. And then going into the van and realizing that all the Mercury guys went on that van, it was really a very heady experience.” For three-time shuttle veteran David Leestma, that experience of waving to people while walking out to the Astrovan, suited up and ready for launch, was a memorable moment. “We always called that the last walk on Earth,” Leestma said. “There’s always crowds of people there to see you in case you never come back or something. It was one of those little bits of kind of gruesome humor. And then you go out to the launchpad, and you’ve been through this. You’ve been there many times before, because you train in the orbiter a few times and you have countdown demonstration tests and things. And this time you get to the pad and there’s nobody there. You go, ‘Ooh.’ And the vehicle is steaming and creaking and groaning and you go, ‘This is for real.’” On the launchpad, the Space Shuttle is positioned vertically, its three major components having been stacked together in the enormous Vehicle Assembly Building at...

Share