I decided to watch what overachiever can accomplish that benefits mankind rather than focus on the underachievers that destroy those accomplishments.
We live in a society that values wealth above all else. Just the day before I asked a young man whether he'll watch the re-entry. No he replied then talked about Ferraris.
This is were we went wrong. The worship of wealth rather than achievement.
In order to not be confronted with what is going on in the world I've been watching science fiction and action movies. It works while I watch but then it's back to reality.
This mission however lingers. It's real. We did iit and i got to witness this incredible moment in human history. While a philosopher will say that there is no such thing as perfection it was perfect and precise. Every single step worked as planned. Every solar panel, moment drogue and parachute deployed as scheduled.
Women in STEM with a calm and reassuring demeanor working communication. Astronauts who smile and hug, yet disciplined beyond human endurance.
Welcome home, Team Moon joy. Welcome home.
I was in yoga class when they took off but listened to the broadcast on NPR on my way as they got ready to start the countdown and then did. I caught some of the images from splashdown. and of course the images of the moon and earth while they were traveling to the moon and back. I understand the excitement especially for those who were too young to remember or not born yet when the first moon trips were happening. I watched every blast off and every splashdown back then. The biggest difference now? That the intelligence and capabilities of women are finally recognized and fully participated.
ReplyDeleteCodex before my time. But I heard that it was an event where people huddled around black white tvs and had anything from magazines to stickerbooks. A real build up and you had Carl Sagan.
DeleteI think they're all exciting. We're just jaded and there wasn't much hype.
Nasa always valued women the media and society just didn't appreciate it.
It's mire in the open now. Their motto: we have no quota. They just go fir the best and brightest.
NASA has not always valued women. NASA was just as much a part of the patriarchy back then. Women could not be pilots in the Air Force and were certainly never ever considered for being an astronaut. You would not see them in the control room unless they were acting as secretary even though it was the women mathematicians that got John Glenn into orbit for the first time. We did not have our first woman astronaut in space until 1983, 22 years after Alan Shepard, the first American man to enter space. Russia was far ahead of us on that count.
DeleteCodex I didn't word it properly. Not always but much earlier than any other science organization. They were valued. But if governments and military which they're connected to says no even a nasa top scientist can't get them in. They need pilot training and the only place with the right infrastructure was the military. 3 G is almost a joke to a fighter pilot who can withstand 9 G. The difference to some extent is physical, not IQ.
DeleteThe Russians viewed women differently in part because they were always war ready not because they admired women as equals.
Codex: Keep in mind that my generation is better in that regard. Still not great but one of the advantages is that women are more risk adverse. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why this mission was so flawless.
DeleteI saw the re-entry on the news last night, it was quite exciting and I am glad they all made it home safely. Now the scientists need to examine the toilet and work out what went wrong so they can fix the issue before sending up another crew.
ReplyDeleteCodex not pooping at 10km/s seems to have fixed the issue.
DeleteHeat shield is a bigger problem.