Chapter 3; Can space blow your mind?

       I found chapter 3 to be interesting. When I started reading this chapter I got intrigued by of the first statements that was for the Gagarins 1961 flight, "climb inside this capsule and let us blast you, alone and at great peril, past the borderline of space. Let us catapult you into an airless, lethal nothingness, where no man has ever been. Whip around the planet, and then come down and tell us what it was like for you" (65). I am not sure why, but this statement just grabbed my attention. It made me think about astronauts and how they reach space and what their goal which is described in that short summary.

                In this chapter they discussed how "35% of 167 pilots" have explained a strange feeling of detachment from earth when they were flying at high altitudes, while others feel anxiety. I feel like I would feel both these emotions when I was up in space because it is such a strange, exciting, yet scary experience.  This chapter talks about how the experience is something unforgettable and almost unexplainable. However, there were scary moments that happened such as it taking twenty five minutes to get back in the spacecraft safely. McDivitt was under the orders to not risk his own life if White passed out from not having oxygen, but to just cut him loose. One astronaut sweated twelve pounds away because his suit had been pressurized to the extent that he no longer could bend his knees. Resulting in having to go in head first rather than feet first.

                There are some astronauts that describe the feeling of anxiety, not fear because of the "cognitive overload." One astronaut said that it is overwhelming because of "the thought of one hundred trillion galaxies is so overwhelming" (73).

                This chapter captured my attention because it demonstrated how neat and interesting space is, but the actual trip is scary, exhausting and life - threatening. Space just keeps going on and on and it is crazy to think that people have traveled there. To answer the question that was posed at the beginning of the chapter, YES, space blows my mind.