Chapter 3: Falling out of The Sky, Yet Floating in Sweet Bliss

     This was indeed a very interesting book to read over. I was immediately drawn after reading the “countdown” which I assume is the introduction. The concept of letting the public now what happens behind the scene can sometime ruin the magic of a certain thing but with a topic like space travel there is already so few that we know other than the bare minimum. The chapters were very interesting to read but I feel that my favorite was chapter 3 the Alarming Prospect of life without Gravity. I chose this because it provided us with the humble beginnings of simulated space. Up until this point gravity had played it part in our development and with the loss of that it showed a lot of different tests that need to be initiated to make travel possible. The quote I enjoy the most comes from page 83: “What if man’s organs depended on gravity to function? What if the pumping of his heart failed to push his blood thorough his veins, and instead merely churned in place? What if his eyeballs changed shape and compromised his visual acuity?” To a person reading this today they would think these are pretty silly questions but when we are unsure of the unknown we have to make guess and checks till we can meet a final result. This is in a way the definition of science at work. To put it into perspective it’s the same concept as when society believed that the world was flat until proved wrong. In another sense reading these questions give off an eerie feeling in my mind. What if this was all true and the first man in space was ripped inside out? It was all a lot to take in when I first read.

     Another interesting part of this chapter is the introduction to parabolic flight. The process of using planes in massive G nose dives to simulate weightlessness. This was such a breakthrough in the launch of space travel. Begin able to test zero gravity while not in zero gravity pushed mankind’s evolution up a massive step. When they started they were using it to help out the pilots deal with something that was unheard of, now there main use for it today is to see if machinery can with stand it. I feel there a lot of things in the world today that we do out of habit and never really wonder how it began. Sometimes every now and then I either become curious and look or something like this chapter looks for me. Take the time to find something that you always use in your every day and see how it all started. I personally think it’s a very enjoyable practice into researching.