Trailblazers

                The leap in technology from V-2 rockets to landing on the moon in a quarter century is breathtaking. The attention to detail of the current program is in stark contrast to the early days of NASA. Those early pioneers brazenly risked life and limb for every experiment when so little was known of the laws of physics and the great unknown of space travel. Yet after many decades, the space program has become rather routine in our daily news roundup. The fascination has become mundane, the larger-than-life personas of early astronauts being replaced with the humdrum prosaic scientists of the 21^st century.

                Roach’s discussion of those first missions, discussing the first rhesus monkeys rocketed into space (81-84) is just a quick peek into the mindset of those early days. These engineers knew little of rocketry and even less of its effect on the human body. One can only imagine sitting in with these men and the sheer awe they experienced with each mission. The progress was monumental in a short time span, just two decades after those first Albert missions saw the footsteps of man on our giant orbiting satellite.

                But since that monumental mission, NASA has transformed itself rather remarkably. With the great quest finally achieved, there was an inevitable transition to the far more tedious missions that are the hallmark of science.  The story of the Mars simulation in 1999 (45-50) is of particular interest to their current approach. The sociological aspect of these missions is one variable unaccounted for and can prove to be the greatest obstacle NASA faces on future missions to Mars or living in space. Perhaps by that time, we will replaced by robots much to the delight of rocket scientists everywhere.

Work Cited:

Roach, Mary. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011.   Print.