How many Space-Age heroes can you fit into one room? Over the course of the day on Sunday, September 23rd, 2012 a mix of twelve astronauts, cosmonauts, and flight controllers came together to discuss the past and future of manned spaceflight and international cooperation in space exploration, at an event hosted by Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.
The morning began with a panel representing a diverse selection of NASA missions, from Apollo to Skylab to the early flights of the Space Shuttle. Buzz Aldrin himself began the event with an inspirational excerpt from his forthcoming book. An interactive discussion of NASA’s future plans and the experiences of the astronauts ensued. Members of the audience were encouraged to ask questions, and the atmosphere in the room was jovial. The astronauts themselves, including Gerald Carr, Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma, and Buzz Aldrin, have quite a sense of humor, giving us anecdotes about their time in space. These ranged from the awe of seeing the earth from above to the often laughable predicaments of space hygiene. All in all, it was fascinating to meet these astronauts in person, and see for myself how “down-to-earth” they really are.
The second panel had a slightly different focus. In addition to technicians and astronauts, this panel also included two cosmonauts-- Alexi Leonov and Valery Kubasov. Charles Simonyi, a civilian astronaut, was also included on the panel and he shared his unique perspective. This second round of presenters discussed the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a program that fostered international cooperation between the two superpowers pitted against each other in the Cold War. Learning how to work together in a time of intense conflict between the two nations helped to smooth tensions between the US and Soviet Union. Until attending this event, I hadn’t realized how much politics can influence science, in particular, space exploration. It was also fascinating to get the Russian perspective on the project, and learn more about the Russian space program in general.
Each of the participants brought a different perspective to the discussion. Buzz Aldrin stressed the importance of further efforts towards a manned mission to Mars. Owen Garriott and Gerald Carr both discussed what could be accomplished with current technology in low earth-orbit. All of the Skylab astronauts shared the common experience of looking towards the Earth and seeing how beautiful and fragile it looked from so far away. Both of the Russian cosmonauts emphasized how the docking technology pioneered during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project has been invaluable in building and operating the International Space Station. However, all of the speakers talked about the importance of science, technology, engineering and math in their careers and encouraged the youth in the audience to contribute to these areas.
This amazing opportunity to meet my heroes is something that I will never forget. I am fortunate that I was able to participate in this event, and grateful to the astronauts, cosmonauts and mission controllers that made this experience possible.
What question would you like to ask an astronaut? In this video, I ask the Skylab astronauts what the biggest challenge of living in space was, and Jack Lousma gives me a humorous response:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySOh_rPLXCM&feature=youtu.be
This Seattle Times article gives a review of the event, including quotes from the discussion:
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019244623_spaceexhibit24m.html
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