I’m not sure about this one, but I
just read a statistic that blew my mind—
Only one out of every three Americans
would want to travel into space, even if the trip were free.
ONLY ONE OUT OF THREE????
Excuse my shouting there, but consider
that I grew up wanting to be an astronaut, and that I've been re-reading some of my favorite space books this summer, including “How To Build Your Own Spaceship” and
“Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Story of a Space Shuttle Astronaut”
(a very hilarious book by former shuttle astronaut Mike Mullane, by
the way). I’ve dreamed of going into space my entire life, and I
would jump at the chance to spend even just a few minutes on the edge
of that blackness. Yet only third of the people in this country
would do the same.
Once again, I guess, I’m an oddball
among my own people.
I don’t know why two thirds of all
Americans would pass up a chance to do what less than 300 people in
the entire history of humankind have done. I don’t know if it’s
fear of the unknown or a lack of adventure or what, but a majority of
people say they’d be content never to try something that, according
to every book I’ve ever read by people who’ve been there, has
called a life-changing experience
One of the great stories in that
“Riding Rockets” book concerns what Mullane did his first night
up in orbit—he was so excited by the fact that he was up in space
that he couldn’t sleep, so while his crewmates rested, he floated
to the shuttle’s flight deck and spend the night just watching the
planet pass before his eyes every 90 minutes, thunderstruck by what
he was doing and what he was experiencing. That’s exactly the kind
of thing I would do if I were ever lucky enough spend a night in
space, and that’s why, I guess, it blows my mind that most people
would never want to even consider trying it.
It’s funny; Loraine and I have heard
from a lot of people about how they could never travel to Europe like
we do, and we always have the same answer—why not? It’s not
hard; in fact, after you’ve done it once, it seems to keep drawing
you back again and again (we’re the perfect examples). Sure,
traveling to Europe—or to space—gets you out of your comfort
zone, but isn’t worth it to see how other people live? Isn’t it
worth it to see how you react and adapt to differing situations?
Isn’t it worth it to see a different part of the world—or to see
the whole world unroll before you in a mere 90 minutes?
I guess that’s why the statistic blew
my mind a little. I would jump at the chance for a life-altering
experience like heading into space. I was just shocked that more
people wouldn’t feel the same, especially this week, as we're
celebrating the 50th anniversary of the greatest
technological achievement in the history of our species. You
know...the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the
moon.
*****
Before I go I just wanted to mention
that the rescheduled “..And Put Up A Parking Lot” tour I'm doing
for the Marquette Regional History Center is coming up tonight at
630. And unlike last week, tonight we've been promised no rain.
We'll see how that turns out, but if it actually turns out to be true
I hope we see you there!
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