Using the Program Guide of the World Science
Fiction Convention in San Jose, California in August 2018 (to which I will be
unable to go (until I retire from education)), I will jump off, jump on, rail
against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy
of the Program Guide. The link is provided below where this appeared on page 58…
The Myth of the Astronaut – Who are the
Space Cadets of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow?
The current definition of an astronaut is
someone who crosses the Karman line: 62 miles from the surface of the Earth.
With Virgin Galactic selling trips over the line to more than 700 people
already, let's start to ask ourselves: who have these idols
of society been, really, and how are we
going to re-shape our narrative of what an astronaut is and should be in the
coming years?
Mary Robinette
Kowal: author of (among
other things) the Lady Astronaut duology; podcaster; winner of the Campbell
Award; three Hugo awards; also a professional puppeteer.
Kjell Lindgren: NASA astronaut who was on the ISS; MD in
emergency medicine and aerospace medicine; Air Force Academy graduate, [has] 141
days in space.
Wil McCarthy: contributing editor for WIRED; columnist for
SyFy channel, nominated for all SF awards; short fiction and novels, TV and
video games, The History Channel; The Science Channel; flight controller for
Lockheed Martin Space Launch System.
Bill Higgins: Fermilab; contributed chapters to books
about the history of the interaction between science and science fiction; NASA's
Solar System Ambassador program.
Sheyna Gifford: MD,
simulated astronaut for long-duration space missions; NASA-funded 1-year
mission to simulate Mars. A science journalist since 1997; rehabilitation
doctor at WashU, was the scientist-in-residence at the St. Louis Science Center;
STEM mentor; Captain in Missouri Air Patrol.
I can only say three
things about this question.
First, anything this
group says is true. If they said, “anyone who goes into space is an astronaut” –
thumbs up. If they said, “you have to be trained and have a specific purpose to
be in space (aka ‘a mission’) to be an astronaut” – thumbs up.
Secondly, mom used
to say that just because you stand in the garage doesn’t make you a car.
Lastly, and more
specifically, just because you watch police procedural TV shows and movies
doesn’t make you a police officer. Just because you share a post on the
internet (via Twitter, Face Book, Snapchat, Pinterest, or whatever other social
platform you use) doesn’t mean you are “supporting a cause”; you have to
perform a physical action greater than "standing in a parking spot" or “clicking a post” to be a car or an activist.
My opinion is that
an astronaut is someone who goes into space for a mission more intense than “a
vacation”. I would have to work hard to be an astronaut. An lest you accuse me
of being what I rail against, I have this to say: In the late 1990s, NASA created
the Educator Astronaut Project. “…which carries on the objectives of the Teacher
in Space Program -- seeking to elevate teaching as a profession and inspire
students…educator astronauts are fully trained astronauts who do the same jobs
and duties that any other astronaut does. They fly as crew members with
critical mission responsibilities, as well as education-related goals. In
addition to their technical assignments, they assist other astronauts in
connecting to students and teachers through space exploration…Joseph M. Acaba,
Richard R. Arnold and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger were selected as the first
Educator Mission Specialists in the 2004 class.”
I did the entire application process for this
class (online form, permission for FBI investigation, six letters of reference, medical records). In my personal collection of letters from famous people, I have a
rejection letter from NASA – a polite rejection telling me that 8200 teachers entered the initial stages of the project and that while I didn’t make the
first cut, they were honored by all of the teachers who wanted to be part of
the project.
Acaba, Arnold, and Metcalf-Lindenburger all flew as part of the crews of “STS-119, a Space Shuttle
mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in March 2009…and STS-131 in
April 2010, also visiting the ISS…Barbara Morgan, the backup to Christa
McAuliffe in the [old] Teacher in Space Project…trained as a Mission Specialist
[starting] in 1998…and began official duties in 2000…travel[ing] to space on
STS-118…for ISS assembly…and Crew rotation in June of 2007.” The last ever
Space Shuttle mission began on July 8, 2011 to deliver the “Payload
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, Raffaello”.
And there you go.
Program Book: https://www.worldcon76.org/images/publications/WC76_PocketProgram_2018_Final_WEB08152018.pdf
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