The danger of fear

As we approach the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, I'm thinking about the dangers of adventure and whether we, as Americans, have become too risk averse.

Back in the early days of the shuttle program, NASA was taken by surprise by the amount of publicity generated by their "Teacher in Space" program. They found that by reserving one of the seats on the shuttle for an "average" person, they humanized what was starting to look like a dull program.

They cleverly started a follow-on "Journalist in Space" program and I, of course, immediately sent away for the reams of paperwork needed to apply for the slot. I was a licensed pilot with some hours in high-performance military aircraft as a result of covering the military and aerospace (i.e. I wouldn't puke when faced with some Gs or violent maneuvers). Plus, I was a photographer who also could write (a "twofer!") and had a philosophical bent I had demonstrated in my writings. Last -- but definitely not least -- I had grown up and currently lived and worked in a major media market.

For NASA had discovered a way to turn PR straw into media gold.

Months after my application I received a very official-looking document telling me I was a "semi-finalist" for the ride into orbit.

I just about went into orbit when I got the news. It took me a while to realize just how many "semi-finalists" there were. Because, you see, NASA had learned that every paper, TV station and radio station in the "almost a winner's" town would go three shades of batshit in their coverage of the hometown boy or girl. ESPECIALLY if the honoree worked for that media outlet.

At the paper where I worked, which was admittedly very large, there were THREE of us at the paper who had gotten the letter. Now this was a news operation of hundreds of people, but it just seemed a little too good to be true. But we kept telling ourselves that SOMEBODY was going to get to go and that we were special enough to get the nod.

I don't even remember what hoops they had planned for us to jump through for the next stage of the screening process, but they may have involved a singing contest or spelling bee.

Back to the risk issue ...

Not long after we got our letters the day finally came to launch the teacher into orbit. Sadly, we all know what came next.

After the accident, as the media writhed and squirmed to gather every single tidbit of information for their space disaster "packages," some of them began to remember those of us who were supposed to be next in the space publicity pipeline. I, and one of the other two candidates at the paper, were interviewed by the TV networks and splashed on the screen.

My quote was something like "As regrettable as this is, put another shuttle on the pad tomorrow morning and I'll meet you there ready to go." The other guy said something similar and, knowing him, I'm convinced he meant it just as much as I did.

In the early days of airline travel in the 1920s and 1930s aircraft were literally falling out of the sky. It was before the days of good instruments and the beacons to talk to them. Aircraft weren't pressurised, so they had to fly THROUGH the weather instead of over it like we do know. Flying in an airliner was still very, very dangerous. And yet, the numbers of passengers increased every year.

I covered the development of the space shuttle and the first few missions. I remember the engineers and project managers insisting on the record that the program would be very safe. But, off the record, after a couple beers, they were quietly of the opinion that in the total run of the program they would probably lose one shuttle in the boost, or launch, phase and one in the re-entry phase. And now, as the program winds down to its conclusion, after more than 125 missions, that's exactly how it has turned out.

So, was it a dangerous program? Of course! You can't strap millions of tons of thrust to your butt, be hurled into a deadly vacuum, and then return at a speed that would melt lead without incurring risk. Was it an UNREASONABLE risk? No.

Some of us will mark the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing with a quiet moment or maybe a flute of champagne. Some will ignore it. But way too many Americans believe the entire space program was too risky and unpredictable a venture to have undertaken in the first place.

I think that's a damn shame. And a double damn shame that the next astronauts who try to say something philosophical and portentious when their boots hit moon dust will be speaking Chinese.