Sunday, August 27, 2006
A New Life...
Monday, 14 of August, 1330 hours, in the bowels of the medical school, we stood among our first patients. The pungency of formalin righteously inflamed our nostrils. I sat there and thought about the next few minutes. The potential whirlwind of emotion, touching the dead, cold, yet moist body, nobody knows how they will react under such circumstances. I remember looking up and around before we started. Everyone, and I mean everyone, stood dead serious. Upon completion of prayer, our instructors asked us to commence, starting with removal of the denim, plastic, and white cloth. While looking up at each other, my lab partners and I stepped into almost robotic procedure of pulling back the cadavers covers. She was old, her skin no longer soft. Her head and arms were still wrapped and contained. Some of us placed our hands on her body in an attempt to reach out and thank her as she would reveal some of her deepest secrets. She knowingly gave up her body to allow us to learn in the name of science, of humanity, of humility. Our scalpels in hand, we questioned how much pressure to avoid causing harm to our first patient. Although I had dissected many animals, this would be my first human. The first cut came easily as did the second and third. We became more engrossed in making sure we didnt damage the body in a way to lessen our learning experience and less in the fact the person before us was living at one point. As the week rolled on, our cadaver revealed more and more secrets. It took little time amidst a human dissection to realize the complexity of the body. So to keep this experience personal and not remove ourselves from the fact the cadaver was once living and breathing, we decided to name our cadaver, as is the case with many lab groups at this school and most others around the world. A few of us started to brainstorm as we worked our way through the muscles and vasculature of the back. Irma, Irma was the perfect name. Irma spoke of a grandmother; a grandmother who taught her grandchildren about life and that is exactly what she is in the process of doing. The students of Irma use her name with the utmost respect and in some ways she lives with us everyday.
Saturday, August 5, 2006
NASA NO LONGER
I am NASA no longer. A divorce` of our manned space program, I have no privilege to know the inside scope, mission detail, etc. Sadly, the papers and TV news generally get the truth all screwed up, which has always rubbed me the wrong way. Ratings, ratings, ratings.
But, what did I learn along the way? Does NASA have it all wrong? Is space exploration not right for us right now? What of this shuttle? What of this space station? What of our future?
Lessons learned (Cliff Note version):
1) Public enemy number one unfortunately has buried itself deep in every mind on this Earth. Public enemy number one is we. When we choose death over saving life, when assets of war take shape as human life or a lack thereof, and when protecting our way of life necessitates pulling a trigger we have become our own worst enemy. Homo sapien has walked the Earth for over five hundred millennia. Ingenuity has brought us from smacking stones together with hopes of fire to channeling fire to propel human beings onto the Moon and beyond. Yet, we still to this day wage war. We still take life away as if it was ours to take away. In America, we debate the death of serial killers, rapists, etc, but what of innocent lives lost at the hands of those who exist almost solely to take it away. This deep-rooted evil festers amidst us. As a species, we have these wonderful abilities and awesome responsibilities. So when will we stop? Will we ever stop? Will we ever stop being our own worst enemy.
2) Where are we? Why are we here? Such are age ole questions. Mothership Earth. We are on a spaceship traveling at 18.5 miles/sec, 30 km/sec (or 66,000 mph) through the heavens. Mysteriously, we exist here on this ship. Why are we here? I dont know nor do I really ask this question with the same ferocity I once did. I have chosen to focus more on my purpose.
3) Go for it. If you have a dream, then go for it. How do you know unless you try? Study up on your dream, understand it, then so be it. Let it roll. Not necessarily caution into the wind but rather rid yourself of regret. Life is a journey of the body, mind, and spirit. Challenge yourself, because who knows...who truly knows. Live a happy fulfilling life.
4) Find what makes you truly happy and cherish it.
5) Try to do everything without arguing or complaining. (yelling, screaming, losing your cool type of arguing, not to be confused with the intellectual argument)
6) Nothing wrong with stating your opinion, but try to understand the whole perspective.
7) Keep your morals. Morality is a fiber. The more you wear it out, the less there is of it.
8) One of my favorite topics, space exploration. Why do we go? Do we need to go? The long answer is a book, but such a book would end with the following: we must go, because our very existence depends upon it. The future of our children and our childrens children rests in how we spend our lives whether it is in the name of peace and survival or in the name of war. To some degree, we can decide our own future. Ultimately, our very ability to move life from this rock, this mothership, will decide whether or not we Earthlings survive, and this realization may be sooner than we think.
9) What of the space shuttle. Often called the most complicated machine ever built by human hands, the space shuttle is something marvelous and special. But, Space Shuttle is not our future. It is our past. A design of compromises, the vehicle does not fit our needs. We must be bold. We must progress and not digress.
10) Space Station. Space station holds many secrets, not of the treasure chest type but rather of the fulfilling awesome type. The public misunderstands Space Station. For instances, the press likes to get the public bent out of shape over scientific research on board Space Station. They speak of the Space Station budget, making sure to broadcast budgets at every chance. They demand answers to myopic questions. The International Space Station stands for so much. Please allow me to divulge a little. Fundamentally, a bridge to our future, an analog to voyages beyond LEO (Low Earth Orbit), we use Space Station as a dry run to solve problems of long duration spaceflight. An exploration mission to Mars involves so many challenges. Once you leave Mothership Earth, the opportunity for coming back outside of the mission plan in the event of a contingency becomes more and more remote with each second. A broken screw, a stuck hatch, compromised seal, debunked water system, bacterial or fungal growth on equipment could all become huge problems. Crewmembers for such a mission must be Supermans in their own regard: handyman, EMT/nurse/physician, spacewalkers, martianwalkers, friends, scientists, explorers, etc. For most of these roles, Space Station remains the primary means of perfecting or growing in these roles as zero-g complicates the daily course of life roughly 2 fold. E.g., completing a task in zero-g when compared to on Earth requires double the time in space. As weird as it sounds space exploration still resides in its infancy; therefore, Space Station must be if we want to continue in space.
But, what did I learn along the way? Does NASA have it all wrong? Is space exploration not right for us right now? What of this shuttle? What of this space station? What of our future?
Lessons learned (Cliff Note version):
1) Public enemy number one unfortunately has buried itself deep in every mind on this Earth. Public enemy number one is we. When we choose death over saving life, when assets of war take shape as human life or a lack thereof, and when protecting our way of life necessitates pulling a trigger we have become our own worst enemy. Homo sapien has walked the Earth for over five hundred millennia. Ingenuity has brought us from smacking stones together with hopes of fire to channeling fire to propel human beings onto the Moon and beyond. Yet, we still to this day wage war. We still take life away as if it was ours to take away. In America, we debate the death of serial killers, rapists, etc, but what of innocent lives lost at the hands of those who exist almost solely to take it away. This deep-rooted evil festers amidst us. As a species, we have these wonderful abilities and awesome responsibilities. So when will we stop? Will we ever stop? Will we ever stop being our own worst enemy.
2) Where are we? Why are we here? Such are age ole questions. Mothership Earth. We are on a spaceship traveling at 18.5 miles/sec, 30 km/sec (or 66,000 mph) through the heavens. Mysteriously, we exist here on this ship. Why are we here? I dont know nor do I really ask this question with the same ferocity I once did. I have chosen to focus more on my purpose.
3) Go for it. If you have a dream, then go for it. How do you know unless you try? Study up on your dream, understand it, then so be it. Let it roll. Not necessarily caution into the wind but rather rid yourself of regret. Life is a journey of the body, mind, and spirit. Challenge yourself, because who knows...who truly knows. Live a happy fulfilling life.
4) Find what makes you truly happy and cherish it.
5) Try to do everything without arguing or complaining. (yelling, screaming, losing your cool type of arguing, not to be confused with the intellectual argument)
6) Nothing wrong with stating your opinion, but try to understand the whole perspective.
7) Keep your morals. Morality is a fiber. The more you wear it out, the less there is of it.
8) One of my favorite topics, space exploration. Why do we go? Do we need to go? The long answer is a book, but such a book would end with the following: we must go, because our very existence depends upon it. The future of our children and our childrens children rests in how we spend our lives whether it is in the name of peace and survival or in the name of war. To some degree, we can decide our own future. Ultimately, our very ability to move life from this rock, this mothership, will decide whether or not we Earthlings survive, and this realization may be sooner than we think.
9) What of the space shuttle. Often called the most complicated machine ever built by human hands, the space shuttle is something marvelous and special. But, Space Shuttle is not our future. It is our past. A design of compromises, the vehicle does not fit our needs. We must be bold. We must progress and not digress.
10) Space Station. Space station holds many secrets, not of the treasure chest type but rather of the fulfilling awesome type. The public misunderstands Space Station. For instances, the press likes to get the public bent out of shape over scientific research on board Space Station. They speak of the Space Station budget, making sure to broadcast budgets at every chance. They demand answers to myopic questions. The International Space Station stands for so much. Please allow me to divulge a little. Fundamentally, a bridge to our future, an analog to voyages beyond LEO (Low Earth Orbit), we use Space Station as a dry run to solve problems of long duration spaceflight. An exploration mission to Mars involves so many challenges. Once you leave Mothership Earth, the opportunity for coming back outside of the mission plan in the event of a contingency becomes more and more remote with each second. A broken screw, a stuck hatch, compromised seal, debunked water system, bacterial or fungal growth on equipment could all become huge problems. Crewmembers for such a mission must be Supermans in their own regard: handyman, EMT/nurse/physician, spacewalkers, martianwalkers, friends, scientists, explorers, etc. For most of these roles, Space Station remains the primary means of perfecting or growing in these roles as zero-g complicates the daily course of life roughly 2 fold. E.g., completing a task in zero-g when compared to on Earth requires double the time in space. As weird as it sounds space exploration still resides in its infancy; therefore, Space Station must be if we want to continue in space.
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