Kwa insee trepe nor

Imagine it. One hundred and eighty miles straight up. You rode 1.5 million pounds of thrust to get there. The vehicle is sturdy, robust and reliable. And yet compared to the harsh environment just inches away, it is a mere eggshell that could blow open for all the precious air to hurry out if even a micrometeoriod pierced through the wall.

And then you leave the safety of your craft and don an extravehicular activity (EVA) pressure suit and step outside. If a micrometeoriod could ruin your day inside the space craft, it would drive through the suit layers much easier. Those layers are all that stand between you and instant death. A small opening might stand chance of repair. Small. Very relative term. How small? How much margin before the pressure differential cannot be held back by the damaged material? So every hour you stop whatever you are doing, no matter how long or hard the task, and meticulously inspect the gloves. And astronauts have found cuts on their gloves during EVA.

Then imagine fastening onto the end of a fifty foot arm and going full reach away from the space craft. That is truly as alone and helpless as it gets. Hanging out over the entire earth, total blackness of space in the other direction and all help not just fifty feet away, but getting into the airlock and beginning the repressurization...stalled in the airlock for the wait since instant pressurization would be deadly. That far away from assistance. Yes, a fellow astronaut, always on EVA. However, extended, extensive, permanent help, rest, and safety are further away not just in distance, but in time as well.

Imagine it. No words or drawing can paint the picture. I can't, because I've never been there. But I think about it. I try to imagine what it is like, and I can't. Not fully. Only the few who've been there know, truly know what that moment is.

When comes the day when that experience is usual and normal for the average citizen rather than for the few selected and trained and pared down...months and years of waiting and training. Whence the day when a commute to space is no more than a commute to work is now?

I don't expect it in my life time, but I hope that my work contributes some part to making it so for the not distant future.

Dream it.

If you can dream it, you can do it.