Enough is enough
As everyone knows, I work here at the Johnson Space Center at the southeastern reaches of the hot and humid city of Houston where the motto is, "I reckon' it sure is hot and humid outside". I'm not particular proud of this fact but it's something I've learned to live with over my three and a half years working here. It's not always where you are, but who you're with and working here at NASA means I've surrounded myself with some incredibly unique and incredible people. These are the people that make me proud of what we all do here, people whose intelligence is only outweighed by their heart and dedication. We work hard here, earn less than we're worth, and put up with interminable beauracracy because we have a passion for the space industry and an overwhelming desire to get our astronauts in space and to keep them healthy. Because, really, everything thing we do here, all the procedure writing and console support, is done with the goal of making our astronauts happy. We wouldn't be anything without them and this fact is not lost on them. Of the astronauts I've had the pleasure to meet and work with, not one of them is blind to the fact that we bust our butts for them and the appreciation we get from them because of this is second to none.
As I grew up, I always had a fascination with space (like many young children) and astronauts were surely up on a pedestal in my little world. I carried that reverance throughout my life, even bringing it with me the day I started working here. It wasn't until I finally got to start working with these astronauts that an incontrovertrible truth finally dawned on me: despite the aura of mystique that surrounds them, astronauts are only human. And, like any human, they sometimes make mistakes. I'm sure by now you've all heard about one of them and I'm just appalled by the media coverage this is getting.
NASA has numerous space probes travelling through the cosmos, a space shuttle launch every three months, and a space station that has been in continuous operation for 7 years. I rarely see a mention of any of these in the evening news. I've seen astronauts pull off amazing feats performing space walks and the only mention they get is an over-exaggerated headline of a 'toxic leak' which had little effect on anyone. Sadly, the most media exposure they get is when one of them has an emotional break down and gets involved in some rather unfortunate events. It's a tragedy, really, and I'd expect the media to jump on this one, but the extent and nature of the coverage has left me even more disgusted with the news than ever before.
Although I have not had the pleasure of working with Lisa Nowak, I know she is a highly respected member of the NASA community. Why she would take this course of action everyone is still trying to figure out and no doubt the answers will come slowly and, even then, the whole story will probably only be known by a small group of people. Despite the limited amount of information that is known at this point, the media outlets are overloading the airwaves and front pages with 'coverage', basically rehashing the limited known facts repeatedly, delving into her professional career, and interviewing neighbors who, as expected, have nothing to say other than they didn't see it coming. I've seen computer generated mapped routes between Houston and Orlando, news segments dubbed 'Space Oddity', repeated reference to the diapers she wore during the car ride (interesting fact: astronauts wear them during shuttle launches and spacewalks), and that demeaning mug shot. There have been psychological profiling, endless speculation, and *gasp* shock that an astronaut could do something like this. Yes, I admit it's strange. No, not strange, unfortunate and very sad. It's never easy to see a family member (we're all part of the NASA family around here, in a non-sappy way) go through something like this but it's almost as hard seeing her name get dragged through the mud without any shred of fact being released about the case.
No doubt drama like this occurs throughout the country on a daily basis. I rarely hear about it on the news. This case is different, of course, because it involved a fall from a pedestal. Same thing would have happened if a movie star tried to pull this off. I can accept that. What really pisses me off, and this is what it comes down to, is that the only time these brave people get recognized for anything is when they mess up, as all humans are bound to do. Looks like Letterman did a top ten list on how you know if an astronaut is trying to kill you. Funny? Maybe. Appropriate? Definitely not. Leave her alone. Please.
With all that's going on in this world I would hope that Americans have more vital issues to follow than this little soap opera scenario. But that's just American society, isn't it? Forget about the war, there's some good dirt on a semi-famous person. It's the same old story. Perhaps Lisa Nowak isn't the only person guilty of bad judgement.
As I grew up, I always had a fascination with space (like many young children) and astronauts were surely up on a pedestal in my little world. I carried that reverance throughout my life, even bringing it with me the day I started working here. It wasn't until I finally got to start working with these astronauts that an incontrovertrible truth finally dawned on me: despite the aura of mystique that surrounds them, astronauts are only human. And, like any human, they sometimes make mistakes. I'm sure by now you've all heard about one of them and I'm just appalled by the media coverage this is getting.
NASA has numerous space probes travelling through the cosmos, a space shuttle launch every three months, and a space station that has been in continuous operation for 7 years. I rarely see a mention of any of these in the evening news. I've seen astronauts pull off amazing feats performing space walks and the only mention they get is an over-exaggerated headline of a 'toxic leak' which had little effect on anyone. Sadly, the most media exposure they get is when one of them has an emotional break down and gets involved in some rather unfortunate events. It's a tragedy, really, and I'd expect the media to jump on this one, but the extent and nature of the coverage has left me even more disgusted with the news than ever before.
Although I have not had the pleasure of working with Lisa Nowak, I know she is a highly respected member of the NASA community. Why she would take this course of action everyone is still trying to figure out and no doubt the answers will come slowly and, even then, the whole story will probably only be known by a small group of people. Despite the limited amount of information that is known at this point, the media outlets are overloading the airwaves and front pages with 'coverage', basically rehashing the limited known facts repeatedly, delving into her professional career, and interviewing neighbors who, as expected, have nothing to say other than they didn't see it coming. I've seen computer generated mapped routes between Houston and Orlando, news segments dubbed 'Space Oddity', repeated reference to the diapers she wore during the car ride (interesting fact: astronauts wear them during shuttle launches and spacewalks), and that demeaning mug shot. There have been psychological profiling, endless speculation, and *gasp* shock that an astronaut could do something like this. Yes, I admit it's strange. No, not strange, unfortunate and very sad. It's never easy to see a family member (we're all part of the NASA family around here, in a non-sappy way) go through something like this but it's almost as hard seeing her name get dragged through the mud without any shred of fact being released about the case.
No doubt drama like this occurs throughout the country on a daily basis. I rarely hear about it on the news. This case is different, of course, because it involved a fall from a pedestal. Same thing would have happened if a movie star tried to pull this off. I can accept that. What really pisses me off, and this is what it comes down to, is that the only time these brave people get recognized for anything is when they mess up, as all humans are bound to do. Looks like Letterman did a top ten list on how you know if an astronaut is trying to kill you. Funny? Maybe. Appropriate? Definitely not. Leave her alone. Please.
With all that's going on in this world I would hope that Americans have more vital issues to follow than this little soap opera scenario. But that's just American society, isn't it? Forget about the war, there's some good dirt on a semi-famous person. It's the same old story. Perhaps Lisa Nowak isn't the only person guilty of bad judgement.
Labels: NASA
posted by The Rube at Wednesday, February 07, 2007
4 Comments:
You know, the first thing that went through my head when I first heard the story was, "I wonder if Dave knows her?".
But I couldn't agree more...it's unfortunate that so much media coverage is focused on the negative and the disheartening, when there's so much good stuff out there, too!
Dave- I wholeheartedly agree with you. Thanks for this post. I think it is shameful that our many 24 hour news networks sink to such lows to provide unending coverage of other people's mistakes and pain. I'm sure the ongoing ridiculous coverage of Anna Nicole Smith will draw the attention away from Ms. Nowak. I can't believe how these networks who want to be respected as serious news outlets have allowed their airtime to be sucked into the drain.
Hope you can make it for a visit to the DC area soon! Patti G. Pace
Dave, I could not have expressed it better. I did work with Lisa Nowak a few times and she was nothing but professional. I was appalled myself at the level of coverage which, had Anna Nicole Smith not died, could have exceeded that of either Challenger or Columbia tragedies (both negative marks on NASA and therefore worthy of coverage). Although I'm no longer there, I take serious offense to all that is being said. Like you said NASA is one family and I will forever be part of it.
Fine, let's bash the evil liberal media. No, seriously, let's bash 'em. Television media IS evil. They give print journalists a bad reputation.
I missed your posts, Rubinator. I hope you keep writing.... although it's been a few weeks since your last one.
Come back!
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