Do you have a dream or goal that feels
too difficult or complex to achieve? Last
week I visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I discovered that I had no idea what
complexity really meant!
Did you know that there were two
million systems on an Apollo spacecraft? Two million! How is it possible that mere mortals were
able to design and operate so many systems at one time? While I remember many of the launches (yes, I
was very young!), I had no appreciation for how many spacecraft went up within
months of each other. I now understand
that NASA had to be constructing several rockets at a time, adjusting the
designs in process, as scientists learned from each flight. In an interview of one of the astronauts who
had walked on the moon, he stated emphatically that we should consider nothing
as impossible. Seeing the spacecraft up
close and learning about how the various components worked, I have to
agree. It boggles my mind!
I was also very impressed with the
intense training that went on and continues for all the space missions. Did you know that there is a full-sized model
of the International Space Station submerged under water that is used for
training purposes? How foolish we have
been to take the accomplishments of all those involved in the space program for
granted. Just as surgeons caution that
there is no routine operation, I now appreciate that there is no routine space
mission.
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