As I write this, I am in the charming
Hotel Encanto in Las Cruces,
New Mexico. Just a drive away to Spaceport America, the chosen spaceport (yes, spaceport and not airport) for Virgin Galactic to conduct their spaceflights.
With their upcoming 6th spaceflight this year, Virgin Galactic has been consistent, and on a roll with their monthly-scheduled spaceflights in 2023, and in a few days from now, on November 2, two researchers and one space tourist (future astronauts), will be launched into space on the VSS Unity — one of whom is Alan Stern.
Why do I mention Alan specifically and what is my purpose at the launch? Well, Alan and I are together and have been so for the last couple of years.
Alan is sharing a series of blogs prior, during and post his spaceflight. I wanted to share a piece myself from my perspective, as the life partner of someone who is not only going through an adventure of a lifetime, but a dream of a lifetime.
(In case you don’t know this) Alan is a planetary Scientist, the PI (Principal Investigator) of NASA’s New Horizons — the mission that sent a spacecraft to Pluto, and a PI on many other missions — he’s also a space industry executive, and he’s passionate about all-things space, inspired by the Apollo era as many of his generation were.
As if the above career path (and only a few things were mentioned), doesn’t sound fulfilling enough, Alan has also really wanted to be an astronaut all his life (he was close twice in selection, but it never materialized) — until now.
Even prior to his current training happening this week at Spaceport America with the staff and crew from Virgin Galactic, Alan has been preparing for this for a long time: mentally, physically, and on all the details and logistics involved for this unique trip and experience.
Training and preparation need to be done by all those who will experience spaceflight at some level, but more so by those doing an experiment(s) in a suborbital spaceflight, and that is what Alan, as well as his crewmate, fellow researcher, Kellie Gerardi, will be doing this upcoming week.
So, along with this training and preparation, his passion for space, and career in the industry, he is knowledgeable of what to be anticipating: from the high acceleration and vibrations that the spacecraft will endure during launch, the period of weightlessness, and to “flying” around the cabin and conducting his experiments.
But there is one unknown to him.
That what his emotional response to seeing the Earth from space will be; to seeing the thin, delicate atmosphere encircling our planet (from his New Horizons mission to Pluto, once the spacecraft flew past Pluto and looked back and took a photo and captured the planet as an almost dark marble, but with a light blue hue of its atmosphere circling the planet, that is in fact Alan’s favorite photo form the mission).
Then there’s the darkness of space beyond the horizon, separating Earth, and the vastness of space, which I have been told by former astronauts, is a shade of black like no other. Almost as if it has a velvety texture. That allows you to both, see how the Earth is connected to and within the cosmos, but also, how it stands out with its clear contrast of abundance of life, color, and all its fragility.
There’s also seeing the curvature of the Earth like very few people in all of humanity have experienced with their own eyes. There’s something so beautiful and humbling to that unique view; the realization (even though already intellectually aware of it) that it’s all there on this floating blue marble. A perspective of the planet that can’t be seen from the Earth, or from a plane (maybe to some extent, could be seen partially with the type of high-altitude aircraft flights Alan has previously flown on, such as F-18s, WB-57s, F-104s), but none of these were anywhere near space, and none experienced weightlessness.
Alan may even experience the Overview Effect, a term coined by space philosopher Frank White, and whom I now call a friend.
About the “effect” experienced, it’s not some cutesy thing or something only non-professionals (space tourists) or the overly sentimental experience. It’s in fact (without having had an actual term prior to Frank White writing a book about it) been talked about by many astronauts that have been to space from the Apollo era to now.
It’s a unique view that is overwhelming, breathtaking, humbling, and inspiring, and as a result, brings about a mindset-shift, or a new perspective of our existence, our fragility, and our uniqueness as creatures, especially one with the ability to perceive, and with a consciousness that can absorb and be changed by this new perspective.
In fact, with Alan being in the industry so long, he has many astronaut acquaintances and friends, and indeed, some have reached out to him recently to congratulate him on the upcoming flight, but they are also telling him that he will see something beautiful and special, and that he will come back a changed man.
I am thrilled that Alan will experience his life-long dream, and cannot wait to watch him, and his crewmates, be launched into space, but also, I can’t wait to see how he comes back a changed man.
Ad Astra Galactic5! And, High Five!
(Article originally posted on my Medium site and on 1 November.)
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