How has the perception of space changed for 61 years
Starting after the series “First” to watch “Mars”, I thought about how the flight of the Martian mission will be perceived in society. In both series, for some reason, they did not emphasize the fact that the whole world clung to the screens and watched this historical action. There was a feeling that if we live to see the launch of a manned mission to Mars, it will not become the same furore as the launch of the first satellite. The launch of Falcon Heavy on YouTube was watched by 2.3 million people this year, seemingly a lot, and this is the second place in the history of streams. But the first place, the jump from the stratosphere of Felix Baumgartner, was watched by 8 million people. Bright cosmic events act as a beacon that attracts people to itself. If their light does not call so strongly, it means that new people will not go to the space program? Not. Over the past years, her perception has changed, and in general, everything will be fine. Only the meaning of the expression “rocket science” in English will have to be changed.
Spectators watch STS-119 start, photo by Blake Estes
World reaction to the launch of the first satellite was in a wide range from panic to euphoria, but it was very bright. For obvious reasons, we know best of all the US reaction — one of the two superpowers was in a very unpleasant situation. And it cannot be said that in all other respects the affairs of the Americans were cloudless - in the summer the economic recession began, and after three years of growth in quotations, the Dow-Jones index fell from July to October 1957 by 21%. Social problems grew - for the first time since 1875, the Civil Rights Act was adopted, aimed at supporting racial equality and the desegregation of color in public schools (for an atmosphere of racial issues and space, see the Hidden Figures film). And then the Soviet satellite threw several challenges at once to a country that considered itself the first in everything, scientific and technical, military, and a challenge to prestige.
The first page of the New York Times is October 5th. On the second page there is even a photo of Tsiolkovsky
')
In the military sense, the analogy of the “dominant height” worked — the satellite's orbit was perceived as a bridge from which the USSR was able to drop hydrogen bombs on anyone below. Cosmos seemed like a new battlefield, and if in Modern times Great Britain was strong with ships, and in the middle of the 20th century, armada bombers were a visible expression of the power of the United States, now the question was who would be strong in space. And if in the early days of the space era, US President Eisenhower tried to reassure the country, speaking of satellite security, then at the beginning of 1958 he outlined the same three challenges - the scientific and technical, military and prestige facing the United States. As a result of the beginning of the space race, not only orders for military missiles, but also education expenses were increased, not only NASA, but also DARPA were created.
Public panic is probably best described in the memoirs of Stephen King:
Science fiction writer Arthur Clark, who said that the United States after the launch of the Soviet satellite turned into a secondary power, expressed changes in the self-consciousness of society. The waves generated by the first satellite, for example, led to the fact that the pretentious car design caused anger “our engineers at such a critical moment spend time on frivolity”, and the first satellite could well become one of the reasons for the failure of the Edsel car brand.
1958 edsel
For some, the launch of the Soviet satellite became a real tragedy - Ain Rand, the novel Atlas Shrugged His shoulders, just a week later, postulated a creative and industrial catastrophe of a socialist society. The frustration of an immigrant from the USSR and the ardent anti-Communist Rand was so great that she began to argue that the USSR allegedly did not launch any satellite, much to the joy of the public.
A part of interest in Sputnik was realized in an emotionally neutral fashion - music, dances, cocktails or even hairstyles, for example, Japanese ones.
A frame from the video of Roscosmos TV
But there was also the opposite pole - for many people the satellite became a bright asterisk of hope. Fantasy Ray Bradbury wrote:
And, very importantly, around the world, the satellite called for children. Surely there were hundreds and thousands of them, but the most famous is the story of two. Homer Hickam was born in 1943 in the American wilderness. In the best years, the town of Coalwood was inhabited by two thousand people whose lives were connected with the coal mine. It was possible to escape from there except through sporting success in school or military service, and Homer would be a miner like a father, but Sputnik changed everything.
Hickam with friends and model of the rocket, photos from the family archive
Homer became interested in space, started making and launching model rockets with friends, won the National School Fair and got the opportunity to study at the university for free. After high school and military service, he began working at NASA, where he was involved in the construction of spacecraft and the training of astronauts. And in 1998, his memoirs “Rocket Boys” were released, according to which they shot an excellent film “The October Sky”.
Mike Mullein with a rocket model, photo from the official site
Richard "Mike" Mullein very vividly described how his life changed the launch of the first satellite. Born in 1945, Mullein in 1957 turned 12 years old. And he lived in Albuquerque, a desert town in a sparsely populated area. The lack of illumination made it possible to observe the stars, photograph them, and there were no problems finding a place without people and property that could fail to launch missile models. The desire to fly into space has become the core of Mike's life. In his childhood, he wrote to NASA with the proposal to replace adult astronauts with lighter teenagers, which would save on the mass of spacecraft (of course, not offering his candidacy directly, but it was a rather transparent hint). Astigmatism put an end to the hope of getting into the astronaut squad by test pilot. But fortunately, they created the Space Shuttle, which allowed people with glasses to fly non-piloting ships. Mullein got into the first set of space shuttle astronauts, made three flights and wrote absolutely amazing memoirs .
Subsequent cosmic events also attracted people. In 2016, the action “When Gagarin flew” took place, in which people's memories of April 12, 1961 were collected, you can watch a selection of interviews . In the memoirs of the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, it is mentioned that the landing of the Apollo 11 on the moon was the impetus for his passion for space. The influence of more recent events is hardly reflected in the memoirs because of the comparative youth of those who are affected. But in general, and the events have become smaller, and the furore from them is clearly not so much as at the dawn of cosmonautics. This is logical - the first achievements were really the first steps into the unknown. Now there is more knowledge and it is difficult to do something that was not there at all before. Does this mean that space is no longer calling for new people? In the old ways - yes, but, fortunately, new trends have appeared.
The first is well illustrated by the following news:
Frame from ABC7 video
In early 2018, a helicopter channel ABC7News conducted a regular flight over the city of Alameda (California). Suddenly, a real rocket was seen down below, and judging by the soot on the concrete, its engines were already tested here. It turned out to be the private space company Stealth Space, which, without any PR, tested its Astra launch vehicle.
Photo by Michael Howar / Spaceflight Insider
Like a design made on the knee, the engines of the Vector-R rocket are also privately produced. But they are printed on a 3D-printer and consist of only 15 parts. There are dozens of similar rocket startups around the world. And if 61 years ago, the launch of a satellite required the efforts of a superpower, now it can be done by several people who got a penny compared to the state budget and collected a rocket in the shop a little more advanced than the garage.
The second trend is illustrated by the private company Planet Labs, which has already managed to launch more than a hundred and fifty cubes of Dove / Flock with the task of ensuring continuous shooting of the entire earth's surface. The data obtained will then be processed using modern computer technology.
This graph shows the number of satellites launched by mass distribution. Black - light and ultra-light satellites weighing less than 100 kg. The sharply increased number of cubes is a consequence of the fact that not only private companies, but also universities and even schoolchildren can make and start a satellite.
General conclusion: Cosmos has become much closer to humans. Instead of perceiving the call of flying satellites far today, a person can become acquainted with astronautics in childhood, and at a quite serious level. Particularly lucky can even participate in the creation and launch of this spacecraft. And the abundance of space content may be interested in space even earlier. The daughter of my acquaintances, having accidentally seen a video tour of the ISS from Sunita Williams in two years, now instead of cartoons is watching space videos for the night. Of course, there is no guarantee that our descendants will read this fact at the beginning of the memoirs of an astronaut, scientist or engineer, but those who could potentially become interested in space got a lot of opportunities. And that's great. Unless the English expression "rocket science", denoting something very complex, seems to be outdated.
I expressed my thoughts on the same topic in the fresh lecture “Cosmonautics: From Romance to Realism”.
PS World Space Week ends on October 10, do not forget to see the "October Sky". Very inspirational movie.
Spectators watch STS-119 start, photo by Blake Estes
World reaction to the launch of the first satellite was in a wide range from panic to euphoria, but it was very bright. For obvious reasons, we know best of all the US reaction — one of the two superpowers was in a very unpleasant situation. And it cannot be said that in all other respects the affairs of the Americans were cloudless - in the summer the economic recession began, and after three years of growth in quotations, the Dow-Jones index fell from July to October 1957 by 21%. Social problems grew - for the first time since 1875, the Civil Rights Act was adopted, aimed at supporting racial equality and the desegregation of color in public schools (for an atmosphere of racial issues and space, see the Hidden Figures film). And then the Soviet satellite threw several challenges at once to a country that considered itself the first in everything, scientific and technical, military, and a challenge to prestige.
The first page of the New York Times is October 5th. On the second page there is even a photo of Tsiolkovsky
')
In the military sense, the analogy of the “dominant height” worked — the satellite's orbit was perceived as a bridge from which the USSR was able to drop hydrogen bombs on anyone below. Cosmos seemed like a new battlefield, and if in Modern times Great Britain was strong with ships, and in the middle of the 20th century, armada bombers were a visible expression of the power of the United States, now the question was who would be strong in space. And if in the early days of the space era, US President Eisenhower tried to reassure the country, speaking of satellite security, then at the beginning of 1958 he outlined the same three challenges - the scientific and technical, military and prestige facing the United States. As a result of the beginning of the space race, not only orders for military missiles, but also education expenses were increased, not only NASA, but also DARPA were created.
Public panic is probably best described in the memoirs of Stephen King:
We sat on chairs like mannequins and looked at the manager. He looked alarmed and painful - or maybe it was the blame for the lighting. We were guessing that the catastrophe made him stop the film in the most tense moment, but then the manager started talking and the shaking in his voice confused us even more. “I want to inform you,” he began, “that the Russians have launched a space satellite into orbit around the earth.” They called it ... "satellite". The message was greeted with absolute deathly silence. I remember very clearly: the terrible dead silence of the cinema hall was suddenly broken by a lonely cry, I don’t know if it was a boy or a girl; the voice was full of tears and frightened anger: "Let's show the movie, liar!" The manager did not even look in the direction from which the voice came, and for some reason it was the worst of all. It was proof. Russians are ahead of us in space
Science fiction writer Arthur Clark, who said that the United States after the launch of the Soviet satellite turned into a secondary power, expressed changes in the self-consciousness of society. The waves generated by the first satellite, for example, led to the fact that the pretentious car design caused anger “our engineers at such a critical moment spend time on frivolity”, and the first satellite could well become one of the reasons for the failure of the Edsel car brand.
1958 edsel
For some, the launch of the Soviet satellite became a real tragedy - Ain Rand, the novel Atlas Shrugged His shoulders, just a week later, postulated a creative and industrial catastrophe of a socialist society. The frustration of an immigrant from the USSR and the ardent anti-Communist Rand was so great that she began to argue that the USSR allegedly did not launch any satellite, much to the joy of the public.
A part of interest in Sputnik was realized in an emotionally neutral fashion - music, dances, cocktails or even hairstyles, for example, Japanese ones.
A frame from the video of Roscosmos TV
But there was also the opposite pole - for many people the satellite became a bright asterisk of hope. Fantasy Ray Bradbury wrote:
That night, when Sputnik first drew the sky, I (...) looked up and thought about the predestination of the future. After all, that little light, rapidly moving from edge to edge of the sky, was the future of all mankind. I knew that although the Russians were beautiful in their endeavors, we would soon follow them and take our proper place in the sky (...). That light in the sky made humanity immortal. The earth still could not remain our haven forever, because one day it can expect death from cold or overheating. Humanity was ordered to become immortal, and that light in the sky above me was the first glare of immortality.
I blessed the Russians for their daring and anticipated the creation of NASA by President Eisenhower soon after these events.
And, very importantly, around the world, the satellite called for children. Surely there were hundreds and thousands of them, but the most famous is the story of two. Homer Hickam was born in 1943 in the American wilderness. In the best years, the town of Coalwood was inhabited by two thousand people whose lives were connected with the coal mine. It was possible to escape from there except through sporting success in school or military service, and Homer would be a miner like a father, but Sputnik changed everything.
Hickam with friends and model of the rocket, photos from the family archive
Homer became interested in space, started making and launching model rockets with friends, won the National School Fair and got the opportunity to study at the university for free. After high school and military service, he began working at NASA, where he was involved in the construction of spacecraft and the training of astronauts. And in 1998, his memoirs “Rocket Boys” were released, according to which they shot an excellent film “The October Sky”.
Mike Mullein with a rocket model, photo from the official site
Richard "Mike" Mullein very vividly described how his life changed the launch of the first satellite. Born in 1945, Mullein in 1957 turned 12 years old. And he lived in Albuquerque, a desert town in a sparsely populated area. The lack of illumination made it possible to observe the stars, photograph them, and there were no problems finding a place without people and property that could fail to launch missile models. The desire to fly into space has become the core of Mike's life. In his childhood, he wrote to NASA with the proposal to replace adult astronauts with lighter teenagers, which would save on the mass of spacecraft (of course, not offering his candidacy directly, but it was a rather transparent hint). Astigmatism put an end to the hope of getting into the astronaut squad by test pilot. But fortunately, they created the Space Shuttle, which allowed people with glasses to fly non-piloting ships. Mullein got into the first set of space shuttle astronauts, made three flights and wrote absolutely amazing memoirs .
Subsequent cosmic events also attracted people. In 2016, the action “When Gagarin flew” took place, in which people's memories of April 12, 1961 were collected, you can watch a selection of interviews . In the memoirs of the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, it is mentioned that the landing of the Apollo 11 on the moon was the impetus for his passion for space. The influence of more recent events is hardly reflected in the memoirs because of the comparative youth of those who are affected. But in general, and the events have become smaller, and the furore from them is clearly not so much as at the dawn of cosmonautics. This is logical - the first achievements were really the first steps into the unknown. Now there is more knowledge and it is difficult to do something that was not there at all before. Does this mean that space is no longer calling for new people? In the old ways - yes, but, fortunately, new trends have appeared.
The first is well illustrated by the following news:
Frame from ABC7 video
In early 2018, a helicopter channel ABC7News conducted a regular flight over the city of Alameda (California). Suddenly, a real rocket was seen down below, and judging by the soot on the concrete, its engines were already tested here. It turned out to be the private space company Stealth Space, which, without any PR, tested its Astra launch vehicle.
Photo by Michael Howar / Spaceflight Insider
Like a design made on the knee, the engines of the Vector-R rocket are also privately produced. But they are printed on a 3D-printer and consist of only 15 parts. There are dozens of similar rocket startups around the world. And if 61 years ago, the launch of a satellite required the efforts of a superpower, now it can be done by several people who got a penny compared to the state budget and collected a rocket in the shop a little more advanced than the garage.
The second trend is illustrated by the private company Planet Labs, which has already managed to launch more than a hundred and fifty cubes of Dove / Flock with the task of ensuring continuous shooting of the entire earth's surface. The data obtained will then be processed using modern computer technology.
This graph shows the number of satellites launched by mass distribution. Black - light and ultra-light satellites weighing less than 100 kg. The sharply increased number of cubes is a consequence of the fact that not only private companies, but also universities and even schoolchildren can make and start a satellite.
General conclusion: Cosmos has become much closer to humans. Instead of perceiving the call of flying satellites far today, a person can become acquainted with astronautics in childhood, and at a quite serious level. Particularly lucky can even participate in the creation and launch of this spacecraft. And the abundance of space content may be interested in space even earlier. The daughter of my acquaintances, having accidentally seen a video tour of the ISS from Sunita Williams in two years, now instead of cartoons is watching space videos for the night. Of course, there is no guarantee that our descendants will read this fact at the beginning of the memoirs of an astronaut, scientist or engineer, but those who could potentially become interested in space got a lot of opportunities. And that's great. Unless the English expression "rocket science", denoting something very complex, seems to be outdated.
I expressed my thoughts on the same topic in the fresh lecture “Cosmonautics: From Romance to Realism”.
PS World Space Week ends on October 10, do not forget to see the "October Sky". Very inspirational movie.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/425599/
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