The Beginning of Interest
By Ken Parks, April 6, 2008

The space program did not come to my attention until my second time around in the third grade. It was a day of discovery and the rain had soaked my classmate’s enthusiasm for an inside recess. Mrs. Kimball gave me the option of reading some back editions of National Geographic.

The Mercury 6 launch, piloted by John Glenn, had its share of unknown factors. The Atlas rocket, originally designed as an intercontinental missle, was considered unstable. There was the possibility that it could explode on the launch pad or during its initial flight path. Engineers had redesigned extra internal supports to absorb the stress of launch and flight into space. Glenn and the other six astronauts knew the risks associated with this rocket. Glenn's pulse rate jumped to 110 right before liftoff. Once the Atlas and Friendship 7 passed through Max Q (maximum dynamic pressure) Glenn reported, "It's a little bumpy about here." The flight smoothed out after Max Q. At 2:14 after launch, the booster engines cut off and dropped away. Then at 2:24, the escape tower was jettisoned, leaving Glenn and his spacecraft orbiting the earth.

Bored and restless, I came upon an article about John Glenn’s historic adventure into the unknown… outer space. This was all new to me. An event that happened nearly two years ago had become the latest news to me. My parents lacked the ambition for education and current events. I realized that my ignorance of this historic event and program was a result of my parents disinterest in expanding my horizons and increase my education capacity. That’s another subject for another day.

I took the initiative to improve my education after a disappointing third grade experience with a less than appropriate teacher, Mrs. Nelson. I had a severe ear infection that had caused a loss of hearing and cost me a loss of education and a return for the second time to the third grade. Mrs. Nelson was far from being sensitive to my condition. I went from being called “a dummy” to a straight-A student in Mrs. Kimball’s class.

Glenn’s space flight was the first orbital attempt by the U.S. space program. During the second orbit, an alarm indicated a loose heat shield, the result of which could be a fiery reentry. The article and photos caught my desire to learn more about the space program.

I was unaware that the Soviets had placed two cosmonauts in orbital space flights, the first being Yuri Gargarin, prior to John Glenn’s adventure into the weightless world of outer space.

I was unaware that President John F. Kennedy had made it a goal to send an American to the Moon and return him safely back to earth.

President Kennedy inspects John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft, which made three earth orbits on February 20, 1962. Kennedy made a speech before a Joint Session of Congress on May 25, 1961 declaring, "First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish"

I was unaware that a German born rocket scientist, Wernher von Braun had developed the Saturn-V rockets.

The desire to learn about the U.S. space program sparked my interest into a new hobby.

I would purposely fake an illness to stay home and watch a Gemini liftoff. By the fifth grade, I had presented an oral report about the Apollo-Saturn V program including its ultimate goal of landing a man on the Moon and return him safely back to earth. My ninth grade year included writing an extensive research paper about the Apollo 1 fire, taking the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

I had written an extensive research paper on the Apollo 1 fire, exposing the deficiencies of NASA's safety concerns and rush to the Moon. The space program came to a crashing halt while the Apollo 1 fire investigation caused a redsign of the Apollo spacecraft and the hatch. This was a wakeup call, showing the dangers and risks associated to the space program and its race to beat the Soviets to the Moon. The Soviets also experienced their own cosmonaut losses.

After the successful missions of the Apollo program, I waned in interest. The Space Shuttle missions did not have the same flare of adventure as the days of Apollo. There was no meaningful goal. The International Space Station (ISS) may end up being the stepping-stone to the return to the Moon.

I have seriously researched the plans for a Mars mission. Because of the major problems of longevity in a micro-gravity, the sun flares and the consequential exposure to harmful X-rays and UV radiation, and the environment of the Mars surface, it is my opinion that the Mars mission is unfeasible.