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Astronauts will recount stories of potential disasters in space.
STATES CHRONICLE – A new exciting series premieres tonight, when the Science Channel will introduce ‘Secret Space Escapes’, a story about near encounters and disasters in outer space, exclusively told from the perspectives of participants. There will be no narrators, no outsiders to share the thrilling tales of horrific events.
Given the grandeur and general magnificence of space travel, very few focus on the actual risk. There is excitement and marvel, but much too little worry in comparison to how much it should be. It’s perhaps a natural inclination due to publicized reports from space agencies. Most incidents are toned down for the sake of the public.
Space agencies naturally do not want the bad publicity. What is presented as a mere ‘fluke’ to the outside world was actually rather terrifying for both the astronauts and the staff on Earth trying to help them through it. When you’re outside the bounds of the planet, hundreds of miles away, there is little that can help except an astronaut’s training, wits, science, colleagues, and sheer bravery.
The Science Channel will debut tonight, November 10th, at 10 P.M. their new series ‘Secret Space Escapes’ which will reveal some truths and untold stories about near disasters in space. This will include launches, space walks, landings, collisions, accidents, malfunctions, outages, and many other dangerous situations that no one would want to be in hundreds of miles away from Earth.
According to Rita Mullin, general manager from the Science Channel, these will imply personal stories of astronauts who have experienced the unfortunate events. They have pushed the boundaries of our planet, and their stories are meant to “haunt, entertain, educate and inspire” the viewers. The series will feature either rare or never seen before footage of the incidents, along with first-hand recollections of the survivors.
It will include stories from former astronauts, including Robert Curbeam, Jerry Linenger, and Yi So-Yeaon, South Korea’s first woman to ever head into space in 2008.
According Linenger, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have close calls when “operating at the edge of human ability”. Generally, people believe it’s all fine considering they have come out successfully. But, in reality, they are actually “quite hairy” situations that were in no way easy or done without breaking a sweat.
Curbeam, for example, recounts his own incident back in 2001, when one of the valves leaked during one of his space walks. Toxic ammonia flakes spilled and covered his space suit while he was outside the International Space Station (ISS). After fixing the leak, Curbeam could not venture back inside. The ammonia could’ve sickened or even blinded the rest of the crew.
The only option he had was to stay outside and wait for the ISS to complete two full orbits around the planet, 225 miles away from Earth. Curbeam needed to wait until the sun would melt the toxic ammonia flakes on his spacesuit, outside the space station and alone. The astronaut said that he put aside his negative thoughts. He thought that he had a job to do, and that was reportedly enough. Perhaps they’re not ‘The Martian’ types of disasters, but these will be real and genuine memories.
Image source: en.wikipedia.org
