Customer Reviews

Pioneering Space: Living on the Next Frontier

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This book was published in 1986, but has tons of interesting information about space travel you won't find elsewhere in the popular press. If you're writing a fiction story having to do with the human experience in space, this book is a must for all sorts of detail you can weave into your prose.

A large part of this narrative has to do with the personal human aspects of spaceflight: physiological, psychological, and sociological. For instance: how the "odor of space is that of burnt steel" (other writers like Linenger have noted this fact), the disorientation experience when reaching orbit, the perception of the passage of time becomes distorted, the astronaut's sense of smell and taste becomes dulled (explaining why spicy foods and condiments are so prized in orbit), the puffiness and distortion of features that occurs due to redistributions of bodily fluids, the feelings of isolation and alienation that can overcome crew members on long-duration spaceflight, the communication problems that arise between crew members because of distortion of facial features, affect, gestures, and body language, and the upsetting of biological rhythm due to the accelerated cycle of orbital days and nights -- usually around 90 minutes.

Other topics taken up are the experiences and value of long-term observation of the Earth, the repair jobs that space travellers are often called upon to perform, daily activities and bodily functions (less said here, the better!), the space suits and EVAs. An entire chapter is devoted to orbital experimentation with the growing of plants and small food crops. Another is devoted to the operation and maintenance of spacecraft life support systems (obviously any crew's most important task). Another chapter discusses the related issue of the dangers of space travel -- weightlessness, radiation, necessity to maintain cabin pressure and CO2 scrubbing, and medical emergencies. There is a chapter about the tools and systems upon which spacecraft are completely dependent for operation -- including garbage disposal! Another discusses the future possibilities for robotic and computer automation of space missions (an interesting observation here by Oberg is that when "artificially intelligent" computers come online, they will probably be as error-prone as the humans due to their sheer complexity! Intelligence may necessarily require fallibility. I think this a profound insight I've not seen elsewhere in the AI literature. So there, Ray Kurzweil!!)

One particularly interesting chapter has to do with the emotional experiences of spaceflight. Here we have observations on the fears of the space travellers and their families and friends, the need to suppress some emotions such as hostility for harmonious crew relations, the need to maintain boundaries, privacy issues, the need to establish routines, and sometimes even "orbital vacations" or temporary respites from the rigors of the schedule established and maintained by the ground authorities.

One area where Oberg could have laid more emphasis is the professional nature of space flight crews. These are most usually military types and high-end research scientists and engineers. In other words, highly competitive and egotistical personality types. Working within the strictures of orbital spaceflight (interdependence and great potential danger / professional risk), it's little wonder so much conflict arises both on orbit and in their dealings with ground control (the Skylab mission "astronaut strike" being merely one of many such incidents on record).

A very fascinating and unique book!

Interesting book but a little out dated (the Challenger disaster being the big news of the book). The book is divided into themes for chapters. There are chapters on what it's like to be in space, how much better the human eye is than the camera, how basic human needs are taken care of in space (and what is done with the waste), etc. The writing is a little choppy, cutting between eras as needed for the thread of the theme, rather than smoothly segueing through eras or different missions to space. I found that style of writing the most difficult piece of the book. By about chapter four, I was finally in synch with the book and able to read more quickly.