The fall’s gonna kill you
AirSpace Newsletter
10/29/2021
Photo credit: AirSpace from the National Air and Space Museum
The universe is terrifying. A rogue gamma ray-burst could take us all out at any moment. A stray solar flare or Kessler cascade could send us back into a dark age (Gravity got that one right). One errant asteroid and we go the way of the dinosaurs (but we’re working on that).
If silver screens and pulp magazines are to be believed, aliens will just show up one day and start pushing us around (with the potential bonus of uniting all of humanity but come on – is a war of the worlds really the price of peace on Earth??). President Kennedy famously said the hazards of space are hostile to us all – and geez, he wasn’t kidding.
Our pick for the number one scariest moment in space (so far) is something that really did (almost) happen – with years of training, millions of dollars of safety equipment, hundreds of people supporting you on the ground, and your best astronaut buddy at your side, there’s still the possibility that you can just up and drown in your spacesuit. Luca Parmitano is the best of the best – and if he’s afraid, we’re afraid. Enjoy your time on Earth, friends – no one here gets out alive.
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Story credit: AirSpace from the National Air and Space Museum Newsletter