Entering Space: An Astronaut's Odyssey

John H. Gryfe is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon practicing in
Toronto.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched a basketball-sized metal satellite into orbit, and with this audacious act the program to explore space took an irreversible step forward. Stung by the public criticism of an American public who believed that their nation was the world leader in sophisticated technology, the United States government accelerated a space program which has been quietly progressing since 1946.

Despite a series of embarrassing malfunctions and a disastrous launch-pad fire that snuffed out the lives of three astronauts, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration fulfilled the prophecy of President John F. Kennedy, and on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took “one small step for a man, one large step for mankind” and left an indelible footprint on the lunar surface. The designs of the vehicles that have hurled Sputnik skywards, John Glenn into manned orbit, and Skylab into a relatively short-lived but exceptionally informative trip around the Earth have continued to mutate and transform as anticipated exploration of the worlds beyond our own becomes an ongoing reality. As the author says, “the search for beautiful islands in the dark sea of the solar system has endured for us as long as people have stood erect on earth.”

Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis are the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria of the 1980s. The sea, influenced by a multitude of objects and velocities, varies in colour from deathless black to bright orange, when viewed by the sailors. These crews, trained as experts in disciplines unimagined a half century ago, not only navigate these waters in search of new worlds but also continue to convert this limitless expanse into another tool of the planet Earth.

Joseph Allen is one of those singular crewman, and this book is his description of a few days on the job. Experiencing the lengthy and repetitive practice sessions, the pre-blast-off anticipation, the toils, tribulations and peculiarities of an occupation in zero gravity, and the return to Earth’s atmosphere in a fiery but surprisingly comfortable reentry helps the reader appreciate the motivation that redirected a potential physics teacher’s livelihood into the employ of NASA.

The text is surprisingly informative and reflects the elations and enthusiasm of the author. Highly readable and spartanly pragmatic, it is, however, merely the handmaiden for the photographs. These pictures are the heart and soul of this book, exquisitely clear, spectacularly composed, and so full of the elan of the Shuttle Program that I found myself repeatedly wishing I were twenty years younger, thirty pounds lighter, and eligible to participate in these voyages of discovery.