Imagine sitting strapped in a cabin which can barely fit three people. A huge pile of solid rocket fuel containers are below you. Basically you are sitting on the top of a bomb which can blow you to pieces due to just a tiny malfunction. Even if you do launch off safely, your life is at the mercy of a machine. Terrified?
This is the reality of an astronaut every time a spaceship is about to lift off. The whole idea of spaceflight seems inherently so risky. A small spark, a tiny rip in a wire could turn a journey of a lifetime into a nightmare. The images of the smoky flumes of the Challenger shuttle and the visions of the startling, fiery bursts of light of the disintegrating Colombia are still fresh in people’s minds. How do astronauts deal with this kind of fear?
It turns out that the ways astronauts use to deal with fear holds very important lessons for how we can counter fear and insecurity in our daily lives. Nobody describes this better than Chris Hadfield, a senior Canadian astronaut, in his book “An astronaut’s guide to life on earth”. Hadfield, a former commander of the International Space station, says the way to combat this is to embrace the power of negative thinking. Seems strange? Read on..
All that can go bad, will go bad
This is the theme of how astronauts are trained. Each and every part of the proposed space flight is analyzed for things that could go awry. State-of-the-art simulators are built and the astronauts are trained in them until all the operations become second nature to them. An astronaut is not just someone who undergoes a driving test and is a given the license to fly.
Getting the privilege to go into space requires many years of dedication towards learning every possible thing about spaceflights. For an astronaut, skipping a chapter doesn’t mean just a loss of few marks in a test. That chapter might prove to be the difference between life and death in a bad situation in space.
“People tend to think astronauts have the courage of a hero- or maybe the emotional range of a robot.” says Hadfield, “But in order to stay calm in a high stress, high stakes situation, all you need is knowledge. Sure, you might feel a little nervous or stressed out. But what you won’t feel is terrified.”
Simulating Death
This is one of the stranger components of astronaut training. ‘Death Sims’ is what they call it. Before every human spaceflight, NASA performs some incredibly accurate drills for the possible death of an astronaut. The sim might start with a simple scenario – “ Chris is fatally injured in orbit’. On this the whole of the NASA disaster team revs into action – the ground crew, the medical staff, the program administrators… even the media relations people. Every step from how to inform the family, how to arrange for the safe return of the astronaut to Earth and also how to handle the PR situation that is bound to arise.
What do they gain by this ? Well, strange as it may seem, this drill actually gives reassurance to astronauts that things will be managed just fine in case of their deaths. Everyone always has this thing at the back of their minds. What will happen to my family in case I die ? This death sim gives them that extra boost of confidence when they finally step into the rocket ; a moment which might be the last time they see their families.
Power of negative thinking
“You have to walk around perpetually braced for disaster; convinced that the sky is about to fall” says Hadfield. If he walks into a crowded elevator, he will think about what can be done if the elevator gets stuck. When he puts on the seat belt of a plane, he will wonder what to do in case of a crisis.
This is not being pessimistic. Rather by anticipating all possible obstacles,we can be more upbeat to face anything which life throws at us. We know what we have to do if things go wrong. That’s the power of negative thinking.
Alpha and Omega ! 