Can we really be Astronauts?
I am sure that every people that asked us about our beloved course have gotten unto the sentence, “so you want to be an astronaut, eh?”. Do we really be? I think no one would reject a chance to be flown to space, to experience weightlessness, to see the Earth’s curvature, to experience 16 sunrise and sunset in a day. But being an astronaut does not end there. Even before they wake up, they already have a pre-planned day, in which, they have to accomplish it accordingly, just thinking you are a robot seamlessly doing everything as planned. But miseries just don’t end on a pre-planned day, or a very weird experience of being called by nature, a very difficult sleep position just because you can’t lie down. Before imagining all of those miseries above us is a bit, fast-forwarding.
All starts in the institution where you belong, a school. All those qualified to become astronaut don’t just graduate from an undergraduate course of any kind, they are sort of, special. An aspiring astronaut should have a Pilot’s degree, which in any case, is not that cheap. An estimated cost of 2 million pesos a year is not that cheap eh? But don’t worry, there is always an alternative, go government (just like any other State University). Having a Pilot’s degree is almost free, unfortunately, you would have to undergo a rigorous training to be an air force in our local Military Academy. To add to the good news, becoming an Air Force Pilot could fast track your dreams, because qualified astronauts are Military Pilots and Engineers in their respective country. Too bad for you, Filipino dreamer, one of the task they may assign to you is to fight communist or terrorists in which, you can end your life dreaming on the battlefield.
Assumingly you had your Pilot’s degree, up next to your checklist is a work experience in any Space Agency. Surely, you can’t qualify on that here in our country, because first of all, we lack a space agency. But don’t worry, even if you could not work on NASA, there are always alternatives. You could go to Russia, Japan, or if you have no choice, China. But unfortunately, they could not promote you to become an astronaut that easy. You still need to prove yourself on your chosen agency, or they could just let you rot on your Earth job forever.
Let us say you have been a very lucky person to be noticed by your agency, they have given you a once in a lifetime chance to be one of world’s elite group of persons. Unfortunately for you, again, it is like going to school again! But this time, it would be your physical training. You would be undergoing extreme G tests, centrifuge test, neutral buoyancy test, and an isolation test wherein you would be locked on a room that has a rotating disk with colorful spots to test you of possible space sickness phenomena. Sounds like the interrogation procedure done to high profile criminals, is it?
Well, imagine you can un-read and un-remember all that I have told. GOOD NEWS! You can go to space, and do experiments you are compatible and comfortable, plus, you would not need to undergo training before the flight, just some medical test and your good to go! All this for just 860 million pesos, I repeat, 860 million pesos only! Oh well, can we be really astronauts? Just always don’t forget, even we haven’t gotten into space, we are actually space travelers, circling the Sun at 30 km/s, while the whole solar system circles the Milky Way at 217 km/s, on a large blue spacecraft that has everything we need. Ahoy fellow space mates, welcome to SpaceShip Earth.
