3 Ways You Should Think Like An Astronaut
- Feb 12, 2015
- 4 min read
A few years ago in Windsor Ontario the organizers of an airshow tried to get Elton John to do a little promotion for the airshow. Elton John was in the city playing a consort at the same time
Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian astronaut to space walk and to command the International Space Station, was taking part in the airshow at the time. He figured it was unlikely that an international celebrity would interrupt his show just to promote a regional airshow.
But Hadfield, who is perhaps most famous for his Space Oddity Youtube video, thinks in improbabilities; after all, he grew up wanting to be an astronaut at the time the only astronauts were American or Russian and there had never been a Canadian in space.
Hadfield decided not only would he try to get Elton John to promote the airshow but that he would try to get up on stage and perform a duet with the singer.
The only song Hadfield could imagine singing was Rocket Man and so he practiced day and night until he felt confident enough to be on stage in front of thousands of people.
Be Prepared
An astronaut spends hundreds – if not thousands of hours – preparing for an event that is unlikely to happen.
There are many astronauts that don’t get to fulfill their life-long dream of going into space. No matter how much they train or how skilled they are, there are often circumstances beyond their control that will prevent them from going into space.
When the Challenger exploded in 1986 all flights were grounded until NASA could discover what went wrong. They also had to regain public confidence during a time when many people were questioning the validity of spending so much money on space exploration.
When NASA retired the Space shuttle in 2011, the only way to get into space was the Russian Soyuz which is a much smaller spaceship. Astronauts that were too tall could no longer go into space. To most us it would be a crushing blow, but these are the realities that astronauts face and they must be mentally prepared for it.
Astronauts train tirelessly before they are slotted into a space mission. A lot of the training can get monotonous which includes a lot of book learning and tests.
Astronauts are often sent to far away cities, sometimes to countries they don’t’ speak the language. They have to practice over and over again for scenarios that will probably never occur. In order to be successful, the astronaut has to be able to enjoy his or her path, otherwise they’ll never make it. They will burn out.
They need to enjoy the challenge, enjoy learning and perfecting their mental and physical abilities.
Master Your Fear
When something goes wrong in space, there is nobody there to rescue you. You need to rely on your own training and your own abilities to get you through the situation.
Astronauts know that any moment something can go wrong, even the tiniest thing can lead to lives being lost. They must master their own fear to perform at the highest level.
At NASA, everything is put under the microscope. There is no hiding mistakes. Everything is catalogued and evaluated. Nothing is swept under the rug. You must except your failures and learn from them. Not be defensive or egotistical.
When there is a simulation there are at least a dozen of the brightest minds watching, looking out for flaws or a better way of doing something.
The flight director takes notes and then reviews everything in a debriefing. Then everybody else will comment on what was successful and what wasn’t.
Never Stop Learning
The whole point of space exploration is to expand our horizons. Nobody is born a natural astronaut. Being the smartest person around won’t get you into space. You need to have the ability to adapt to changes and new environments.
The skills needed are unlike any other job and therefore they all need to be learned. NASA used to want pilots to fly into space but the roll of the astronaut has changed.
Astronauts now stay up in space for much longer, doing a variety of tasks so now they need to know how to be geologists, doctors, diplomats, dentists, engineers, and psychologists.
Chris Hadfield got to the Elton John concert but didn’t get anywhere near the stage. Were his hours and hours of practice, ready to play Rocket Man wasted then? Hadfield doesn’t think so.
Practicing so hard for an unlikely even seems ridiculous to most of us but it’s what separates the achievers from the pack.
It’s Chris Hadfield’s way of life and how he approaches everything. He visualizes the possible challenges in front of him and makes sure he’s prepared for every scenario. It’s how he got into space and how he achieves his dreams.
Joel Mark Harris is a Canadian writer, producer and journalist. (@joelmarkharris) He is the proud founder of Scene2Studio and you can download for FREE his award-winning thriller novel A Thousand Bayonets HERE
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