The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Marketplace
    • Autos
    • Jobs
    • Real Estate
    • Classifieds
    • Shopping
    • Dining Out
    • Education
    • TWT Store
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • Sports

    Offense erupts in Caps' victory

  • National

    KUHNHENN: 10% jobless rate is Obama's troubling world

  • World

    Joint forces probe NATO air strike

  • National

    Fla. shooting suspect 'mentally ill'

  • Business

    Parents buying homes for kids at college

  • Politics

    Looking to 2010, GOP focuses on fiscal restraint

  • National

    Sunshine vitamin stirs new debate

Saturday, August 30, 2003

Outlining myriad hazards of space travel, starting with zero gravity

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • Iran frees journalists swept up in protests
  • Fla. shooting suspect 'mentally ill'
  • Afghan ministry: NATO strike kills Afghan forces
  • Obama praises those who ended Fort Hood violence

By

LEAVING EARTH: SPACE STATIONS, RIVAL SUPERPOWERS AND THE QUEST FOR INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL

By Robert Zimmerman

ISI, $27.95, 544 pages

REVIEWED BY CHARLES ROUSSEAUX

Every spectacular spacecraft failure proves the same thing: Space travel is a tough, expensive, risky business. Computers crash, rockets explode, probes miss planets and satellites smack into the atmosphere. And then there are human tragedies -- the Challengers, the Columbias.

Yet for every glitch, space travelers find a fix, for every disaster, they find a renewed determination. Sometimes the solutions happen in mid-mission, sometimes, they aren't found until the accident review board finishes its work.

Space enthusiasts worried about where the manned space program is headed will take some heart from reading Robert Zimmerman's "Leaving Earth: Space Stations Rival Superpowers and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel," in which the author tells how determined men and women have mastered, if not totally overcome, many of the hazards of living in space.

Mr. Zimmerman shows that space, for all it's promise, can be a Murphy's Law paradise, in which everything goes wrong, often at exactly the most critical moment. There are the physical difficulties -- the hostile environment outside and the constricted spaces inside space stations. There are physiological challenges of space sickness and bone loss, and the psychological challenges of boredom and claustrophobia and of mismatched teammates stuck together in inescapably tight quarters. Then there are the technical difficulties -- balky computers, leaky space suits, tools that don't work well in zero gravity. Perhaps the greatest problems are created by politicians and space bureaucracies.

12Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. Sniper's ex-wife speaks out on abuse
  3. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  4. Inside the Beltway
  5. Armored troop carriers called unsafe for duty
More Top Stories »
  1. 13 killed at Texas army base; psychiatrist accused
  2. Aborted fetus cells used in beauty creams
  3. Army: Suspect said 'Allahu Akbar!' before shooting
  4. Can the 10th Amendment save us?
  5. 60 Plus leader: Senior 'tsunami' coming

Most Shared

  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. Aborted fetus cells used in beauty creams
  3. Making fun of faith
  4. EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism
  5. Obama's new world order
More Top Stories »
  1. Martial mythologies
  2. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  3. EDITORIAL: The grass roots keep growing
  4. Parents buying homes for kids at college
  5. NSA surveillance -- of you?

Most Commented

  1. 13 killed at Texas army base; psychiatrist accused
  2. Army: Suspect said 'Allahu Akbar!' before shooting
  3. Muslims stunned by Fort Hood shooting
  4. Furious scramble for health reform support
  5. 'Gentle' Army psychiatrist displayed worrisome signs
More Top Stories »
  1. 60 Plus leader: Senior 'tsunami' coming
  2. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  3. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  4. Panel OKs climate-change bill without GOP
  5. House leaders race to finish health care bill

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • POTUS Notes

    New Dem talking point on Obama approval doesn't wash

  • The Back Story

    12 arrested at Pelosi's office

  • Belief Blog

    Washington goes Greek this week

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Redskins 360

    He Said, She Said Week 9

  • Tara's Two Cents

    On their way to summer vacation..

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.