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Roberta Bondar talks about her space flight and the future of space exploration
- January 24, 2007 2:11 PM |
- By Your Voice
On Jan. 30, 1992, Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar returned to Earth aboard the space shuttle Discovery to successfully complete her mission and become the first Canadian woman in space.
Leading up to the 15th anniversary of her return, CBC.ca gave readers an opportunity to submit questions asking Dr. Bondar about her mission and Canada's place in space today. Her answers to many of the questions appear below. If your question was not answered or if you'd like more information about Roberta Bondar and space flight, visit her website at www.robertabondar.com.
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Comments (12)
Hello Dr. Bondar
Much is being made of Global Warming in the media these days. How can NASA best use the International Space Station and the visiting Scientists to best understand this problem and possibly come up with solutions to Global Warming issues?
Bondar: It's a complicated question. There are things in space that provide us with an ability to see what the human eye can't see, such as the ozone layer. A lot of people asked me what the ozone layer hole looks like but we can't see it, we measure it with instruments sensitive to different things than our eyes.
We are, with the limited technology we have, looking at how the Earth has changed and trying to develop an inventory of these images, but we've only been doing this for about 20 years so we're not in a position to really look at the history of the planet. There's no question we're at a warmer period now but I still think we don't have enough of an understanding of the complex mechanisms of the evolution of planet. Our science and understanding is very young.
We can try and monitor the planet as best we can but we do have to understand that our knowledge base has holes we're trying to fill. There are things we've done as humans that might be affecting things but whether they are solely responsible or are encouraging the changes we see, I don't think we have the answer to that. But that does not mean we should not be looking after the things we do to the environment.
Good morning Dr.Bondar
Are your photos available to see on-line? I would certainly love to see them. Will you be on the coast anytime in the near futur? If you are scheduled to come this way, I would be very interested to come and listen to you.
As a fellow Canadian, I am proud to have the possibility like this to be able to talk to you.
Wish you the best.
Sincerely
Paul Gann Prince George
Bondar: Yes, there's a gallery if you go to the photographer button [on my website]. And I may be out to Vancouver for an event for Alzheimer's awareness soon.
Dr. Bondar,
As an amateur astronomer, I have often asked myself which parts of the moon and Mars would I like to explore if I had a space vehicle that would take me there. For the moon, my choices would include Rupes Recta (the straight wall) and the crater Clavius. For Mars, my choices would include Valles Marineris (the Martian Grand Canyon) and Nix Olympica (the largest mountain in the solar system).
If you had the opportunity to visit features on the moon and Mars, which ones would you choose, first from a scenic viewpoint and secondly from a scientific viewpoint.
David Roles
Bondar: I think Candor Chasmata [a part of Valles Marineris] on Mars. It's a great big Grand Canyon equivalent on Mars except it goes [the distance] from Washington state to New York state so that would be absolutely phenomenal to look at. It would also be great to look at the poles, circling around over a period of a year to look at the changes without even being on the surface.
One of the things that intrigue me on the moon is Copernicus because we see that crater remarkably well in the sky.
But if I had my druthers I'd probably be interested in exploring the other, hidden side of the moon that doesn't face us. It's interesting because human beings have not been there and it has intrigued me since I was young.
We are a group of grade six students at Gander Academy in Gander, Newfoundland. We are studying space in science right now. We have the following questions for you! Thanks for reading our questionns! We look forward to hearing from you!
How would you best describe what the launch was like? A rollar coaster?
Bondar: It was like being in an elevator and going from the basement to the penthouse in two seconds.
Were you ever scared?
Bondar: In the flight I wasn't because as a professional there was no room in my job to be scared. But one is always wary on an instrument that has such firepower. So during the launch would be the time people think about their lives more than any other time.
Is it comfy in the space shuttle?
Bondar: It's comfy because you float and at night when you sleep you can pretend you're on your side your back or your stomach, because you don't know. And you don't have pressure sores because there is no gravity.
What was your Favorite "food" to eat?
Bondar: I couldn't get enough of powdered skim milk and freeze dried strawberries with cereal.
How would you describe looking down on Earth?
Bondar: It was like a canopy of three-dimensional turquoise that felt like it was vibrating, like it was alive. I felt like I could take my hand and put it right through the canopy and see my hand going towards the planet. It was a very three-dimensional reality. It was not like looking at a television and seeing this line called the atmosphere.
How would you describe experiencing no gravity?
Bondar: It’s a release of weight that's hard to describe. Gravity is underrated because you lose your pens everywhere without it.
Would you go again and why?
Bondar: Only to the moon or to Mars. To set foot on another terrestrial body would be the kind of thing like Rip Foster's Assignment in Space, something I used to read as a kid, it would be that coming to life for me.
What is one thing you wish the Canadian public truly understood about planet Earth?
Bondar: That it is evolving, that we're not living on a shelf that's at the end of its evolution. People mistake this all the time. It's why change is such an interesting thing for corporations and people talk about it like, wow, we've discovered this.
Well, the planet's been evolving at a different pace and when the pace picks up we see something in our lifetime that's different, we get a little shocked by it. The planet has never been a stable platform.
Stephen Hawking recently stated that for the human race to survive, we need to start looking at colonizing other places within the solar system. How close are we to accomplishing that goal?
Bondar: I don't think we're close at all. We're still making baby steps, we haven't even visited a planet so far. There's really nothing in our solar system [that is] the equivalent to what we have unless they find water on one of the moons around Saturn.
That's the critical thing for us: we have to have water and we have to have fuel. As for Mars, we can't eat Martian soil and we can't breathe the Martian air right now because it's carbon dioxide and although there is indirect evidence of water on Mars we need to have a fair bit of it, otherwise we'll be carrying all the stuff with us.
So the ideal planet would have all of these things and we haven't found that yet.
Hi, Miss Bondar
Last year I did a project on you, we had to pick a famous person, and I chose you for various reasons: you were Canadian, a female, and an astronaut. I did a lot of research. I know you came to my school, Mentor College a couple of years ago, I know this is asking too much, but I would love you to come again, especially to my class-room 240, Mrs Toope, and ask for Kristin. Even if you can't do this, could you answer a question. Is it true that you took girl guide cookies and maple candies on board with you?Thanks, a lot, sincerely, Kristin
Bondar: Yes, I had the chocolate and vanilla cookies. I also took up my Brownie wings and a pin from the Canada Wide Science Fair, a lot of things that were part of my journey.
I am a grade 6 student and I am doing a project about you, I will like to know what were your favourite experiments while in space?
Bondar: I had so many favourites, including one I was doing on my own that looked at blood flow in the brain.
It is very difficult to do experiments in space, because it was difficult to get the equipment on board to pass all the safety regulations and it was difficult to get enough people on board to participate because everyone was so busy.
So I was very fortunate to have a couple of crew members to be my guinea pigs on board. That was a favourite experiment of mine because it did provide insight into how the blood flow of the brain changed from on Earth.
With so much space junk now in orbit. Is it not becoming more dangerous for space flight?
Bondar: There is stuff that goes up but most of it is so low it comes back and gets burned up in atmosphere. But that doesn't mean people shouldn't be concerned with what is floating there. Even a paint fleck can hit harder than a bullet if you hit it on the way up.
Dr. Bondar,
When you look out into space, away from the earth, what do you see? Do you see points of light in every direction? Can you discern up and down? When you look down (I suppose this would be really interesting for a person performing a space walk) how does it feel to be standing on nothing?
Bondar: First of all, the stars do not twinkle because we're above the atmosphere so they are basically holes of dead light and lots of them. Once one gets dark-adapted in space there are kajillions of stars.
And all this light is so far away that some of the sources of the light may already have vanished because it takes of tens of thousands maybe millions of years for that light to reach us. I felt I was in a futuristic vehicle very much in the present but looking at light from the past, a canvas of the sky representing the past life of the universe.
Are you concerned that space may become weaponized in the near future?
Bondar: Escalation of war on or above the planet is something that is unfortunately part of certain aspects of human beings, which I decry. I don't believe in weaponization anywhere.
The problem with above-the-Earth weapons is that they are out of the hands of people to control. There are just a few nations with the ability to wreak havoc on areas of the planet that are totally innocent.
What do you have to tell my 11-year-old daughter who also wants to be an astronaut one day (e.g. What does she need to do to prepare herself, what does it take etc)? Thank you very much
Bondar: The answer is education. To be a government-hired astronaut you have to be fit. People with heart failure aren't going to be going up because their condition is going to get worse. So there's a medical component.
Then there is the question of education, and my feeling is the broader the education the better, so this includes being able to speak more than two languages, the ability to be able to put things back together whether you're a surgeon or engineer; an understanding of the principles of critical thinking and a good grounding in science. It also really helps if you can get along with other people.
I don't think it's necessary to be a pilot, I don't think its necessary to parachute, those things are icing on the cake: they just prove you're not claustrophobic and not afraid of heights.