I've heard lately that the astronauts (for NASA at least) have been going crazy. That they have been drinking and flying, that they have sought to vanquish their romantic rivals, that they have been ignoring their doctor's orders. I wonder what this means for the rest of us, for the future of humanity. Is this one of those moments in my life that ushers in a revelation? Like when I realized love was and yet was not at all like the romance described in popular songs? Are all of the science fiction stories I have ever read totally off the mark? Does space travel make people crazy? Or do those that engage in space travel have to be somewhat crazy? Up until recently I believed that space travel was a noble endeavor undertaken by the most sober, fastidious, scientific and respectable of the Earth's population. They are the people who see the risk and take it to better humanity. Yet now, I have my doubts. I'm not saying that I feel that the astronauts are bad people, far from it, but I do wonder if something more sinister is lurking behind the veil of space travel. Is it possible that these intrepid explorers are the resolved and conservative individuals my dreams would have them to be when they first board the space shuttle but then with their travels into the outer realms of human experience off the nurturing surface of their home world the undergo a psychological change that makes them more wild, more weirded than they originally would be had they not broken through the atmosphere? Is there something more to the magic of the Earth than what science can quantify? Are all the hopes of colonizing and terraforming other planets to suit our needs for survival being debunked by the irrational behavior of our nation's heroes? Are we actually not to see these intergalactic visions come to pass?
