[BlindTlk] No More Mixed Messages, Was Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Who can be an astronaut? Accessible spaceships may be the future - Inverse

Tue Aug 3 03:05:41 UTC 2021

Thankfully we hear a little less of that nowadays. Tech has opened things up. A lot of Federationists paved the way for what has and will come.

I don’t doubt there have been peoole who are negative in the NFB. You can’t regulate everything Peter. We have to help folks steer clear of them. I am sure some had bad experiences or nobody bothered to back them up so they gave into negatibity. Not all are as strong emotionally or able tobe encouragers.  The one person in all of the NFB that encouraged me and I could call friend wasKathy. Sebranek whom passed too long ago. She never knew how much the letters she wrote helped. All of the manypromises to help and just her. Iur biggerproblemis meeting people at conventions After the newness of a person wears off people go back to their cliques and assume somebody else took over the fulfillment of promises. We are complacent and leave our mentoring to the younger generations rather than mentoring people who are changing from current one career to the other or those who lose vision later in life. That’s a different mixed message than what you’re talking about, but just as hurtful. We can’t just assume someone else is going to pick up the slack. We can’t assume that the only people that are important are the seniors and the youth//Young adults. If all these VR programs aren’t doing people justice then we need to support people from birth to death yourselves.

Ericka Nelson

> On Aug 2, 2021, at 9:42 PM, Peter Donahue via BlindTlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Jody,
> 
> And limitations imposed on the blind by members of the NFB. I hope things are clearer now. We believe strongly in encouraging blind children and adults to reach for the skies. When they share what they want to do with their lives we should never on the one hand tell them they can live the life they want and when they share their aspirations with parents, and other federationists turn around and say that this or that career is undoable by the blind, it's unrealistic, and the rest. We hear enough of that from the public. We don't need to hear it from those telling us we can live the life we want once we decide on a direction for our future.
> 
>    An example from my childhood should make things clearer. Mom and dad used to tell me the importance of making my own way in the World. This involved deciding upon a career and eventually findingwork. When I shared with them possible career objectives I would be met with statements like "Oh I doubt it" or "Blind people can't do that." If this isn't mixed messaging I don't know what is! In otherwords don't preach to me about the importance of having a life goal then turning around and shooting down any and every idea I come up with. Sorry to say it but we've witnessed this exact behavior among federationists at various NFB gatherings. I hope this further clarifies what I said in previous posts. All the best.
> 
> Peter Donahue
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindTlk <blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Judy Jones via BlindTlk
> Sent: Monday, August 2, 2021 5:25 PM
> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List' <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Judy Jones <sonshines59 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [BlindTlk] No More Mixed Messages, Was Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Who can be an astronaut? Accessible spaceships may be the future - Inverse
> 
> Hear hear!
> 
> Judy
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindTlk <blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jody ianuzzi via BlindTlk
> Sent: Monday, August 2, 2021 3:15 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Jody ianuzzi <thunderwalker321 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [BlindTlk] No More Mixed Messages, Was Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Who can be an astronaut? Accessible spaceships may be the future - Inverse
> 
> Hello Peter,
> 
> I don’t think it’s feeding a child junk when you teach them to reach for the stars!  If you don’t dream then you’re stuck with self imposed limitations and low expectations and that’s exactly what we’re all trying to work towards eliminating! 
> Oo
> 
> 
> JODY
> 
> To Boldly Go  🖖🏻 
> 
> 
> thunderwalker321 at gmail.com 
> 
> "What's within you is stronger than what's in your way."  NO BARRIERS  Erik Weihenmayer
> 
>> On Aug 2, 2021, at 3:15 PM, Peter Donahue via BlindTlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Good afternoon everyone,
>> 
>>   Out of respect for budding blind autonomous vehicle owners and blind astronauts dream stealing on these lists needs to stop. I as the parent of a blind child would not take kindly to someone on one of these lists feeding any blind child or adult the kind of junk like what appears below. People come to the NFB to hear a positive philosophy of blindness and to learn they can live the lives they want and that blindness need not stop them. We have been to local chapter meetings and other NFB gatherings and heard so-called "Federationists" dash the dreams and hopes of members that came to the organization for help. There's a term for that. It's called "Mixed messaging" and shouldn't be tolerated by anyone in the organization at any level. When we attend NFB activities the message had better be the same. Statements like Brian's have no place in this organization even if they are personal opinions. Before airing such opinions consider their impact on those wanting to blaze new trails for all blind people. It would be nice if mixed messaging during NFB events would be addressed in the code of conduct. This is a reason why we're happy to be members at large. We've observed too much mixed messaging in the organization and won't tolerate it in our presence!
>> 
>> Peter Donahue
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: BlindTlk <blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Bryan Schulz 
>> via BlindTlk
>> Sent: Monday, August 2, 2021 12:08 PM
>> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List' <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Bryan Schulz <b.schulz at sbcglobal.net>
>> Subject: Re: [BlindTlk] Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Who can be an 
>> astronaut? Accessible spaceships may be the future - Inverse
>> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> Yea, just right around the corner like the nfb car.
>> Bryan
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: BlindTlk <blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ericka via 
>> BlindTlk
>> Sent: Monday, August 2, 2021 9:40 AM
>> To: Blind Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>; Nfb Wisconsin 
>> <nfbwnews at googlegroups.com>; NFBDaneCounty at groups.io
>> Cc: Ericka <dotwriter1 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [BlindTlk] Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Who can be an 
>> astronaut? Accessible spaceships may be the future - Inverse
>> 
>> Thought this was just plain cool!
>> 
>> Ericka Nelson
>> 
>> Begin forwarded message:
>> 
>>> From: David Goldfield <david.goldfield at outlook.com>
>>> Date: July 31, 2021 at 10:27:25 AM CDT
>>> To: tech-vi at groups.io
>>> Subject: [tech-vi Announce List] Who can be an astronaut? Accessible 
>>> spaceships may be the future - Inverse
>>> Reply-To: tech-vi at groups.io
>>> 
>>> 
>>> "Accessibility" - Google News - Thursday, July 29, 2021 at 2:07 PM
>>> 
>>> Who can be an astronaut? Accessible spaceships may be the future - 
>>> Inverse
>>> 
>>> Betsy Furler describes the idea of astronauts with disabilities as a dream come true.
>>> 
>>> “Imagine you are a child with a disability, and all of a sudden you see, ‘Oh, I could be an astronaut,’” Furler tells Inverse. “What a boost in your confidence and leveling of the playing field just with what your dreams can be.”
>>> 
>>> Furler is an accessibility consultant who advocates for the inclusion of people with disabilities. Her reaction is appropriate, given the response to an announcement made by the European Space Agency earlier this year.
>>> 
>>> In February, the ESA sent out an unprecedented call for its next generation of astronauts. The group would include people with physical disabilities that would have otherwise excluded them from the chance to explore the cosmos.
>>> 
>>> Less than six months later, the space agency has received about 250 applications.
>>> 
>>> The ESA’s call was done in parallel with the Parastronaut Fly Feasibility Project to identify what needs to be done to accommodate the astronauts for upcoming missions.
>>> 
>>> Since this has never been done before, there are currently a lot of unknowns.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Astronauts undergo underwater training for Extravehicular Activities, 
>>> where they do handy-work outside of the International Space Station.ESA Lucy Van Der Tas, ESA’s head of talent acquisition, tells Inverse the agency is pre-screening its applications and that “diversity is very much in our DNA.”
>>> 
>>> “We feel it's the right thing to do; we wish to be able to include and represent all facets of society,” Van Der Tas says.
>>> 
>>> From an innovation perspective, ESA also felt that this was a necessary move.
>>> 
>>> A key enabler for innovation
>>> 
>>> “Diversity is a key enabler for innovation, and the number of people who go up into space that we can collect biodata on is pretty limited,” Van Der Tas says.
>>> 
>>> From the hundreds of people who have gone to space in the past few years, the space agency conducts different tests to see the effect of space travel and microgravity on the human body. The results showed that people’s bodies react differently to the space environment.
>>> 
>>> ESA feels a need to include a diverse group of people to conduct these types of experiments.
>>> 
>>> “We feel very strongly about this. There’s a sort of an emotional reaction to it,” Van Der Tas says. “But there's also some very good key and hard scientific reasons for doing it.”
>>> 
>>> Space agencies like NASA and ESA typically send out a call for astronauts every few years.
>>> 
>>> The first astronauts were military personnel with experience flying jet aircraft and had to be shorter than 5 feet 11 inches to fit in the spacecraft.
>>> 
>>> Since then, the qualifications for astronauts have expanded to include a more diverse range of people. But space still faces a severe diversity problem with the majority of astronauts being white, male, and having a military background.
>>> 
>>> Of the 562 people who have flown to space, just 65 have been women.
>>> 
>>> Applicants generally have to have a degree in science, technology, mathematics, or engineering (STEM).
>>> 
>>> There are additional physical requirements such as near 20/20 vision, blood pressure lower than 140/90, and a height between 62 and 75 inches.
>>> 
>>> But people with physical disabilities were never allowed to make the cut.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet during his spacewalk training at NASA’s 
>>> Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, USA.ESA The last time ESA put out a call for astronaut applications was more than ten years ago, and it received 8,413 applicants. That pool produced a total of six astronauts for the class of 2009.
>>> 
>>> According to ESA, this year, the number of applicants more than doubled to 22,589 applicants, and 24 percent of the applicants are women. The space agency is looking for four to six astronauts and one astronaut with a physical disability and a reserve of about 20 astronauts.
>>> 
>>> “I’d like to see more, but this is already a big signal that [becoming an] astronaut is no longer the hardcore male domain,” Van Der Tas says.
>>> 
>>> “Spaceflight is quite dangerous”
>>> 
>>> Astronauts perform various physical activities such as walking, running, crouching, crawling, and swimming. Flight training also includes undergoing conditions in a microgravity environment.
>>> 
>>> Depending on the type of disability, space agencies would have to find alternative ways to make those physical activities more accessible for astronauts with disabilities.
>>> 
>>> As of now, the agency is still unsure what kind of technical adaptations would need to take place to allow for flight, but they’re hoping to learn more through the feasibility project. Part of the project is consulting with spaceflight providers to analyze what measurements need to be made.
>>> 
>>> The physical requirements for those getting onboard spacecraft have pretty much remained the same over the years, with a slight increase of the height limit to include taller people. As a result, spacecraft have been modified to accommodate that height difference.
>>> 
>>> For this particular project, ESA will include astronauts below 130 centimeters (4’2”) in height. Therefore, they may be adjusting the size of the spacecraft. Another adjustment would consist of the way astronauts anchor themselves while in microgravity.
>>> 
>>> Today, astronauts use their feet to anchor themselves, but the space agency is looking into other ways for people to keep steady during spaceflight.
>>> 
>>> “Spaceflight is quite dangerous, and we want to make it as safe as possible,” Van Der Tas says.
>>> 
>>> The project also does not guarantee flight for the applicants seeing as how there are still many unknowns, but it does aim for future inclusion of astronauts with disabilities in the space program.
>>> 
>>> “Well, fingers crossed that the person who is selected to support it actually gets to fly because this is really what it's all about,” Van Der Tas says. “At this point, although we've done some preparatory work, we don't actually know how long it's going to take to make these adjustments.”
>>> 
>>> But for Van Der Tas and others who are part of the space industry, it’s about seeing a more inclusive future of space travel.
>>> 
>>> “I’m a bit of a sci-fi nerd, so I would like spaceflight to become part of our daily lives,” Van Der Tas says. “I’d like to see it accessible to far more people.”
>>> 
>>> Furler would like to see more awareness of the value that people with disabilities can bring.
>>> 
>>> “We're all starting to embrace more differences, and we need to start embracing differences in the way we do things, whether that's the way we think or the way we move through the world,” Furler says.
>>> 
>>> https://www.inverse.com/science/being-astronaut-is-no-longer-a-hardco
>>> r
>>> e-male-domain
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>    David Goldfield
>>> Assistive Technology Specialist
>>> 
>>> Feel free to visit my Web site
>>> WWW.DavidGoldfield.info
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