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

[Bryan Schulz]

Hi,

Just because I don't follow the crowd to the mess hall at chow time doesn't mean I'm miserable!
B


-----Original Message-----
From: BlindTlk <blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of David Andrews via BlindTlk
Sent: Monday, August 2, 2021 7:54 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: David Andrews <dandrews920 at comcast.net>
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

Bryan, over the years, you have posted countless negative messages on this, and other nfbnet.org lists. I understand that things haven't always gone the way you would have liked, but part of the reason you are so miserable is that you are so miserable!

Dave

At 02:26 PM 8/2/2021, you wrote:
>Hi, You have stirred the pot many times in the last six months and 
>you're going to blast me for this one comment?? Unless people wanting 
>to become autonomous vehicle owners have a few million dollars laying 
>around, they aren't going to be autonomous vehicle owners plus we're 
>not even talking about having insurance or a drivers license yet! Bryan 
>-----Original Message-----
>From: BlindTlk <blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Peter Donahue 
>via BlindTlk Sent:
>Monday, August 2, 2021 2:14 PM To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List' 
><blindtlk at nfbnet.org> Cc:
>pmdonahue2 at gmail.com Subject: [BlindTlk] No More Mixed Messages, Was 
>Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Who can be an astronaut? Accessible 
>spaceships may be the future - Inverse 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-hardcor
> > e-male-domain > > > >      David Goldfield > 
>Assistive Technology Specialist > > Feel free to visit my Web site > 
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