syscom3
Pacific Historian
This is interesting.
The Space Review: The losing hand: tradition and superstition in spaceflight
The losing hand: tradition and superstition in spaceflight
by Alan Murphy
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It may seem incredible that in the world of manned spaceflight, of high-tech mission control and protocols for everything, there is a body of folklore, superstition, and tradition that is followed by each and every crewmember as if performing a sacred rite. Invocation of spirits of the dead, holy water, lucky card games, talismans, ritual words to be uttered at certain times—it reads like the initiation into some secret lodge.
But perhaps it isn't as incredible as it first appears. Consider the risk: of the 483 people who have been launched into space as of March 2008, 18 have died during the mission. This mortality rate.................
(click the link to read the rest)
The Space Review: The losing hand: tradition and superstition in spaceflight
The losing hand: tradition and superstition in spaceflight
by Alan Murphy
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It may seem incredible that in the world of manned spaceflight, of high-tech mission control and protocols for everything, there is a body of folklore, superstition, and tradition that is followed by each and every crewmember as if performing a sacred rite. Invocation of spirits of the dead, holy water, lucky card games, talismans, ritual words to be uttered at certain times—it reads like the initiation into some secret lodge.
But perhaps it isn't as incredible as it first appears. Consider the risk: of the 483 people who have been launched into space as of March 2008, 18 have died during the mission. This mortality rate.................
(click the link to read the rest)
