I don’t remember where I was when we first put a man on the moon. What I
remember is that I made a point not to be near a television or radio. I was
a dumb little rebel back then. If normal people were into something, then I
had to not be into it. Funny enough, I stayed away from drugs and alcohol
for this reason, which is probably the only good choice I made in my youth.
Normal people cared about grades, and finding good jobs. It was a long
phase, but I finally grew out of it. I still didn’t care about things like
the moon landing, but I wish I hadn’t been so eager to avoid it. Of course,
I would later be able to watch the footage—and more recently at my
leisure—but it just isn’t the same as knowing that millions of others were
watching the same thing. Then again, everything I did, including not
watching the landing, has led me to this moment. Because of this thing my
niece told me about called the Butterfly Effect, I may never have met my
future wife, nor had the children that we had, and without them, I wouldn’t
have met my first grandchild. She was born in the most unusual
circumstances, but not by accident. You see, even before people went to the
moon, humans have been trying to live up in outer space. At first just for a
little bit, but further missions increased the duration. Part of this
research was to study other things about low gravity, but a not
insignificant amount of it was to test an organism’s ability to survive
under such conditions. Obviously no creature evolved to live this way. We
were all designed by nature to exist in this exact atmosphere, with this
amount of surface gravity. Some are better in water, and some can even fly,
but we’re all the same in this regard. If we want to visit other planets,
and other star systems, however, we have to figure out how to adapt. We have
to learn.
As of yet, scientists don’t really know what any of that looks like. They
have some ideas, but these ideas have to be tested first. We can’t just fly
up here, and hope it works out. Can it be done in the first place?
What do we have to do to prepare ourselves? Should we create certain
habitats, or is there a way to modify our bodies to cope with the atrophy,
and other health problems that come with low gravity? All of these questions
are being studied on a new mission that my family and I were selected for.
Most astronauts have to go through a series of tests, and be in peak
physical condition, in order to qualify for even the most modest of
missions. Not us. The whole point is to understand how normal people handle
low-g. We were each chosen for a number of reasons, but my daughter, her
husband, and I are up here to test family dynamics, along with a few other
things. For instance, it’s important that scientists know whether people can
have children in space, and now we know they can, but what will her
physiology be like? Will she be able to go back down to Earth after this
mission is over? If so, will she have to acclimate in a certain way? This is
a dangerous mission, but we all agreed to it, and I’m proud to be a part of
something so vital to the future of our species. Not every person, and not
every country, is on board with this, but my nation has a space program of
their own, and they didn’t need anyone else’s permission. As morbid as it
may sound—and as unethical as you may consider it—our team believes it’s
important for us to get these answers under controlled experiments, rather
than experience them as surprises. Until today, many have died in the
attempt to travel to space, but I’m honored to be the first ever to
pass on while already all the way up here. The last thing I see will be a
great thing of beauty.
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