cover of episode The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff

2023/7/21
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Andrew Leland
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Lulu Miller
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Sheri Wells-Jensen
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Andrew Leland: 本文作者作为一名视力逐渐下降的记者，亲身参与了旨在将残疾人送入太空的实验项目AstroAccess。他详细记录了整个过程，从项目发起到失重飞行，并分享了他对残疾、社会认知以及太空探索的深刻思考。他观察到，尽管失重飞行证明了残疾人在太空环境中具有适应性和潜力，但社会对残疾人的偏见依然存在，这反映在日常生活中，例如在机场仍然会受到不必要的帮助。 Lulu Miller: 作为节目的主持人，Lulu Miller 参与了对Andrew Leland 的采访，引导他讲述了整个实验的背景、过程和结果，并探讨了社会对残疾人的认知需要改变。她对实验结果表示肯定，但也指出，这次飞行虽然证明了残疾人的能力，但并未改变社会对残疾人的固有偏见。 Sheri Wells-Jensen: 作为AstroAccess 项目的关键人物，Sheri Wells-Jensen 从自身经历出发，论证了残疾人在太空探索中的独特优势。她认为，太空环境本身就是一个充满挑战的“残疾”环境，而残疾人已经适应了地球上类似的挑战，因此更适合太空任务。她还指出，仅仅理论论证不足以改变人们对残疾人的认知，需要实际行动来证明残疾人在太空中的能力。她认为，这次飞行虽然令人振奋，但并未改变地面上的现实，残疾人仍然面临着歧视。 Andrew Leland: 作为一名视力逐渐下降的记者，作者对残疾和盲人的世界有了更深入的了解。他参与了AstroAccess 项目，亲身体验了失重飞行，并对残疾人在太空环境中的表现进行了观察和记录。他认为，这次飞行拓宽了人们对残疾人能力的认知，但也扩大了现实与期望之间的差距。他意识到，残疾并非需要被消除的负面特征，而应该被理解和接受。 Lulu Miller: Lulu Miller 作为节目的主持人，对Andrew Leland 的采访引导清晰，并对实验结果进行了总结和分析。她认为，这次飞行证明了残疾人的能力，但并未改变社会对残疾人的固有偏见。 Sheri Wells-Jensen: Sheri Wells-Jensen 作为一名盲人，她从自身经历出发，论证了残疾人在太空探索中的独特优势。她认为，太空环境本身就是一个充满挑战的“残疾”环境，而残疾人已经适应了地球上类似的挑战，因此更适合太空任务。她还指出，不应该利用残疾人在特殊情况下的积极体验来贬低他们日常生活的价值。

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The episode introduces the concept of rethinking traditional astronaut qualifications by exploring the experiences of disabled individuals on a zero-gravity flight.

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Since the beginning of the space program, we’ve expected astronauts to be fully-abled athletic overachievers—one-part science geeks, two-part triathletes—a mix the writer Tom Wolfe called “the right stuff.”

But what if, this whole time, we’ve had it wrong?

In this episode from 2022, reporter Andrew Leland joins blind Linguistics Professor Sheri Wells-Jensen and a crew of 11 other disabled people. They embark on a mission to prove not just that they have what it takes to go to space, but that disability gives them an edge. On Mission AstroAccess, the crew members hop on an airplane to take a zero-gravity flight—the same NASA uses to train astronauts. With them, we learn that the challenges to making space accessible may not be the ones we thought. And Andrew, who is legally blind, confronts unexpected conclusions of his own.

By the way, Andrew’s new book is out. In The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight) (https://zpr.io/nLZ8H)), Andrew recounts his transition from sighted to blind. Suspended between anxiety and anticipation, he also begins to explore the many facets of blindness as a culture. It’s well worth a read. 

Read the article by Sheri Wells-Jensen, published in The Scientific American in 2018. “The Case for Disabled Astronaut)” (https://zpr.io/nLZ8H)). 

*This episode was reported by Andrew Leland and produced by María Paz Gutiérrez, Matt Kielty and Pat Walters. Jeremy Bloom contributed music and sound design. Production sound recording by Dan McCoy.*Special thanks to William Pomerantz, Sheyna Gifford, Jim Vanderploeg, Tim Bailey, and Bill Barry

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