"Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it's not the same - it's not even close to the same"
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Ride’s blunt repetition is doing more than lowering expectations; it’s puncturing a comforting myth of modern technology: that preparation can domesticate risk. NASA, the ultimate symbol of engineered control, “tries to simulate launch” and builds a world of procedural certainty. Then Ride drops the verdict twice - “not the same,” “not even close” - like a hatch sealing shut. The rhythm matters. It’s a sentence designed to keep you from romanticizing competence as invincibility.
The intent is practical on the surface: a reality check about training limits. The subtext is sharper: there’s an irreducible remainder in spaceflight that no amount of rehearsal can remove. Simulators can teach responses, muscle memory, team choreography. They can’t replicate the total bodily fact of launch: the violence of acceleration, the sensory overload, the knowledge that failure isn’t theoretical. Ride’s phrasing refuses the language of heroism; it’s not awe-struck, it’s almost annoyed. That restraint is its own kind of authority.
Contextually, coming from the first American woman in space, the line also pushes against a second myth: that astronauts are simply “built different.” Ride helped normalize the idea that spaceflight is both elite and human - intensely trained people confronting an experience that remains fundamentally untrainable. In an era that loves “hackable” mastery, her point lands with quiet force: some thresholds can be approached, but not previewed.
The intent is practical on the surface: a reality check about training limits. The subtext is sharper: there’s an irreducible remainder in spaceflight that no amount of rehearsal can remove. Simulators can teach responses, muscle memory, team choreography. They can’t replicate the total bodily fact of launch: the violence of acceleration, the sensory overload, the knowledge that failure isn’t theoretical. Ride’s phrasing refuses the language of heroism; it’s not awe-struck, it’s almost annoyed. That restraint is its own kind of authority.
Contextually, coming from the first American woman in space, the line also pushes against a second myth: that astronauts are simply “built different.” Ride helped normalize the idea that spaceflight is both elite and human - intensely trained people confronting an experience that remains fundamentally untrainable. In an era that loves “hackable” mastery, her point lands with quiet force: some thresholds can be approached, but not previewed.
Quote Details
| Topic | Training & Practice |
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