BISM’s been Training Astronauts for 40 years.
On April 1st, the Artemis II mission blasted off toward the moon. It is the first time in 53 years that any human has left Earth’s orbit.
BISM started its Independence Training and Rehabilitation program 40 years ago this month. While none of our students have gone on to be astronauts — yet — we have given thousands of students the problem-solving skills necessary to do the job.
BISM’s ITR department may not have a zero-gravity chamber, but it does equip our students with the ability to navigate unfamiliar situations, explore new places, and stay calm under pressure. We call our approach “structured discovery”.
NASA doesn’t send Astronauts on a trip around the moon to look out a tiny window to say they’ve seen the moon. We send astronauts to space to test scientific theories, learn from new challenges, and push the limits of life on earth. It truly is structured discovery for mankind (with built in accommodations for people who can see). What if one or all of those accommodations fail and a billion-dollar NASA project is left helpless?
Space is inherently unpredictable. In 2001, an astronaut’s helmet malfunctioned during a spacewalk, and he was unable to see. There was no backup plan in place. Imagine if a blind astronaut had been there to save the day.
In Andy Weir’s book “Project Hail Mary”, he envisions astronauts from another planet who have no eyes at all and yet he has traveled light years from his home planet to save his species. I like Weir’s concept.
There shouldn’t be a vision requirement for astronauts.
BISM’s Vision Statement is to “Create an environment with no limits for blind people.” I think training blind astronauts would be a perfect example.
Wouldn’t an astronaut fit nicely into one of our ITR programs?
