Deaf Love Survives Challenger Disaster Intact!
When the space shuttle Challenger blew up, it seared a permanent brand on my cerebral cortex. It was 1986 and I was only in the first grade. I will never forget the shocked face of my six-year-old deaf classmate (I was voluntarily mainstreamed till the 7th grade) who told me that a rocket just exploded. I will never forget the TV images in the first-grade classroom: billowing white twin arcs of smoke straddling the bright orange fireball that used to be the space shuttle Challenger. And get this. It is literally the only thing I remember from first grade apart from Ronald Reagan (I thought he had horns- the sign for President mainfested by Mom- I was curious who that was on the TIME magazine cover, that rugged guy with the cowboy hat). I remember pre-school and kindergarten. I even remember the names of the teachers- Mrs. S. for preschool and Mrs. O'Bryan for kindergarten, and Mrs Miller for second grade. Mrs. First Grade has a blank face. I remember images from the regular school year from all these grades, except for First. The only thing I can remember is the space shuttle disaster! I must have used up my whole quota of forty freshly-grown brain cells on that single day of January 28, 1986. Wow. That's 20 years ago!
I even remember the faces and names of each crew member- I will never forget them. I know Christa McAuliffe is probably the most well-known of all seven- because she was supposed to be the first schoolteacher in space. But, I never forgot the other woman, Judy Resnik. There was always this something about her. I finally know why.
I am now reading this really (read: REALLY) good book called Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane, a NASA astronaut. Before this becomes a book review betraying the title of this post, I highly recommend this book. (Thanks, Jules!)
Mullane gives intimate details of the NASA astronaut program- stuff I never expected to learn- such as having to wear via velcro a bladdered condom (which comes in three sizes) in the case of dire bladder emergencies during shuttle takeoff/landings. How embarrassing that must be, to have every part of your anatomy, especially the nether regions, scrunitized and measured! But that won't stop *moi* from going to space! I just hope I don't get measured in an air conditioned room on a cold morning! I would sure hate to receive a rubber some sizes too small. That would be one catastrophic O-ring failure (pun intended)!
I felt as if I grew some kind of attachment to Judy Resnik as the pages flipped by. Mike Mullane was obviously very fond of her, flying a mission with her before STS-51L. That meant months and years of training together. If he wasn't married, he would have fell for her. They would be an astronaut couple (like Sally Ride- she had an astronaut husband, I never knew that!) It must have been a very difficult time for NASA when Challenger blew up. Yet again with Columbia. We're talking about the cream of the crop here, the best of the best, all dead. Then the bombshell. Judy Resnik had a deaf family member. She was very passionate for the rights of the "disabled and hearing-impaired." She always wore a ILY necklace.
Almost nothing was found from the wreckage. From the book, page 230:
The book plays with my emotions as if I was a woman.The prospect of being one of the the first Deaf in space excites me to the point of bursting (I got higher SATs than the author, hehe), but reality swiftly administers a dose of depression because I know it's gonna be a long, hard struggle to de-disable myself in the eyes (and ears) of NASA and especially global society-at-large. It is really them that's deaf, dumb and blind, not us! We are the light of the world.
NASA looks upon deafness with patronizing puckered noses, hiring a couple deaf workers here and there to appease the multiculturalists and political correctors. They outrightly ban Deaf people from becoming astronauts. If NASA had offered me an astronaut job, I would have accepted rather than rejecting them the first time around. I refuse to work under glass ceilings, because if I do, chaos ensue. Instead of pleasing my bosses, I become invisible and go to work smashing the glass ceiling to smithereens. If NASA ever wants to make another unsolicited job offer to me (without me ever applying), they had better let me destroy that darned glass cathedral first! (I need helppppp!)
NASA has this awesome program called Microgravity University- they welcome submissions from universities to conduct experiments on Vomit Comets, aircraft that goes through parabolic swings to achieve virtual weightlessness in 30-second intervals. A dream project! I got plenty of ideas, some of them feasible, that would quickly sell the NASA bureaucrats. I am very confident on this. I read some of the proposals, it would be easy to do a better job than many of them. It wouldn't be hard to get selected- there are many proposals that are accepted ever year. The historically Black Morehouse college has a project this year. It makes absolutely no sense to discriminate against the deaf. If Gallaudet submitted a Nobel Prize-caliber project, we would get rejected no matter what, because they don't allow deaf people to participate in this very educational and innovative program. To be rejected would be treacherously discriminiative. If all fails, I might feel compelled to hijack the Vomit Comet! (hey you NSA spies, lower the red flags. I was just kidding).
Seriously, NASA could be hurting their cause. It was AGB who came up with the telephone, and he was trying to invent a hearing aid in the first place. Suppose it is discovered that persons who are born deaf have a natural genetic inclination to be not space-sick? Mike Mullane says in the book that 50% of astronauts suffer miserably from space-sickness (Acronymically called SAS- Space Adaptation Syndrome, in Nasaese). They don't know why. Perhaps our dead cochleae would make us better astronauts? We would be much more efficient. Deaf people are already known for their ability to do work that requires high levels of concentration. Frankly, hearing people stink in many aspects!
I wish I had a weapon to make the entire world deaf. A ear-splitting ultrasonic weapon that disintegrates the cochelae of humankind. Then, everyone would finally love the Deaf based on necessity. I know the military already has this type of weapon. C'mon, Rummy, use it! Bring on paradise! Much better than a nuclear holocaust, no? Let the clash of civilizations be a war of acoustical weapons, not bullets, bombs nor fissioned atoms.
I just woke up. I was dreaming. Back to reality. Now I am confused.... To be deaf or to be hearing? That's a tough choice - for them, not me. To live in blissful silence amid the chaotic cacophony of modern civilization is a genuine blessing from God. The Deaf is the ONLY group of people in this world that has members in EVERY country, EVERYWHERE in the world, even The Democratic People's Republic of Korea- DPRK (which's the north one - the south one calls itself ROK- Republic of Korea. It's OK to scoff and/or laugh).
It is becoming more and more evident that we are the world's only hope. I deeply care about the deaf folks in Pyongyang and beyond. If we nuke Kim Jong Il, there would certainly be plenty collaterally dead deaf Pyongyangese. So would there be dead deaf Persians in Iran if we nuke them (when and after there are countless dead deaf Israelis after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lives up to his promise). So far, the alternative is to spend billions in space missions to bring foreigners peacably together in one capsule, 240 miles up there in the International Space Station. Alternative? The UN, where everyone's ready to wipe each other off the face of the earth. The only type of unity seen these days is when they unite to condemn - on paper - the on-going genocide in Darfur. Either that or to condemn Israel in another 185-3 vote for building a wall while giving Hamas a free license to launch their Arafat (new generation of the Qassam) rockets towards Israeli schools. That after knowingly turning a blind eye to the Rwandan machete de la genocide a couple years ago.
This world is a farce. Does sovereignty mean anything these days? The most important thing is to remember, never surrender your own personal sovereignty or God's to someone else. That might be a church, country, team, group, boss, job, school, possessive lover, or anything that really prevents you from realizing your role and true purpose in this grand cosmic opera.
We have much more at stake than the normal hearing person. War affects the Deaf everywhere. We are all intimately connected. What does an average hearing American have in common with the average North Korean? Nothing, save this earth and its air. But its a whole different story if the American and North Korean in question are deaf. They would be like brothers, exchanging life stories in an instant. Only if the hearing could open their blind eyes to that fact!!! At Gallaudet, we have deaf Africans - Hutu and Tutsi, living as brothers. Deaf Middle Easterners and Jews best friends, oblivious and invisible to the usurped religion-cults that perpetuate the enemies' unquenchable thirst of blood for each other. Only if the hearing people in Rwanda and the Sudan could open their eyes to that fact. *sigh* So much bloodshed in this world. It has to stop, or we the deaf will be next. We are like wild beasts to most hearing people. Only if they realized the truth: that they ARE the beasts themselves.
*Judy Resnik photo credit*
I even remember the faces and names of each crew member- I will never forget them. I know Christa McAuliffe is probably the most well-known of all seven- because she was supposed to be the first schoolteacher in space. But, I never forgot the other woman, Judy Resnik. There was always this something about her. I finally know why.
I am now reading this really (read: REALLY) good book called Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane, a NASA astronaut. Before this becomes a book review betraying the title of this post, I highly recommend this book. (Thanks, Jules!)
Mullane gives intimate details of the NASA astronaut program- stuff I never expected to learn- such as having to wear via velcro a bladdered condom (which comes in three sizes) in the case of dire bladder emergencies during shuttle takeoff/landings. How embarrassing that must be, to have every part of your anatomy, especially the nether regions, scrunitized and measured! But that won't stop *moi* from going to space! I just hope I don't get measured in an air conditioned room on a cold morning! I would sure hate to receive a rubber some sizes too small. That would be one catastrophic O-ring failure (pun intended)!
I felt as if I grew some kind of attachment to Judy Resnik as the pages flipped by. Mike Mullane was obviously very fond of her, flying a mission with her before STS-51L. That meant months and years of training together. If he wasn't married, he would have fell for her. They would be an astronaut couple (like Sally Ride- she had an astronaut husband, I never knew that!) It must have been a very difficult time for NASA when Challenger blew up. Yet again with Columbia. We're talking about the cream of the crop here, the best of the best, all dead. Then the bombshell. Judy Resnik had a deaf family member. She was very passionate for the rights of the "disabled and hearing-impaired." She always wore a ILY necklace.
Almost nothing was found from the wreckage. From the book, page 230:
"I saw a few strands of Judy's hair in the wreckage... and I found her necklace." He didn't have to say any more. I knew the necklace. Judy always wore it... a gold chain with a charm displaying the two-finger-and-thumb sign language symbol for "I Love You." She had a hearing-impaired family member and the necklace was her display of support for those with similar handicaps... Like the flash of a camera, I continued to see it no matter where I looked- the crushed cockpit, Judy's hair, her necklace.A ILY handshape necklace being one of the only things to survive the crash intact. Very interesting and poignant! Reading this book is like a steroided-up rollercoaster ride for the soul.
The book plays with my emotions as if I was a woman.The prospect of being one of the the first Deaf in space excites me to the point of bursting (I got higher SATs than the author, hehe), but reality swiftly administers a dose of depression because I know it's gonna be a long, hard struggle to de-disable myself in the eyes (and ears) of NASA and especially global society-at-large. It is really them that's deaf, dumb and blind, not us! We are the light of the world.
NASA looks upon deafness with patronizing puckered noses, hiring a couple deaf workers here and there to appease the multiculturalists and political correctors. They outrightly ban Deaf people from becoming astronauts. If NASA had offered me an astronaut job, I would have accepted rather than rejecting them the first time around. I refuse to work under glass ceilings, because if I do, chaos ensue. Instead of pleasing my bosses, I become invisible and go to work smashing the glass ceiling to smithereens. If NASA ever wants to make another unsolicited job offer to me (without me ever applying), they had better let me destroy that darned glass cathedral first! (I need helppppp!)
NASA has this awesome program called Microgravity University- they welcome submissions from universities to conduct experiments on Vomit Comets, aircraft that goes through parabolic swings to achieve virtual weightlessness in 30-second intervals. A dream project! I got plenty of ideas, some of them feasible, that would quickly sell the NASA bureaucrats. I am very confident on this. I read some of the proposals, it would be easy to do a better job than many of them. It wouldn't be hard to get selected- there are many proposals that are accepted ever year. The historically Black Morehouse college has a project this year. It makes absolutely no sense to discriminate against the deaf. If Gallaudet submitted a Nobel Prize-caliber project, we would get rejected no matter what, because they don't allow deaf people to participate in this very educational and innovative program. To be rejected would be treacherously discriminiative. If all fails, I might feel compelled to hijack the Vomit Comet! (hey you NSA spies, lower the red flags. I was just kidding).
Seriously, NASA could be hurting their cause. It was AGB who came up with the telephone, and he was trying to invent a hearing aid in the first place. Suppose it is discovered that persons who are born deaf have a natural genetic inclination to be not space-sick? Mike Mullane says in the book that 50% of astronauts suffer miserably from space-sickness (Acronymically called SAS- Space Adaptation Syndrome, in Nasaese). They don't know why. Perhaps our dead cochleae would make us better astronauts? We would be much more efficient. Deaf people are already known for their ability to do work that requires high levels of concentration. Frankly, hearing people stink in many aspects!
I wish I had a weapon to make the entire world deaf. A ear-splitting ultrasonic weapon that disintegrates the cochelae of humankind. Then, everyone would finally love the Deaf based on necessity. I know the military already has this type of weapon. C'mon, Rummy, use it! Bring on paradise! Much better than a nuclear holocaust, no? Let the clash of civilizations be a war of acoustical weapons, not bullets, bombs nor fissioned atoms.
I just woke up. I was dreaming. Back to reality. Now I am confused.... To be deaf or to be hearing? That's a tough choice - for them, not me. To live in blissful silence amid the chaotic cacophony of modern civilization is a genuine blessing from God. The Deaf is the ONLY group of people in this world that has members in EVERY country, EVERYWHERE in the world, even The Democratic People's Republic of Korea- DPRK (which's the north one - the south one calls itself ROK- Republic of Korea. It's OK to scoff and/or laugh).
It is becoming more and more evident that we are the world's only hope. I deeply care about the deaf folks in Pyongyang and beyond. If we nuke Kim Jong Il, there would certainly be plenty collaterally dead deaf Pyongyangese. So would there be dead deaf Persians in Iran if we nuke them (when and after there are countless dead deaf Israelis after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lives up to his promise). So far, the alternative is to spend billions in space missions to bring foreigners peacably together in one capsule, 240 miles up there in the International Space Station. Alternative? The UN, where everyone's ready to wipe each other off the face of the earth. The only type of unity seen these days is when they unite to condemn - on paper - the on-going genocide in Darfur. Either that or to condemn Israel in another 185-3 vote for building a wall while giving Hamas a free license to launch their Arafat (new generation of the Qassam) rockets towards Israeli schools. That after knowingly turning a blind eye to the Rwandan machete de la genocide a couple years ago.
This world is a farce. Does sovereignty mean anything these days? The most important thing is to remember, never surrender your own personal sovereignty or God's to someone else. That might be a church, country, team, group, boss, job, school, possessive lover, or anything that really prevents you from realizing your role and true purpose in this grand cosmic opera.
We have much more at stake than the normal hearing person. War affects the Deaf everywhere. We are all intimately connected. What does an average hearing American have in common with the average North Korean? Nothing, save this earth and its air. But its a whole different story if the American and North Korean in question are deaf. They would be like brothers, exchanging life stories in an instant. Only if the hearing could open their blind eyes to that fact!!! At Gallaudet, we have deaf Africans - Hutu and Tutsi, living as brothers. Deaf Middle Easterners and Jews best friends, oblivious and invisible to the usurped religion-cults that perpetuate the enemies' unquenchable thirst of blood for each other. Only if the hearing people in Rwanda and the Sudan could open their eyes to that fact. *sigh* So much bloodshed in this world. It has to stop, or we the deaf will be next. We are like wild beasts to most hearing people. Only if they realized the truth: that they ARE the beasts themselves.
*Judy Resnik photo credit*
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