Blast-Off Part 2 (a.k.a. Failure is Not an Option)

The first word uttered from space was ‘Houston’. Meant for the Mission Control Center at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.

Remember the last time during our iceman Dr Sheikh’s mission to outer space? Beside the mission control room in Baikonor, there are 3 more similar control rooms in Houston. Here, you could see all space actions LIVE.

According to our JSC guide, the most important (and the most powerful as nobody can override him, including the US President) person during any mission is the Flight Director. In the word of an ex-Flight Director Gene Kranz (or was it Ron Howard) the Flight Director of Apollo 13, 'failure is not an option'.

The Americans are proud of their space technology advancements. Initially, the US was taken aback by the Russians when they launched their many firsts (Sputnik, dog, Gagarin, woman ...). The Americans put their acts together and exerted really hard to establish their space missions and able to put the first man on the moon, even with some failures (Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia ...) and lives lost (each live lost commemorated by an oak tree) but they never look back. Since then, the US has made a quantum leap to be the world super power.

Despite all these jaw dropping space things, at NASA what really amazed me was the sight of a young lady with tudung who works there.