This year at the Sundance film festival, I had a journalistic thrill when I had the opportunity to interview astronaut Buzz Aldrin at the premiere party for IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, a documentary about the Apollo program directed by David Sington. Buzz was dynamic and exciting, and we talked about everything from his historic moon landing to his plans to go to the South Pole to his thoughts on the current space program. CLICK HERE to watch.
A scant week later, the news broke about Capt. Lisa M. Nowak's diaper-clad love excursion. I find this horrifying for many reasons...I still think of astronauts as heroes and this is decidedly anti-heroic behaviour; this plays into the stereotype that women are too emotional to hold up under pressure; and of course, just the idea of an adult in diapers when not medically necessary!
I'm sure my reaction is tainted by the fact that I just finished reading THE MERCURY 13, an account of the group of women who were secretly trained for the Mercury missions and not allowed to go. I can't help but imagine their horrified reaction to Nowak's escapade.
A few takes on the situation:
NY Times: From Spaceflight to Attempted Murder Charge
SLATE.COM: Sex in Space?
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY IN SPACE: Why they really need diapers
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