Book Review: Into That Silent Sea by Francis French and Colin Burgess - Page 2

French and Burgess also look at the role (or lack thereof) of women in both the U.S. and Soviet space programs. Although certainly without the detail of The Mercury 13 or Promised the Moon, which were devoted to the subject, they explore how a variety of women were misled as to the possibility of becoming part of NASA's Mercury program. They were misled not by NASA but, rather, a NASA-connected contractor doing studies on the physical differences between men and women insofar as space flight might be concerned. For good or bad, astronaut standards at the time precluded the involvement of women because they had no experience as jet test pilots. In addition, NASA did not view the space program as solely a propaganda tool that justified launching a woman into space simply for the purpose of saying we did so first.

That stands in sharp contrast to the Soviet program. Although those in it were undoubtedly motivated by science, the Soviet political system viewed the space program as one of almost immeasurable political and propaganda value. While certainly not undercutting the efforts and training of Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, Burgess and French take a fairly objective look at her mission and what it reflects about the differences between the two space programs. They also examine how the propaganda aims of the Soviets could cause them to cut corners, such as in the harrowing experience of Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space and who had to rely on his own innovation to make it back into the spacecraft.

At the same time, Into That Silent Sea may also remind us of the limits of our steps into space over the years. The goal and accomplishment of the missions explored in the work was putting man into orbit around the Earth and returning him successfully. Yet today manned spaceflight remains limited to Earth orbit. No manned spacecraft has left Earth orbit since the end of the Apollo program 35 years ago. Recent proposals to return to the moon and go on to Mars have met with tepid public support that is far short of the attention given the flights detailed in this book or the lunar program.

Article Author: Tim Gebhart

Tim Gebhart lives in Sioux Falls, SD, where he practices law in order to provide shelter for his family, his dogs, and his books. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and his blog de guerre is A Progressive on the Prairie.

Visit Tim Gebhart's author page — Tim Gebhart's Blog