exploring space with robots
not artificial intelligence robots, not nearly sentient robots, but robots we controlled with commands from earth. I worked on the flight team for the Lunar Orbiter project, the Viking project, and the Voyager project. we planned the trajectories for the spacecraft, tracked their flights, planned and commanded their orientations in flight, their articulations if they had "arms" to do that, the pictures they took, the measurements they made, and we got the data back for the scientists to observe and understand. I don't know how other people did it, but I gave myself to the missions, I was there to serve the project, it was a commitment in which I learned the meaning of commitment. and it was so goddam much fun I never thought of it as sacrifice! we explored space remotely, and sometimes I virtually was the robot! I still smile looking back on it.
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