We will discuss Mike Massimino’s Spaceman at our meeting on Wednesday, January 17th at 4:00p.m. in the GAHS library. Please post questions, comments, concerns, criticism, and the like on this blog prior to, during, or after our meeting (before January 24th if you want extra credit). All questions and responses should indicate an active reading of the text and function to move the conversation forward. (Note: surface-level or obvious questions and responses will not count as participation.)
Those of you unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts may participate in the discussion below by posting a discussion question and offering a detailed response, or by responding to two questions already posted. The note above applies here as well, so heed it!
Mike Massimino definitely establishes the American Dream of upward mobility from working hard and getting into MIT, IBM, and achieving the top through determination. To what extent can the same challenges he went through, be accomplished today by another person with his dream and determination? Over the years, the population is rising in the United States with numerous hard-working immigrants like Mike trying achieve their own dreams. The level of competition is rising with numerous intellectual people having the same ambitions that Mike did, so to what level can they be successful with the same level of intelligence? I thought his story was very interesting but somewhat unrealistic in today’s society, with the competition levels and the difficulty to get into the colleges that Mike had attended. He claimed early in the book that “… I was never the smartest kids in class” and got into Columbia University and later MIT. In today’s society, you need to be the top of the class to even consider those schools as an option. Overall, I love space, the universe, and NASA so this book was a great read to find out how the journey to space and in space was like. His drive for achieving his dream was very evident in his work, and he is the perfect example for anyone who wants to achieve the “impossible”. When Mike failed (like his PHD exam), he “tried harder” and accomplished what he thought he would fail. All throughout the book, I learned the importance of not giving up and just going for your dreams. If he didn’t choose to go to MIT or pursue his PHD again, his childhood dream would never be occur.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that he began talking about how when he was a child he looked up to these people, and by the end of the book, he was a person that his younger self would’ve looked up to and aspired to be. This demonstrates the not giving up on your dreams (even though he was very close to doing so at some points), and shows the audience the benefits of working as hard as you can to get where you want to go. I also really enjoyed the fact that this book was written in a much more casual tone than one would expect coming from a NASA astronaut; he was not trying to put himself up on a pedastel, rather show his readers how hard he worked to reach his childhood dream. It never seemed to me that he was being condescending to the readers, as if he had to talk down to us, which I personally appreciated. He talked about how being in space was unlike an other experience he’s had in the past, but he didn’t try to convince the readers to take a different path by telling them how hard it was. He was honest about his work ethic, but he knew that the experience was worth all the work in the end. I also really enjoyed being able to get inside NASA a little bit more than we have been able to in the past, learning about how the astronauts treat each other like family, always helping out when they’re needed, it showed a different aspect to the NASA program than we’ve seen in the past. This comradery is a big factor when considering the high stakes of the job market at hand, and showed that just because they were in competition with each other, doesn’t mean that they do not care about each other’s happiness and well being, which is refreshing to see as a reader.
Why was Mike Massimino’s tone so conversational at times?
I was first thrown off by his more laid back tone, and I honestly found it off-putting at times. This tone was obviously intentional as the reader feels they are talking to him. The purpose of this tone was to not intimidate the reader, since most people find astronauts to be intimidating, and also astrophysics seem daunting to most.
Astronauts have been glorified since going to space was possible, exemplified by every little kid wanted to be an astronaut when they grow up. So, Massimino took the reader through the some of the most rigorous training one could imagine, and all the struggles that come with it. But, in the end, Massimino did not go beyond the classic astronaut tale. He overcame his struggles (such as slight eye-sight impairment), went on a mission and then a more intense mission of repairing the telescope in space, and his changing of tone from loose to suspenseful made it seem like a near cheesy movie. Being an astronaut is in-comprehensible, and I wanted a gritty non-fiction, which ended up reading like a good story. This story did how ever cripple the feeling of the “super-hero Astronaut,” with the speakers wittiness and illustration of self imperfection.
The only part that I connected with Massimino on was his and my love and awe for space. He was very effective at connecting with the reader, and expressing his emotions, this is what his conversational tone was good for. I also loved his depiction of training, I wish he dove a little deeper into the physics of training and not just personal effects. He did focus on the actual travelling to space even though that was a very short part of his life because no training could ever prepare him for it, and also nothing on earth could ever mirror that experience again.
Overall, Massimino gave the common reader a good, eye catching memoir with great details and suspense. He left the more intellectually curious asking for more. The meanings he left were a little flawed, he was ‘not the best in school.’ Then how did he get into Columbia, and then MIT graduate school. Whatever, the other side is he humbles himself by realizing that in conclusion, he was not the best in school, or in outer-space, or anywhere, and this well roundness allowed him to also be a good, not great, story teller for astronauts.
Why do you think that Mike Massimino decided to write a book about his experience about becoming an astronaut?
I think he wrote about his journey of becoming an astronaut because he wanted to inspire the readers to follow their dreams. His experience was a great example of following a dream because when he was little, he had always wanted to become an astronaut when he grew up. He was into space and knew almost everything a little kid could possibly know about space. But as he grew older, the dream of becoming an astronaut started to fade away. He became less focused in becoming an astronaut and became more interested in other things. As he went through a few years of college, he started to realize things weren’t working out so well for him. He went to get back in touch with his former teachers to get their opinions on things and after a while, he became more interested in space again. Mike Massimino started to apply for space school and began studying to be an astronaut. He needed to take tests, which he flunked a few times, but he never gave up. He applied to NASA a few times but got rejected twice he didn’t give up and one day, he was accepted. He was then able to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. In conclusion, I think he wrote this book to show everyone that a dream that you had when you were little could always be accomplished if you try your best.
Do you think there was a purpose of Mike Massimino beginning his story with the scene of when he was preparing for take-off?
I think there was a purpose in him putting it at the beginning. The scene of take-off caught the attention of me and hooked me into the book. It is a way of pulling the readers’ attention because when he takes off and thinks about his past, it makes the reader want to read more. He wrote the beginning part in the present tense and as he was taking off into space, he started to think about his past memories as a child pretending to be an astronaut to physically being in the rocket and taking off into space. The way he wrote the beginning really caught my attention which is why I think he did it on purpose to catch the other readers’ attention as well.
I found this book very interesting and relatable in many ways. It was very inspiring because he had perseverance throughout his way to become an astronaut. I think that Mike is a very smart person because he wanted to be an astronaut and at the same time receive his Ph.D. It seems that motivation and concentration are the main qualities you need to have to be an astronaut. My only question is how do you think Mike was able to concentrate on being an astronaut while studying to get his Ph.D.?
I found it interesting how Massimino incorporated a boy-like, “giddy,” tone for a topic that’s usually analytical and scientific. The way he loses his passion for space and was pressured into the corporate world is a large part of our society, children are pressured to pick a “realistic” job by teachers in parents and teachers because they chose that for themselves. The “boy-like” tone was probably established because he was forced to smother his passion, and sense its been reignited it gives him a piece of his childhood. It baffles me how one movie could effect him so much…Since the movie won many accolades I wonder if it was the movie’s quality itself. If it was a low quality movie on space, would his passion for space resurface the same way? I like how the beginning subtly shows how Massimino strays from normality and is inquisitive. When everyone else told Armstrong a story, he chose to ask a question. I found it interesting how he was so humble about his experiences, and recognized how surreal it is to go to space, but doesn’t make it seem unachievable. It seems like the book was written for people to realize dreams are achievable as long as you are dedicated and surround yourself with the right people.
1) Mike has been obsessed with Space and has wanted to become an Astronaut ever since he was a little boy. However, as he got older he become less interested because he believed he would never be able to make it out of his neighbor, because no one had done it before him. Have you felt that same drive/ interest in doing something the same way Mike has; if so why or why not have you stopped?
I have felt the same passion that Mike felt for space; but it was for animals. When I was a kid it was my dream to be an Artist Veterinarian, meaning I would help save all the animals and then draw them after. Sounds pretty cool and for 5-year-old me it was my biggest dream. Ever Saturday I would sit and watch shows (Cats 101 and Dogs 101) all about the different types of species and what each of their characteristics were. Like Mike, I rented a bunch of books from the Library so I could learn as much as possible about all the animals in the world. However, as I got older and school and extracurricular activities took over I become disinterested. For one thing, I can only draw stick figures which killed my artists dream. Also I just stopped having time to look into my interest about animals. However, now as I’ve started to think about college and what I want to do, my interest has started to come back. Marine Biology has become a thing I’ve started to focus on; so maybe my passion never died it just took another form. Like Mike the passion I once had never went away.
This book was one of the most inspiring texts that I have ever read. I was inspired by his continuous perseverance from his journey in education to ultimately obtain his PhD to Massimino achieving his dream and reaching the stars…literally. What drew my attention the most was his emphasis on how important it is to be surrounded by good people. Massimino continuously claims that he wasn’t the smartest person, and I think he often undersells himself, but he repeatedly described how his character and personality has carried him so far in life. It is clear that selflessness, humor, and kindness is needed for a job like becoming an astronaut, but do you think this applies to all occupations? Is it necessary to have the traits that carried Massimino to his lifelong goal to be successful? In my opinion, I often see too many take advantage of people like the author, and I see corruption and exploitation. Generally, I am simply curious to hear about how people feel about the importance of a person’s personality because people like Massimino are rare to come by (which is probably why he was chosen out of thousands of candidates to be an astronaut), yet there are so many successful people.