Space
Should Children Be Launched Into Space?
Brooke James
First Posted: Oct 12, 2016 04:53 AM EDT
When cosmonaut Gherman Titov became the second person to ever orbit the Earth in 1961, he was only 25 years old. Yet, he was able to orbit the planet 17 times aboard the Soviet Union's Vostok 2 spacecraft before he touched back down.
Since his orbit, about 550 other people have done the same thing, but none of them had been younger than he'd been during their flight. In fact, as Space.com noted, NASA has never launched a younger cosmonaut - their youngest was Sally Ride, who was 32 when she lifted off the space shuttle mission over two decades later.
This did not fare well for Mike Mongo, who wanted the record to be rewritten soon. The author of a children's book titled "The Astronaut Instruction Manual," is pushing to launch a kid to space in the near future. Media attention aside, Mongo thinks that the effect will be positive on children, saying that "By letting a kid go to space, we will inspire an entire generation of space explorers. If we solve space for kids, they will solve the future for us."
Mongo, who spends a lot of time giving presentations for children in underserved neighborhoods in the United States and abroad, said that kids can pursue careers in astronautics. Jobs in space also open as a possibility for them.
However, there are some concerns to his cause: first, there is a certain degree of danger involved for those who want to embark in space missions. For instance, the hazards of space radiation can be more dangerous for children than for grown-ups. But then again, the first child to board a plane eventually became a minister of information in Greece's cabinet and played a significant role against the Nazis in the World War II, so as Mongo put it, "We let a kid fly in an airplane, and he defeated the Nazis. What's going to happen when we put a kid in a rocket ship?"
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First Posted: Oct 12, 2016 04:53 AM EDT
When cosmonaut Gherman Titov became the second person to ever orbit the Earth in 1961, he was only 25 years old. Yet, he was able to orbit the planet 17 times aboard the Soviet Union's Vostok 2 spacecraft before he touched back down.
Since his orbit, about 550 other people have done the same thing, but none of them had been younger than he'd been during their flight. In fact, as Space.com noted, NASA has never launched a younger cosmonaut - their youngest was Sally Ride, who was 32 when she lifted off the space shuttle mission over two decades later.
This did not fare well for Mike Mongo, who wanted the record to be rewritten soon. The author of a children's book titled "The Astronaut Instruction Manual," is pushing to launch a kid to space in the near future. Media attention aside, Mongo thinks that the effect will be positive on children, saying that "By letting a kid go to space, we will inspire an entire generation of space explorers. If we solve space for kids, they will solve the future for us."
Mongo, who spends a lot of time giving presentations for children in underserved neighborhoods in the United States and abroad, said that kids can pursue careers in astronautics. Jobs in space also open as a possibility for them.
However, there are some concerns to his cause: first, there is a certain degree of danger involved for those who want to embark in space missions. For instance, the hazards of space radiation can be more dangerous for children than for grown-ups. But then again, the first child to board a plane eventually became a minister of information in Greece's cabinet and played a significant role against the Nazis in the World War II, so as Mongo put it, "We let a kid fly in an airplane, and he defeated the Nazis. What's going to happen when we put a kid in a rocket ship?"
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone