Endurance by Scott Kelly

NOTE: To celebrate man's first walk on the moon fifty years ago, my book groups are reading books about space.

People

International Space Station

Scott Kelly Leslie – 1st wife, divorced Samantha and Charlotte – daughters Amiko – 2nd wife Mark Kelly – twin brother Gabby Gifford – wife Richie – father, alcoholic and abusive Patricia – mother, became policewoman when boys 11 years old Tom Wolfe – author of The Right Stuff

Anton Shkaperov Samantha Cristoforetti Terry Vitts Mikhail (Misha) Kornienko – spent year with Kelly Gennady Padalka Scott Kelly – March 27, 2015 – March 1, 2016 Kjell Lindgren – first time in space Kimiya Yui – first time in space Oleg Kononenko Sergey Volkov – took over command when Kelly left Andreas (Andy) Mogensen – 10 days on ISS Aidyn Aimbetov – 10 days on ISS Arrived December 15, 2015: Yuri Malenchenko – Russian Tim Kopra – American Tim Peake - English

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1. What did Scott learn from his mother’s decision and training to be a police officer?
2. Discuss the importance of traditions to the astronauts.  For example:
1. Russians standing in specific boxes outlined on ground and answering “We are ready for the flight” when asked (page 35),
2. Americans playing lowball poker in Operations and Checkout Building until the commander loses (page 35),
3. Russians peeing on right rear wheel of bus at specific place on way to launch pad (page 36),
4. And the final wave before entering the space craft (page 49).
3. Have you always wondered about how astronauts went to the bathroom?  Was your curiosity satisfied?
4. Starting around 2000, the requirements to be an astronaut changed from an emphasis on piloting skills to the “ability to perform a lot of different jobs and to get along well with others” (page 57).  Were you surprised by this?  What do you think would be the most important characteristic for an astronaut?
5. On the space station, the astronauts time was organized in short increments using the Onboard Short Term Plan Viewer (OSTPV), where a “dotted red line moves relentlessly across the OSPTV window in my laptop, pushing throughout the block of time mission control has estimated for each task” (page 81).  How would you like to live like that?
6. Discuss the writing.  Did you like the format of the writing, with the chapters alternating between the space station and his path to get there?  What did you think about the entries from Kelly’s dream journal to introduce each chapter on the ISS?
7. Kelly wrote that personal idiosyncrasies are magnified on the ISS.  For example, Tim Kopra always repeated what was said (page 381) and Lisa Novak was obsessive (page 296).  What character trait of yours would be more noticeable in space?   What character traits would drive you crazy in others?
8. When keeping track of their time on the ISS, Misha kept track of the number of days left to be there but Scott kept a tally of the number of days he had been there.  Discuss the difference in philosophy keeping track of the time.  How would you keep track?
9. What do you think his biggest adjustment was upon his return to earth?

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First Semester Success, 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.