JFP Person of the Day: Andrew Chaikin

Courtesy NASA

Journalist and space buff Andrew Chaikin will speak at Millsaps College Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

by Adam Lynch
November 3, 2009

Award-winning science journalist and space historian Andrew Chaikin is touching down in Jackson, Miss. today. Chaikin, who has been writing books and articles about space exploration and astronomy for a quarter of a century, will visit the city planetarium and speak at Millsaps College tonight. Chaikin is best known as the author of "A Man on The Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts," the book that was the basis of Tom Hanks' exhaustive 12-part HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon," which added a whole new dimension to the words "Houston, we have a problem."

Chaikin is a space buff in every sense of the word, and has collaborated widely with astronauts during the production of a number of other books, including "Voices from the Moon" and "Air and Space: The National Air and Space Museum Story of Flight."

The author says he got into the business of speaking on space at age 5, when he began reciting his knowledge of space exploration and the characteristics of the solar system's planets for a crowd of bemused onlookers at the New York Planetarium.

He stuck with his first love: He was a college intern on the Viking mission for Mars in 1976 and met science legends Carl Sagan and Henry Cooper, among other masters of the topic.

Chaikin is an optimist regarding humanity's chances of long-term space exploration. He remains convinced that we will eventually get ourselves out of this solar system, despite ubiquitous deadly cosmic radiation, a swarm of microscopic asteroids capable of turning a ship's hull into a sponge and the human body's tendency to turn into jelly in a no-gravity environment.

"Long-term space travel seems so daunting, but it will be a multi-generational quest. It will not be completely solved in our lifetimes, or in the lifetimes of our children or even of our grandchildren. It will take the passion of many generations of ingenious and dedicated people to get us where we want to go," Chaikin told the Jackson Free Press. "I can tell you that we will definitely get from here to there, but I can't say when."

Hear Andrew Chaikin speak about "The Incredible Adventure of Space Exploration," tonight at 7 p.m. at Millsaps College, Ford Academic Complex Recital Hall. Admission is $10. Call 601-974-1130 for more information, or go to http://millsaps.edu.

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posted by spacer on 11/04/09 at 11:51 AM