| Day 715 Space Conference |
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| Tuesday, 07 April 2009 | |
 Day 715 - April 7, 2009 Wind 10 knots ENE, Heaved-to, Position 26*24s by 16*07w Space Conference Today the respected Mars human factors scientist Al Harrison, who has been helping us for many years, presented our project at the NASA Contact Space Conference. They projected pictures of the boat and the voyage and talked about our space analogous expedition, The Mars Ocean Odyssey. Then Soanya and I called in from our different locations and gave our stories and answered questions. I was excited because Al and the audience were so enthusiastic. I must have spoken for at least a half hour until I lost my voice, having not used it at all out here. We spoke of the usual comparisons, the isolation, sensory deprivation, monotony, the similar time span, similar size living quarters, the stressful conditions and the life and death environment. We also spoke of life at sea, the storms, my strategies, what I eat etc. I was surprised when Al asked me to explain to the audience my sense of "oneness" that I write about, because this subject is more poetic than scientific. I explained that the process of tuning into the boat and the environment of the sea brought me into contact with the stars and higher universal feelings. This made me connect to the spirit of all of humanity that dwells there also. My smaller self disappears and I feel no separation from everything else. This feeling comes to me again and again and gives me strength, healing and equanimity to carry on in peace. I thought that astronauts on long voyages would also find encouragement experiencing this. At the end of my talk the MC asked me a question. What was the defining moment in the voyage? Again a question that doesn't help us establish scientific credibility, because I have not discovered any data that can be measured. At first I said the whole voyage has merged together into a timeless state, then I realized it was the Whale drawing. Before that I had so many problems with equipment and Soanya leaving that I was not confident. The drawing of the Whale with my course was a symbol to me as if nature was saying, "Reid, you are not extinct yet, we are with you, you can go on!" I could hear the audience clapping as I said "Goodbye, goodbye." |
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