For a Sri Lankan to become an astronaut ...

Nilma Dole

Daily News interviewed science writer Nalaka Gunawardene who worked as a research assistant to the late Sir Arthur C Clarke from 1987 to 2008 to ask his views on the space age.

Q. Please describe how astronomy and science technology interest has increased over the years in Sri Lanka especially after the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke lived here (until his death)?

A. Public interest has been on the increase, especially among the younger Lankans, and Sir Arthur's presence here certainly contributed to it. He founded the Ceylon Astronomical Association in 1959, which promoted amateur astronomical observations and popularized space travel in the island.

Over the years, the Association has nurtured two or three generations of Lankans to pursue their passion in these subjects. Some have gone on to become leading astronomers or space scientists.

Q. When Buzz Aldrin came to Sri Lanka to visit Arthur C. Clarke how did Sri Lanka react to the meeting? What really came about it?

A. Sir Arthur knew many astronauts and cosmonauts, all of who held him in high regard for his visionary ideas and for having promoted space travel years before it became a reality. Buzz Aldrin had been friends with Sir Arthur from the 1960s, from the time when Sir Arthur covered Apollo lunar missions for American television.

In 2001, Aldrin and wife visited Sri Lanka principally to see Sir Arthur. There was no official agenda, and it was strictly a private visit. But the US Embassy convened a press briefing involving both of them. Coverage of this can be found at: http://www.space.com/peopleinterviews/aldrin_clarke_010227.html

Q. Today, there is still plenty of controversy that Armstrong and Aldrin didn't really make it to the moon like the Fox TV Program 'Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?'. What is your opinion of that?

A. This is one of many conspiracy theories that have spread rapidly with the growth of the global Internet! But it's an old one: even at the time Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon, some people who refused to believe it as it apparently conflicted with their religious beliefs! And in 1980, the Flat Earth Society accused the US space agency NASA of faking the Moon landings, arguing that these events were actually staged in Hollywood studios and based on a script written by Arthur C. Clarke! Sir Arthur used to laugh these off, but when the conspiracy theory refused to go away, he wrote to the head of NASA in the 1990s, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, belatedly demanding his writer's fee for scripting the greatest 'show' in human history! And guess what? Some nuts who have no sense of humour took that seriously and thought it was further 'proof' of their fanciful theory!

More seriously, Sir Arthur was concerned that at one point a few years ago, close to a fifth of the US population had doubts whether the Moon landings actually took place.

That indicated a failure of the education system to produce people with critical thinking abilities, Nalaka said. When Fox TV aired that controversial program, Sir Arthur protested to his friend Rupert Murdoch who owns the network for peddling unscientific nonsense.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Moon_Landing_hoax_conspiracy_theories

Q. Do you see any Sri Lankan becoming famous astronauts as we do have plenty of famous scientists?

A. Becoming an astronaut is a highly competitive and demanding process, and at the moment nationals of countries that have their own space programs have a clear advantage over all the others.

For a Sri Lankan to become an astronaut, he or she will need to be accepted and trained by the American, Russian or Chinese space programs - the only ones that have the capability to launch humans into space. (Others like India space agency and European Space Agency can currently launch unmanned space probes and satellites but not humans.) Since the tax payers of these countries finance their national space programs, priority is always given to sending their own nationals into space.

It is still a very expensive enterprise, although these costs are set to come down with more private sector participating that is now beginning to happen.

So the only way a Sri Lankan national can travel to space at the moment or in the next few years, is through one of these methods:

* Government of Sri Lanka officially persuades China, Russia or the US to carry a Lankan to space as a 'guest astronaut', which has happened for other smaller countries on a few occasions.

* A very wealthy Sri Lankan becomes a space tourist riding a Russian spacecraft to Earth orbit by paying the current asking price of US Dollars 20 million (almost Rs. 2.3 billion).

* An exceptionally skilled and trained Sri Lankan scientific professional is accepted as a mission specialist in a US, Chinese or Russian space mission and travels to space to perform a highly specialized task that no national of those countries can do equally well.

This is something to aspire to, for sure, but the chances are small and remote.