2024-09-24 08:41:23
His wife unwittingly steps on the First to touch the Moon, and Alegria calculates the chance that it is exactly “that foot”
Arranges with Elon Musk’s plane to take his Apollo idols around and show them the possibilities of companies working to commercialize space
After the interview with NASA and Axiom Space record holder Michael Lopez-Alegría, which we published in “Kosmos” and in “24 hours”, an unexpected opportunity arose for a second conversation with him.
Michael López-Alegría not only spent 296 days in weightlessness with his six missions, but he is also the American whose “account” includes 10 extravehicular activities or EVAs for installations and research. Soaring around the station, he spent an impressive 67 hours and 40 minutes. His every word is imbued with wisdom, rich experience, humor and a desire to share that space is not so far away and that very soon it can be accessible even to astronauts from small countries like Bulgaria who want to do science at the world level.
Michael López-Alegría was only 11 years old when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins sensationally landed on the moon in 1969, but the memory of this memorable moment will be written in golden letters in his childhood head.
The idea of repeating their feat so obsesses the boy that he begins to absorb all information about the Cosmos with interest, and with his best friend they often empty the closet to “equip” his insides in a spaceship.
“The moon landing was one of the few moments in life that begins to shape the path you’re going to follow,” he says. Perhaps that is why, that evening, it was with Neil Armstrong that our conversation began – exactly 55 years after he uttered the iconic phrase, touching the surface of our satellite: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
With his audacity and courage, Armstrong does something much more – with his astonishing coolness and inhuman audacity, he becomes an ideal followed by younger people like Alegria. Everyone is aware of the sensational landing, but few know the breathtaking story that preceded it. “24 Hours” got to know her, flipping through the historical chronicles of NASA, where the detailed memories of the participants in various missions are recorded.
According to the documents, just before the moon landing in July 1969, the on-board computer’s memory was overloaded and various error numbers began to appear on its screen – 1202, 1201, etc. Armstrong would later admit that at that moment his heart rate shot above 120. The center in Houston was shivering because the possibility of astronauts crashing was real.
Realizing that they do not have a computer to calculate the altitude, the speed of flight, to determine the exact location to land, their chances of survival are rapidly decreasing. At this point, Buzz Aldrin begins to do these calculations himself, and Armstrong takes manual control of the spacecraft. Unfortunately, while trying to figure out why the computer wasn’t working, they missed the intended landing site, one of the few flat areas on the moon. By the time they realize this, they are already flying over a field littered with craters, teeth, and huge sharp rocks. Armstrong stared intently for a safer spot. But his time is not infinite because the fuel runs out. From the center they are told: “60 seconds”, signaling that the astronaut has one minute to land the ship. The crew then hears “30 seconds”, they are already close to the surface, but the engine is kicking up more and more dust, rocks are casting shadows through the fog, and these are all clues for Armstrong to estimate how high he is. When they have only 25 fuel left seconds, the module finally rumbles into contact with the lunar surface. Seconds later, Armstrong said, “Houston, take it easy, base, here… The Eagle has landed.” But no one at the center of NASA has the strength to respond, seconds pass until their colleagues on Earth realize that the crew did not crash. Unable to say anything, Houston only rose to its feet to applaud the intrepid heroes. Although this tension-filled episode is not widely known, it is what made Neil Armstrong a legend in the space agency and set the ideal to which Michael López-Alegría later aspired, to whom NASA entrusted a record number of extravehicular spacewalks.
“I knew Neil Armstrong,” Michael Lopez-Alegria told “24 Hour”. event where a group of senior astronauts and I were present in a room with many spaceship models. There were some narrow passages between them, everyone was talking, we were drawing. I was with my wife, who took a step back to withdraw from a discussion , and at that moment, Armstrong unwittingly stepped in. I looked at him and immediately joked that you had a 50-50 chance of stepping on the first foot on the moon.” The reason is that he and his colleagues were never sure whether Armstrong ended up taking the historic first step with his right or left foot.
Alegria’s other story with his charismatic colleague is even more curious because he has to cross swords with the legendary First.
After leaving NASA in 2012, Michael López-Alegría began a new phase in his life and decided to dedicate it to the democratization of space. He turns the idea into his cause because he is convinced that humanity will advance much faster in all fields, especially in science, if the access of scientists to research in microgravity conditions is expanded. One of the reasons is that only “above” can be created medicines that are almost without any side effects. The explanation is that when the “enemy” proteins are located in specific places – in the so-called “biological locks”, then the protein of the potential drug must be designed to precisely fit into the “lock” in question. If this is achieved, the preparation will have much fewer side effects and, in addition to being safe, it will also be very effective. However, to get the desired fit, scientists need to know the structures of both proteins very well, and one of the best ways to analyze them is to “recreate” them in crystal form.
With high quality, it can only be achieved in space, and this is proven by decades of research on the International Space Station (ISS). One of the most successful medications to prevent bone loss was developed there, and scientists predict that effective drugs against cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and more will soon be created there. Previously, it was almost impossible because only five space agencies were allowed to conduct research on the International Space Station. These were NASA, the European Space Agency, which has 11 member countries, as well as the agencies of Canada, Russia and Japan.
Historically, visiting the ISS was limited to countries that were part of the intergovernmental partnership, so many countries did not have the opportunity to send people there – explains Alegria. – Now with the participation of commercial companies, we are able to expand access to space. But in 2012, the situation is different – this sphere is still a reserved territory for space agencies, and Alegria is ambitious for the better future of humanity to break this “monopoly”.
Just as I began publicly advocating for commercial space companies, three Apollo astronauts—Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, and Jim Lovell (the latter two having traveled to the moon twice—ed.) wrote a newspaper commentary and their point was that such an idea should not be promoted, and that this program should be left to NASA. Their arguments were that the experts are there and the other companies don’t know what they are doing. I’m paraphrasing, of course, he recalled to “24 Hours”.
Alegria admits he was extremely disappointed with their position.
Because I really respect all three of them – he notes. – When I first learned this, I was on my way to a conference and had to give a speech. I didn’t know what to talk about. So I decided that my speech would take the form of a letter to Neil Armstrong – in which I explained my arguments in detail. Immediately after his speech, journalists came to Alegria and asked if they could get the text of his letter. So Michael López-Alegría decided to contact Armstrong and share what his position was so he wouldn’t find out about it from the news.
I sent it to him, not assuming that I would ever get a response, but Armstrong did, and we started a dialogue on the subject — an intellectual conversation about the merits of a commercial program, says Alegria. – We arranged for him and the other two guys, Gene Cernan and Jim Lovell, to fly on a plane owned by Elon Musk to several different companies involved in this commercialization program, to see for themselves what the people in them were doing, to get to know everything to judge for themselves.
The idea is great, but unfortunately, sometime during this period, within a few months, Armstrong fell ill and passed away in August 2012.
Thus, Alegria did not manage to show his idol his overall plan, but admitted that he still kept the emails exchanged with him. This is remarkable. Armstrong was such a humble and good-natured person, says the astronaut.
In fact, so is Alegria himself, and this can easily be ascertained by anyone who has had the chance to speak with him live. He doesn’t flaunt his records, he doesn’t stand out, and he doesn’t show anything that he was chosen for such complex and risky missions outside the ISS. Today, despite being 66 years old, he continues to enjoy spaceflight and served as commander of two of the Axiom space missions. At the company, he is the director in charge of development, and together with several experienced astronauts, they organize commercial trips to the ISS. In Axiom-1, its crew includes billionaire Larry Connor, who conducted research on board, including with heart cells, previously agreed with one of the most innovative hospitals in the United States, the Mayo Clinic. In the second mission with Alegria, the European Space Agency sent its astronaut Markus Wand, and from 2026 the company will already have its own modern module in space for conducting top scientific research.
What is the story of Michael Lopez-Alegría with another legend of NASA in space and who are his most dangerous survivors there, expect in the next issue.