Aerospace Engineering Now And Before
Wind, Sand and Stars is a memoir by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Antoine was a French Aristocrat aviator-writer. The memoir dives into his job as an airmail carrier for Aeropostale. He worked for Aeropostale, an airmail carrier, in the early stages of flight 1930’s. The main incident of which Antoine wrote about was his 1935 plane crash. This crash occurred in the Sahara Desert between Benghazi and Cairo. Antoine and his mechanic-navigator, Andre Prevot, were left basically without water and food. Being on the brink of dying from thirst, they were saved by a Bedouin. Along with Antoine’s personal experiences from flying, the memoir also includes experiences from other pilots.
One of the most vivid stories from another pilot is from Antoine’s close friend, Henri Guillaumet. Henri’s story was about his near-death crash in the Chilean Andes. This crash took place in midwinter of 1930. After crashing, Henri found refuge under his cockpit from a severe snowstorm for two days and two nights. Once the storm broke, Henri decided to seek help. Vivid descriptions of his harrowing venture in search of safety are highlighted with imagery for the reader with frostbit feet that were bleeding. After falling many times from exhaustion on the third day, Henri finally fell and could not get up. However, when he was laying there on the edge of death, he thought of the law that made it impossible for him to be “declared” dead until four years after his crash. This time period would not allow for his wife to receive his pension. Knowing this now, Henri mustards enough energy up to prop his body up against a rock. This would allow for his body to be found after the winter thawed. However, once on his feet he regained enough will power and energy to continue his escape for three more days. One the 6th day after his crash, after surviving a snowstorm and temperatures far below zero, Henri was rescued by a peasant woman.
Throughout the memoir, a major theme is the modesty and sobriety in which the pilots have. This is shown from Antoine’s sense of responsibility. With the relatively new technology of airplanes, delivering mail was a dangerous job. It seems that the pilots discovered a spiritual truth. This truth allows them to disregard any selfish thoughts and focus on the connection to other human beings. This is very evident in Antoine’s near friend Henri. Henri refused to praise himself for his courage and strength. Instead his grit was built from the bond he had with his wife and fellow pilots. This bond weighed heavy on his shoulders which forced him to push on past what he thought his limits were.
Being in the early 1900’s the current state of the aerospace engineering is much different than the technology described in “Wind, Sand and Stars”. The airplane from the novel was very similar to the Spirit of St. Louis which was the peak of the aviation at that time. However, looking back now the technology today is leaps and bounds beyond the technology from this book. The GPS and navigation systems alone allow for much safer overall travel. Also, with the invention of radar, we can avoid the weather and have less dangerous voyages. One more of the biggest differences is the ability to reach higher altitudes. This gives modern airplanes the ability to fly above weather systems.
I am really interested in space travel, specifically the travel to other earth like planets. With the future of potential long-term hibernation, I believe that it is possibly that someday we as man kind can reach planets that seem “too far”. I also believe that we could potentially reach the farthest outreaches of our galaxies via traveling near the speed of light, if not the actual speed of light. I think one of the most important developments within the last 15 years is SpaceX’s ability to land rockets after they have launched. This will and has proven it to be possible to travel out of the Earth’s atmosphere while dropping the overall cost drastically. I believe that, with the ability to reuse rockets like SpaceX has demonstrated, research into deep space travel will now take massive strides towards being faster and more efficient. This will hopefully open the hopes for humans to travel to planets outside of our solar system.
