Muscle memory

Commission by: shadow_as_somberdark

Brief intro:I can’t tell you guys what I do for a living just yet :( and I’m really sorry about that-it’s not that my job title is classified but that some of my co-workers love to backstab. All I can tell you for now is that it’s a related field on a lower scale, my rockets don’t leave the atmosphere-yet, I’m hoping for a transfer but those slots are hard to come by.

The good stuff:

I’ve been around big equipment for a few years now that has taught me a lot of the big picture of what is needed in space. Boil it all down, & a ship is just a sealed jar surrounded by equipment encased in a hardened shell.

It gets cramped.

It gets heated.

It gets busy.

Moving things around and setting up takes practice and rehearsal. As time goes on you develop a rhythm that lets you get faster and add more tasks and awareness in the same amount of time. It really helps to see it as a game and not as a chore-those who do pass, those who don’t fail.

Putting the pieces together is like a relay.

Running the controls is basically a video game.

When new crews start training together they feel overwhelmed, they’re slow, they miss things, and sometimes stuff breaks. After a month of medium pace practice they understand enough to pass a basic certification, but it takes six months for them to be good enough to do their part with everyone else, then you have the crazy people who want to do it all at night wearing the bulkiest gear-got dragged into that, such pain!

The temptation is, once you have the steps down, to kick back and relax. All skills are perishable, use'em or lose'em. Your brain adapts over time; so you can be the best at anything you devote your time and energy to, or sit on the porch. But hey, to each their own.

Bottom line is this, changes don’t come fast-but steady. Time and effort are the currency, excellence is the purchase. You get what you pay for.