Book Quote by Leroy Chiao
“The training kicked in and we quickly went through our emergency procedures, I took manual control and I got the spacecraft under control and stopped about 50 meters from the space station. So, the net effect of the failure was that we were actually turning and speeding up towards the space station when we should have been slowing down, so it was quite a dangerous situation. But we got manual control, performed the first manual docking to the station at night. The training pays off. It was just automatic. We had our books out already, we went right to the right procedures and executed them.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: NASA astronaut memoirs, 2020
The astronaut describes how manual skill and training saved a risky docking by taking control after an automatic failure.
In simple terms: Training enabled quick manual control during a dangerous docking.
Key Takeaway
Rely on training and manual skills in emergencies.
Themes
training
manual control
spaceflight
risk management
Mood
focused
determined
confident
Type
narrative
inspirational
When to use this quote
- spacecraft docking
- emergency response
- night operations
Key Concepts
situational awareness
procedural discipline
human factors
Questions to Reflect On
- How can training be improved for unexpected failures?
- What role does manual intervention play in high‑risk environments?
A Different Perspective
Human error can still cause critical failures despite automation.
