"I don't see why that's so serious," I said.

{p. 103}

"Suppose radar or some other device warned you a meteorite was coming
toward you head-on. Or maybe some instrument indicated an error in
navigation. By the time your mind registered the thought, the
situation would have changed."

"Then all the controls would have to be automatic," I said. I told him
that I had heard about plans for avoiding meteorites. "Electronic
controls would be faster than thought."

"That's probably the answer," he agreed. "Of course, at a hundred
miles a second it might not be too serious. But if they ever get up to
speeds like a thousand miles a second, that mental lag could make an
enormous difference, whether it was a meteorite heading toward you or
a matter of navigation."

One of the problems he mentioned was the lack of gravity. I had
already learned about this. Once away from the earth's pull, objects
in the space ship would have no weight. The slightest push could send
crewmen floating around the sealed compartment.

"Suppose you spilled a cup of coffee," said the flight surgeon. "What
would happen?"

I said I hadn't thought it out.