Today, Vikram Dwarkadas gave us an entirely new perspective on the field of astronomy. In talking about the Chandra satellite telescope, he said the project took nearly 30 years to complete, from its conception in 1970 to the launch in July of 1999.
This really put all of the work scientists do into perspective for me. Someone devotes their entire life to one project, and most cannot be salvaged if something goes wrong after the initial launch. Those moments after lift-off must be the most stressful in the scientist's life, watching your life's work get truly tested for the firs time.
I struggle to imagine the emotions a scientist must feel if his or her project fails after so much time was dedicated to it.