Scares in space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 10:21:40 GMT

Geez Alan you sure come up with some amazing stuff. What a topic! The recent love triangle debacle at NASA, which incidently would have made a great soap-opera, drives your idea here home. It doesn't matter if you have X number of degrees in science and engineering and the mental/physical acumen for space travel, you are still human. Remember that the late Gus Grissom was pretty much accused of "blowing the hatch" on his Mercury capsule in the Atlantic ocean due to an alleged hysteria upon returning to earth? The capsule sunk but was recovered a few years ago.
This was depicted in the movie "The Right Stuff".

The next big frontier in space travel and the human psyche is dealing with sex! Don't be afraid NASA!!

Scares in space

Marc, Iowa — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:33:35 GMT

The space stupids. THAT'S HILARIOUS!!! Is that what the stalker astronaut had when she drove half-way across the US, in diapers, to threaten her rival in a love triangle trist? Or maybe that is what NASA administrators had when they allowed a crippled shuttle to re-enter the atmosphere and it disintegrated over Texas in 2003. Or is it the way our governmetn "half-asses" its support of our space program in the first place. I dunno. Apologies for the blunt profanity.

Scares in space

Frank, Dacula Georgia — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:21:47 GMT

Surprised after all the years the combined space programs have been around that we're hearing some of this. Makes you kind of wonder that they're not telling us.

Scares in space

Phil, Houston, Texas — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:22:17 GMT

I rode on the Disney Mission:Space (TM) ride, before they toned it down recently. It was said to be the closest simulation of a space flight next to the NASA simulators. Two people died on that ride, although Disney played it down. The good news is, Disney kindly provided barf bags with each seat. I, as well as several others coming off the ride could barely walk. After that experience, I could easily see how most people would be very sick and disoriented on a real space flight. It definitely cured me of ever wanting to be an astronaut. If anyone wants to see if they have "The Right Stuff", the untamed version of that ride should be all they need to decide.

Scares in space

Frank Glover — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:58:11 GMT

Obviously, security could be an issue in future spacecraft, space stations, space bases. The greater number and longer-serving the staff/crewmembers, the more so.... Do terrestrial analogs (Navies and Antarctic research facilities) have experieces to learn from?

Scares in space

Joseph Basile, Burrillville, RI — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 01:32:53 GMT

I agree, The Space Stupids is friggin awesome! Sounds dangerous though.

Marc, don't go too hard on the administrators for Columbia, after all spaceflight is a very risky business.

In any case, good call on this article Alan, one of your recent best.

Scares in space

Keith Nealy, Alameda, California — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 06:43:53 GMT

Actually, I'm surprised there aren't a lot more incidents of this nature, considering the large number of people involved over the years.

Scares in space

Sarah, Richmond, VA — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 02:28:29 GMT

That must have been terrible, barfing in your space suit! All of those would be terrible if it was happening to you, but totally hilarious to hear about!

And I had forgotten about that insane woman who crossed the country w/ the NASA love triangle until someone else mentioned it.

On a more serious note, I don't know if space tourism is a good idea. Rather idealistic and a fascinating idea, but as the article says, it could be potentially very hazardous.

Scares in space

Kurdt — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:49:55 GMT

This is why we should only send probes, and eventually our evolutionary successors intelligent robots, into space

Scares in space

Aaron Oesterle, Ann Arbor, Mi — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 11:42:44 GMT

Kurdt,

Cause its not like probes haven't ever had any problems, have they? They've never had the wrong units used

The reason we send humans into space is for colonization (or at least it should be the reason). Things like sub-orbital tourism helps move in that direction. Nasa could do more to help this as well, but with their current plan, don't bet on it.

Scares in space

David Beres Alamo, New Mexico — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:39:16 GMT

I am a high school science teacher. I feel that students should be made aware of these types of issues. The life discussed in this article will be theirs in the future. I plan on sharing this information with them when school opens this fall.

Scares in space

valugi, Spain — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:29:02 GMT

I think this is not an issue. Think about how much the air flight change from its firsts attempts. Space flight will also improve a lot.

Scares in space

Adrian Culici, Lost Angeles, CA — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:46:34 GMT

Space sickness is one of those things that's "worth it" for the experience! I don't relish the thought of barfing in a space suit, but I would do it and risk life and limb without a second thought. It's the only frontier left and by the looks of it, the only long-term hope.

Scares in space

John F, St. Louis, Missouri — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 04:31:46 GMT

Kurdt, give me a robotic break. What good is it to explore the solar system with robots if we have no intention of going there ourselves. What do we gain in knowledge or resources by simply staring through telescopes "out there" if we don't explore what we find?
That's kind of like sending robots to the bahamas so we can enjoy their hijinks and pictures but not understanding why we sent them in the first place or using the knowledge we gained from them.
We will as a race perish if we don't move outward, that's not a blind statement, the Earth has limited resources and we will deplete them eventually.
Though the rovers on Mars have turned up some great stuff, what they've done in three years could have been done in three weeks with humans. The price for sending humans will be much, much higher, but so too will be the rewards for going.
We are human, we have frailties and we have weaknesses. We will learn how to overcome them on long voyages and we will have problems. That is a fact. We gain nothing by staying on our planet and dying, we gain everything by going and growing. Robots are awesome scouts, they teach us wonderful things and they better prepare us for the challenges that lay ahead.
If no one ever sailed west from Europe; America would not exist. I believe they called it exploration and I believe they took the risk to do so. If they never left the shore line, what would we have gained or learned?

Scares in space

minx, states — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:08:29 GMT

minx loves ya all big and small. thnx for all ur hard work and for making an effort to insure peace and safety for the world.