News Most American would turn down free trip to space

jedidia

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I'd say i go even if it's on an untested ship i made in my garage.

Coming from you, that sounds more like a plan than like a hypothesis :lol:
 

Thunder Chicken

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A trip to Mars - No way! I think I could not handle the psychological stress of such a "journey". For that, I love life on Earth way too much.

Same here. I think I would go batty on Mars thinking that I wouldn't be able to feel a breeze on my cheek, or see the ocean, a tree or a bird, for a long, long time.

I think the ISS would be different as home is a whole lot closer. Knowing you could step into a Soyuz and be home in a few hours would make these same deprivations much more tolerable. And in a sense, you still are home; you're just seeing it from a unusual and stunningly beautiful perspective.
 

Andy44

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Same here. I think I would go batty on Mars thinking that I wouldn't be able to feel a breeze on my cheek, or see the ocean, a tree or a bird, for a long, long time.

You have to be able to adapt to being in a constrictive environment for a long period of time. Nuclear submariners manage to live in a steel pipe full of other dudes for months on end with no sunlight or fresh air somehow.

I think Mars would be a psychological tease as well, since you could see a beautiful sunset over a desert landscape just outside your visor, but you know you're months away from ever actually feeling that breeze on your own skin.

For me a Mars trip would require a fair amount of room at least. Maybe an inflateable module system or something.

I'd say i go even if it's on an untested ship i made in my garage.

I have a pilot's license, Artlav, if you build it I'll help you fly the thing. We Orbinauts trust you. :cheers:
 

PhantomCruiser

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I'm not currently anywhere near the physical requirments to go into space. But if given the opportunity, there's not a lot I would not do to ensure a seat.

With the way they are doing ISS intercepts now, a short 6-7 hours, me and my long legs could deal with the cramped capsule. For a Mars flight, there'd be attached modules; or at least all the pictures/slideshows I've seen had them.
 

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Until they can build ships like in Star Trek and Star Wars, or contemporary cruise ships, I ain't interested in manned spaceflight. Oh sure a short week-long orbital journey would be nice and all that. But anything like going beyond the moon or to Mars or the outer planets - forget it. Just not worth it.

Not when I can view all the science and remote photography done by unmanned craft in my own space chillout lounge.

There's simply no reason. And a lot of you may disagree, but when the time comes to put up or shut up - I bet you're shutt'n up.
 

Urwumpe

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I would fit well into a modern Soyuz (I am a shade above 6 inches, technically I would also fit into older Soyuz spacecraft, but I am 2 cm too large according to the standard), but then... who would want me into space, unless it is on a sungrazing mission?

Also, I am still 6 months away from reaching the weight limit for the older Soyuz spacecraft.
 

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There's simply no reason. And a lot of you may disagree, but when the time comes to put up or shut up - I bet you're shutt'n up.

Not I. Those that know me also know that there was a point in my life where I would give up anything to have the ability to be an astronaut. Now that I'm inching past middle age, with a wife and kid (given that she's nearly 21). I'd still give up quite a lot.

Not to the point of "Postcards From the Future", but there's a lot I'd be willing to sacrifice. I can't be a Pilot, but I can Mission Specialist like a big dog.
 

TMac3000

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There's simply no reason. And a lot of you may disagree, but when the time comes to put up or shut up - I bet you're shutt'n up.

Then you owe me money:)

Oh sure a short week-long orbital journey would be nice and all that. But anything like going beyond the moon or to Mars or the outer planets - forget it. Just not worth it.

You can see Jupiter through a telescope. That's pretty cool.

You can see Saturn through a telescope. That's :censored:ing awesome.

Now imagine seeing Saturn, as up close and personal as an astronaut sees the Earth. I won't make any assumptions about you, but my mind would be way past blown.

Imagine standing on a planet in a star system somewhere in the Pleiades. You look up at night (or maybe even in the day) and see half a dozen stars in one piece of sky, all brighter than the Earths full moon, and all with these wispy blue clouds around them

It makes me think of Ellie Arroway's (played by the lovely Jodie Foster:thumbup:)reaction in the movie "Contact", when she witnessed what appeared to be the birth of a solar system. What would it be like to experience the emotions that must have been churning in her at that moment? Seeing such things (the planets in our own solar system at least) with your own eyes would be worth all the stress and complications of decades of spaceflight.

I don't doubt the enormous utility, safety, and savings advantages of probes, but no robot could ever give you that.
 

Pipcard

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This is strange, the poll that is linked to in the article isn't even a valid web page, it's just a file on the computer of the article's author.

file:///Users/kdickerson/Downloads/MUP79_7.pdf

That's not how links work!

edit: I found the link, it was the first result for 'Monmouth university space survey'. Going to the link makes it want to download the .pdf to your computer, which is probably why the link leads to the author's hard drive.

So is there any explanation for the 1990s survey that I had linked to in which it found out that 70-80% people in Japan and 60% of people in the U.S. and Canada are interested in space tourism?

The sample size was about the same, too.
 
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N_Molson

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You have to be either an F1 driver, a Russian tank crewman, or a dwarf.

Stop being gigantic. I'm 171 cm, and its a perfectly reasonable size. Its very common over there.

Of course I would go to space. With a couple of years of physical and technical training, by the way.
 

Urwumpe

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Stop being gigantic. I'm 171 cm, and its a perfectly reasonable size. Its very common over there.

Here in the northern flatlands, you would be considered tiny - there are quite a few people here, who are one half-head bigger than I am, around 2 meters.

I suspect the lack of hills is to blame here.
 

Artlav

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Now imagine seeing Saturn, as up close and personal as an astronaut sees the Earth. I won't make any assumptions about you, but my mind would be way past blown.
Meh.
What i really want is to get down there (with a balloon to hang the ship off of) and look at the clouds of Saturn up close.
s09_11800_10.jpg
 

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Meh.
What i really want is to get down there (with a balloon to hang the ship off of) and look at the clouds of Saturn up close.
s09_11800_10.jpg
I don't know about sending a human into the atmosphere. It's colder than Antarctica at the 1-bar level, and being pelted by ammonia ice in Mach 2.5 winds is pretty detrimental even to my sense of adventure:lol:

But I agree that the cloud decks of Saturn would be a totally mind-trashing sight if you could stand the rough weather.
 
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