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OH NO!!! Not another silly space poll???!!!

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by daniel, Mar 21, 2012.

?
  1. Yes.

    7 vote(s)
    50.0%
  2. No.

    7 vote(s)
    50.0%
  1. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Yes, it's another silly space poll.

    Make-believe scenario:

    A Russian consortium has developed a rocket and space capsule to take tourists into space. They got no takers at 20 million dollars, so they dropped the price to 15, then 10 million. But prospective clients don't trust the safety of their system. They've successfully sent some monkeys and dogs up, and they came back alive and well, but nobody wants to be the first human to take their ride. Everybody figures it's safer to wait for Space X to come on-line with rides for the paying super-rich.

    So Rasputin Ventures, Inc. is offering to take some folks up for free, hoping that this will assuage fears about the safety of their ships, and knowing that the testimonials of how wonderful the trip is will be better than all their advertising to date.

    You get a certified letter from Rasputin Ventures, Inc. via overnight courrier, offering you a free ride. They're offering to fly you first class to Moscow, and then by private jet to the launch facility, and home again afterwards. You'll have first-class accommodations before and after. They'll even arrange for a free limousine to pick you up at your home and take you to the airport, and back home after. The letter assures you that their system is designed to be safe for ordinary folks (no need to be an athlete or trained astronaut). You will spend 48 hours in space and will have the option of taking two space walks if you so choose, of up to one hour each.

    You wonder if this is legit, so you phone the U.S. State Department and the Better Business Bureau and the space sciences department of your local university, and everyone assures you that Rasputin Ventures, Inc. is a real company that has indeed developed a tourist space program and is known to have sent out letters inviting people to be their first clients, absolutely for free. You verify that the letter is genuine and that there are no hidden charges.

    Do you accept the offer?
     
  2. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    I'll go first. I'd love to go, but I know I'd be as sick as a dog (space sickness) the whole time. So I'd have to say no.

    Feel free to comment or criticize.
     
  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I would go, but I bet I would never be allowed to donate blood again.

    "Have you left the atmosphere in the last 15 years?"
     
  4. airportkid

    airportkid Will Fly For Food

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    I'd consider it when deep sea descents had become routine enough they don't require training or fitness, as that will demonstrate that excursions into extreme environments CAN be made routine (independent of expense - they may ALWAYS be expensive).

    Rasputin would have to include a clause that acceptance commits you to making the journey - no backing out (except for sudden medical exigency) - otherwise people would sign up just to get a free 1st class round trip to Moscow.

    I think the only invitees would be celebrities, or well known personalities whose endorsements would have wide influence. Taking John Doe up for a ride wouldn't even ripple the media-sphere.

    Meanwhile, Daniel, by the time Rasputin CAN make such an offer, other technological/medical advances will have long since developed absolutely sure-fire motion-sickness abatement pills so you'd be able to fly with nothing but butterflies in your belly.
     
  5. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Yeah, I would give it a shot! What the hell...
     
  6. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I wouldn't let my dog go on that trip. :madgrin:
     
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  7. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    No for me. It's a risk regardless of the country involved and at it's essence, it's a joy ride.
     
  8. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    The chance to see Earth from a distance, as an oasis of life in the cold darkness of space, would be worth some risk. Can my dog come too? I don't know if I get space sick, and I hope claustrophobia wouldn't be a problem. Still, it seems relatively safe and comfortable right here. Maybe I'm getting old. :cool:
     
  9. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    I Laika that remark.
     
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  10. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    I'd go, but only if I could fit it in on a couple days off from work, and if I didn't have to take one of the cats to the vet, or somesuch. I'd have to already have a clear schedule of availability. Then, yes. Can I take my camera? Do I have to sign some kind of release first?

    EDIT: sorry, just re-read the OP. 48 hours + transportation time. Ouch. I'd have to schedule RTO three weeks in advance for that. Damn - I'm out.
     
  11. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    We're talking Russia, where the mafia has its hands in everything. You don't back out of a promise to the Russian mafia.

    Nit-picking. This is a SILLY poll, remember?

    I highly doubt it. Space X is not all that far from being able to offer space tourism. And we're no closer to an effective motion-sickness preventative than ever. Scopolamine is the best there is now, and it only gives partial reduction of symptoms for folks who get it bad.

    I'm guessing no dogs on the free ride. If you can pay the fee, they'd probably schedule a pets-allowed trip. Would you pay twenty million for yourself PLUS another twenty million for your dog to go along?

    Cameras definitely allowed. Plus they'll take pictures also and you get a CD of the pictures at no extra cost.

    You'd have to sign a release allowing them to use your name and pictures of you in their publicity, and allowing them to sell astronaut dolls with your likeness and name. You'd also have to appear in a news conference shortly after the trip, where reporters could ask you questions. What and if you answer those questions would be up to you. Rasputin is confident that you'll be so happy you'll give them lots of compliments and will be grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    Please note: There's a big advantage to being first: People get space sick. People have to wear space suits. The first group are the only ones who can be certain that nobody has already barfed in their space suit. (Somebody mentioned this issue in a podcast where they were discussing space tourism.)
     
  12. Trebuchet

    Trebuchet Senior Member

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    Personally I think it would be cool to projectile vomit in space. As long as I didn't have to clean up the mess. Forunately for you two and many other motion afflicted sickers NASA says:

    You could always take a ride on the "Vomit Comet" to test your resistance to space sickness.

    or . . .

    'Vomit Comet' Inspires Zero-Gravity Coaster : Discovery News
     
  13. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I'm on it.
    My wife would throw a fit and it might result in a divorce but I'd go.
     
  14. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    They say the same thing about seasickness, but some people never get over it. Charles Darwin was seasick the entire five-year voyage of the Beagle. Lord Nelson got seasick every time he went to sea. And I was seasick the entire week I spent on the Lord Nelson, a square-rigged tall sailing ship where you pay to be crew and work. (And which was named after the same Lord Nelson who always got seasick.) That ship is owned by the Jubilee Sailing Trust, and I recommend it very highly for an adventure vacation, if you don't get seasick.
     
  15. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    You've probably tried this already, Daniel, but I've found my sea-queasiness disappears when I get to 'drive'. Under most conditions, chewing on candied ginger takes enough of the edge off for me that I'm at least functional rather than miserable, but I've found my head and stomach return to normal within minutes of taking the wheel. Standing up seems to help, too, since my legs absorb much of the motion and my head isn't bouncing around so much.
     
  16. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Space = Yes
     
  17. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Ginger does nothing at all for me, though I do enjoy ginger beer if it's not too strong.

    Standing, rolling with the movement, watching the horizon or any fixed point, driving a car, or helming a ship; all these things help. And if the movement is very small (i.e. relatively calm seas) and I'm taking scopolamine, the seasickness can be mild enough to be ignored. But if the seas are extremely rough, I will still be as sick as a dog.

    And the thing is, every time I go to sea, I start out convinced that this time I won't get sick, because I've got the right med, or because I've learned to roll with the ship, or just because I'm determined to just NOT GET SICK. Every time, I start out convinced that this time I can control it. And every time, if the conditions are rough, I get sick.

    Normally I never get carsick while I am driving. But the Tesla is so powerful and holds the road so well, that it can pull enough G force that occasionally I do get sick! Usually only for a few moments, though, and once I'm back to a steady state it goes away.

    On the Lord Nelson, I was least sick while helming the ship. Unfortunately, my watch was on duty only part of the time, and everyone had to have equal time at the helm, so I could not simply take the helm to alleviate my sickness.
     
  18. Corwyn

    Corwyn Energy Curmudgeon

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    I would dearly love to see the Earth from LEO. I expect the experience would be live-changing.

    Even so, I would decline. The amount of environmental damage from such a trip is too much. I would feel guilty the rest of my life. It would be like driving a Hummer around the world (at the equator) 20 times.

    Call me when the space-elevator opens, and I will risk both motion sickness and some uncertainty as to survival rates.
     
  19. airportkid

    airportkid Will Fly For Food

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    I wonder if a fake tiller would have helped. A tiller mounted near the helm that would feel like a real one (perhaps with some small drag in the water that wouldn't affect the ship but would give the tiller feel - large aircraft yokes are fitted with fake feel/feedback to aid control). Anyway, your conscious mind would know the tiller was fake, but subconsciously it would feel as though you were steering the ship, especially if you told your subconscious mind that all the real helmsman was doing was indicating which way to move the tiller and your tiller movement was doing the steering.

    You'd let the captain know that you could stand normal watch duties until sick, at which time you'd man the fake tiller until you felt better. It's amazing how much the concious mind can fool the subconscious mind to overcome difficulties. Like the mirror trick that allows amputees to rub or scratch phantom pain or itch by rubbing the intact limb viewed in a mirror. Consciously they're fully aware of the subterfuge, but subconsciously it works and they get relief otherwise unresponsive to other therapies.

    You could put fake tillers aboard all kinds of public passenger vessels, call them "Queller Tillers" or something.

    I wonder if the idea is worth a patent. Hmmmm.
     
  20. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    ^ I have no idea if that would work. Actually helming the ship (or driving the car) provides feedback. I make decisions constantly about the helm based on compass heading, wind direction, sail condition, tiller angle, and desired course. And I get feedback as my helm changes alter the tiller angle and then the compass heading and the relative wind direction.

    Plus, in my case, helming the ship didn't make me well. I was just a little less sick. As soon as I left the helm I'd have to return to it, which would mean (in my case) that I'd never be attending to my other work. I'd have to be the helmsman for the entire voyage.

    Even if they offered to let me be sole helmsman for the entire trip, I'd decline, because I was still extremely sick. It's just that while not helming the ship I got so sick I seriously contemplated jumping overboard to drown. The main reason I didn't was that I figured someone would see me jump, and they'd turn the boat around and fish me out and they'd be mad at me, and I'd still be as sick as ever, but wet and cold in addition. And I was chicken.