I'm shamelessly stealing this from another blog (which I can't link to, as it's open to a select few only.
If you ever think that your daily commute takes too long, this might put the distance in perspective.
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Monday, June 15, 2009
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Life On Mars?
Anyone fancy spending a year and a half on a trip to Mars?
The European Space Agency is looking for volunteers to take part in a simulation of what life would be like for a team of astronauts travelling to the red planet from Earth.
According to the BBC report: "With the exception of weightlessness and radiation, the crew will experience most other aspects of long-haul space travel, such as cramped conditions, a high workload, lack of privacy, and limited supplies."
The ESA could save itself some money though: the experiment is taking place in Moscow - surely they don't have to build a dummy spaceship to simulate cramped conditions, high workload, lack of privacy and limited supplies? Just send the "crew" to live in a high rise block anywhere in Russia.
Even the "delayed communications with Earth" wouldn't be a problem, as anyone who's ever called Russia on a normal telephone will be able to attest to.
All joking aside, a mission to Mars sounds like a great way to spend 18 months. I would have thought it would take longer to get there, but you could do a round trip in three years, if you could build a spacecraft capable of holding that much fuel.
Ever since I was a wee laddy, I've always dreamed of going into space. I'm presuming that I'll never get the chance, although I suppose if, when they were children, you'd told my grandparents that they'd fly to France in an aeroplane, they would have had trouble imagining an aeroplane, let alone being inside one.
I don't know if the ESA will be desperately seeking overweight Scottish journalists for its maiden Mars voyage though.
The European Space Agency is looking for volunteers to take part in a simulation of what life would be like for a team of astronauts travelling to the red planet from Earth.
According to the BBC report: "With the exception of weightlessness and radiation, the crew will experience most other aspects of long-haul space travel, such as cramped conditions, a high workload, lack of privacy, and limited supplies."
The ESA could save itself some money though: the experiment is taking place in Moscow - surely they don't have to build a dummy spaceship to simulate cramped conditions, high workload, lack of privacy and limited supplies? Just send the "crew" to live in a high rise block anywhere in Russia.
Even the "delayed communications with Earth" wouldn't be a problem, as anyone who's ever called Russia on a normal telephone will be able to attest to.
All joking aside, a mission to Mars sounds like a great way to spend 18 months. I would have thought it would take longer to get there, but you could do a round trip in three years, if you could build a spacecraft capable of holding that much fuel.
Ever since I was a wee laddy, I've always dreamed of going into space. I'm presuming that I'll never get the chance, although I suppose if, when they were children, you'd told my grandparents that they'd fly to France in an aeroplane, they would have had trouble imagining an aeroplane, let alone being inside one.
I don't know if the ESA will be desperately seeking overweight Scottish journalists for its maiden Mars voyage though.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
D'ya wanna be a spaceman?
In previous posts, I have alluded to the fact that I like sci-fi. I'll elaborate - since the age of around four, I've wanted to be a spaceman.
So I'm delighted by the news that NASA is going to build a permanently-manned moonbase.
Yeah, so the base is going to 'serve as a science outpost as well as a testbed for technologies needed for future travel to planets'.
But what I want to know is - when can we start taking lunar holidays?
No-one's been to the moon since well before I was born, but hey, bring it on - I'm ready to volunteer.
At least it doesn't rain on the moon.
So I'm delighted by the news that NASA is going to build a permanently-manned moonbase.
Yeah, so the base is going to 'serve as a science outpost as well as a testbed for technologies needed for future travel to planets'.
But what I want to know is - when can we start taking lunar holidays?
No-one's been to the moon since well before I was born, but hey, bring it on - I'm ready to volunteer.
At least it doesn't rain on the moon.
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