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Alpha Station: Grumps In Space

Posted by michael on from the I-will-not-throw-the-borscht-at-the-other-astronauts dept.

aldheorte writes: "The extolled virtues of polite multinational cooperation and goodwill allegedly exemplifed by Space Station Alpha are giving way to practical difficulties. CNN is carrying a story entitled "Life aboard the space station: long days, sarcasm and swearing" highlighted by ground controllers pleading with belligerent, swearing astronauts; certainly not the 'Gee shucks, darnit' family-values-and-apple-pie team image NASA likes to create." Well, at least they got the solar panels fixed.

4 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. In space... by aonifer · · Score: 5

    ...they can't hear you swear.

    Unless the mike is on.

  2. Re:Well, all good shrinks know... by Wellspring · · Score: 5

    In reality NASA spent a great deal of time researching the optimal crew size for high-stress envirinments and determined that 3 is the optimal number. All of the material is publically availiable & applied in a wide range of disciplines from physchiatry to business management.

    I've been trying to convince my girlfriend of this for some time. Could you post some of the online studies that have been published?

    The men of Slashdot appreciate your efforts.

  3. body language differences by StandardDeviant · · Score: 5

    Hmm. I think given that data that it may not be intentional that the Americans felt the Russians were hacked off at them. Russian body language and linguistic habits can seem really gruff and cold to people not familiar with them (e.g. Russians very, very, very, veryrarely smile in public, to them it's a subconcious sign of sugar-coated, goody-two-shoes insincerity (now think about how Americans tend to smile first and ask questions later, is it any wonder most Russians think Americans are a bunch of twits?)). So the Russians may have just been in normal operating mode and the Americans misinterpreted it (magnified by the fact they have the personal space of a veal calf up there). Russian culture and American culture have grown much more accustomed to each other than they were in the 1970s, though, so this may not be as big a deal as it might have been then.

    (This is not to imply that Russians are actually cold and gruff, they just might seem that way to strangers. My experience with them personally has been 180 degrees opposite in that you couldn't hope for warmer friends once they get to know you and you become accustomed to their body language.)


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    News for Geeks in Austin, TX
  4. Someone should syndicate this. by smack_attack · · Score: 5

    Kinda makes me think of MTV's Real World(TM) (shiny thing network), Survivor(TM) and Big Brother(TM).


    Bill Shepherd: "I'm sorry Sergei, the tribe, er crew, has decided to vote you off the ISS"

    Yuri Gidzenko: "We are thinkink you are takink up too much oxygen and not workink hard enough on da solar array"

    NASA Ground Crew: "Sergei, the crew has spoken, please remove your helmet and step out of the ISS"

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    Hammer of Truth