Posted by
michael
on from the diving-in-to-capitalism dept.
0biJon writes "The BBC says 'For as little as $20,000, you could soon have a letter sent to a new "post office" aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and back care of the Russian space agency.' Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?"
Is this a joke or just some stupid ploy to get money for the Russian space program. I mean, 20k...that's an expensive letter.
What would the point be except for rich people to claim that they spent 20k on a stamp basically. I know of some crappy fundraisers, but this one sucks.
I'd rather them just ask for donations really. It'd be more honerable I think.
I'm sure that you could just donate money, but obviously people aren't doing that. I don't really see this as much different then donating to a charity and getting a small gift.
Re:uhhhhh
by
Prof.Phreak
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I don't get it. You can send your ashes to space for $5,300, but a letter is nearly 4 times more expensive?
--
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
Re:uhhhhh
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
The ashes are on a one way trip. The letter ain't.
The ashes are on a one way trip. The letter ain't.
So $5,300 x 2 = $20k?
If only NASA ran an airline--then I could buy my one-way ticket home for 1/4 of the price instead of purchasing the (currently cheaper) round trip ticket.
Re:working up to pigs later
by
Jason1729
·
· Score: 2, Funny
If a letter costs $20k, a catalog will be a lot more. It might be cheaper to pay the $20 Million to have it hand delivered. Maybe by one of the models:).
One question is whether the $20,000 for the stamp is merely an additional cost, or if it includes the cost of transporting a kilogram or so of cargo.
It looks like a good method for space-based experiments, at least until a cost-effective private alternative is created.
--
Unity in Diversity
Re: load size?
by
Black+Parrot
·
· Score: 2, Funny
> One question is whether the $20,000 for the stamp is merely an additional cost, or if it includes the cost of transporting a kilogram or so of cargo.
Sounds like someone's thinking about becoming the system's first astrodealer. You reckon they smoke a lot of pot on the ISS?
just the symbolic act of your LETTER having travelled to iss and back.
and that's it. just a way to get financed, and a way to give something symbolic back to the people donating, making the donating much 'easier' for cheapskate-minded people with lot of money.
-- world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Probably an ounce. Or it's metric equivalent (28.35 grams). So, one first class stamp for the first 28.35 grams, $20,000. Whats it cost for each additional gram?
For that cost, I think I'd go with DMT instead of THC.
those numbers were there for so that you could try to calculate the PROFIT they get from the letter, and if it was worth it for the russians to sell such service. it costs THEM $10-20,000 per kilo, $60,000 to return that kilo, and $18-19,000 per hours work of astro/cosmonauts.
-- world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
"The check's in the mail. It's probably still on the launch pad. I mailed it in plenty of time, though."
I shudder to think of the kind of bills you'd need to have a $20-$30K stamp be a cost effective stalling method. I doubt they'd launch your letter before their check clears, at least.
-- I spent a year in Iraq looking for WMD and all I found was this lousy sig.
Re:Great excuse...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Funny
>it's probably a god damn accepted spelling now, I'll add that to my reasons to hate list
It is, and we hate you back, but with WMDs. Perhaps you're on our liberation list?
Do you think you could use one of those business reply envelopes (postage to be paid by addressee) to send your junk mail offers back via the ISS and thereby really stick it to that bank that keeps offering you the 0.01% VISA card?
Maybe we can send through the ISS a couple (or several hundred) of those postage to be paid by addressee to spam king Alan Ralsky much like the people who signed him up for real junk mail in this/. this article.
rubber stamped space mail
by
GregorianChant
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Imagine the dismay on the senders face when their galactic letter comes back with "Return To Sender" on the envelope:) For 20,000 bucka you better make damn sure that the letter is addressed correctly!!
I'll bet God and Santa Claus are on some very rich kids' space-mailing-lists now. Of course, in God's case, the letters shouldn't come back down, just get jettisonned Simpsons-style.
I once had a package pass through New Jersey on its way from Sacramento to Seattle. But through the ISS? I'd like a screenshot of that tracking history.
Sacramento and Seattle are all on the west coast of the US. New Jersey is on the east coast. The package made a cross-country trip that it didn't need to.
-- "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." -- Dark Helmet
I wonder if it would be cheaper for NASA to outsource some of their experiments to the Russian agency?
Really, I can think of a lot of cool experiments for the serious scientist. Things like insect eggs in space, effect of zero-G on seeds, that kind of thing
Except NASA is forbidden, by law, from doing this.
I'd heard this several times, but
this is the only current reference to the law I can find (see the fourth and fifth paragraphs). Here is an older article about the restriction before it was passed.
I'd like to recieve the mail...
by
aerojad
·
· Score: 5, Funny
If I lived somewhere where it cost 20,000 to mail me, I don't think any advertiser would bug me again... ever.
I reckon my postie will be rightly pissed if he has to ride his bike all the way from the space station Post Office to my appartment. But he does need the exercise so if anyone wants to send mail to me this way.. feel free.
-- Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth What truth? There is no dupe
Why not? Spam could be part of a balanced meal along with, say, a few space food sticks.
Cost, $20K is only one way.
by
Student_Tech
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· Score: 1, Informative
That $20K only is getting the one kilogram mass up, article says it is $60K for the trip back down.
Re:Cost, $20K is only one way.
by
Guanix
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· Score: 1
I doubt that a typical letter weighs 1 kg. The $20k price is probably launch, return and processing of a typical letter (30-40 g).
Re:Cost, $20K is only one way.
by
HappyClown
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· Score: 2, Funny
$60K for it to come back down?!! What are they trying to do, get it delivered in one piece or something?! Like that ever happens with regular post.
To get it back down I can't see why they wouldn't just throw it out the window. Sure, it may do a few thousand laps of the earth first (just like regular post), and it my burn up on reentry (your own fault for inadequate packaging), but think of the amount of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf merchandise you could buy with the savings.
Re:Cost, $20K is only one way.
by
Prof.Phreak
·
· Score: 1
The weird thing is that instead of a few such mails, you can send your own satellite up...
--
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
Re:Cost, $20K is only one way.
by
gl4ss
·
· Score: 3, Informative
ehh. the bbc article seems a bit confusing about this.
the per kilogram costs are cited from some russian sources as what it costs THEM to move that mail first up, then down, and to process it. one kilo fits quite many of those 20k$-30k$ letters.
-- world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
# Delivery of one kilo of cargo to the ISS: $10-20,000
# Return of one kilo from the ISS to Earth: $60,000
# Cost of one hour's work by the team aboard the ISS: $18-19,000
"Cost of one hour's work by the team aboard the ISS: $18-19,000"???? does this mean i have to pay for the post and the time to read it?? or does it mean i can pay an extra 20g's to have them do what ever i want? id donate to a fund to have lance take an hour space walk w/ no space suit!
But, if you want to save $2K and achieve the same result...
1. Put Lance in an envelope with the sender's address as "Space Station, Earh Orbit" 2. Mail him to your own address 3. Refuse to accept him and send him back to the post office 4. The PO will send the mail back to the original sender, i.e. the Space Station
-- The web is a dominatrix. Everywhere I turn, I see little buttons ordering me to Submit.
Will this be an Elvis stamp or a Dimitry stamp? Just curious about the consumer group they are trying to target.
-- I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
NASA's new business model
by
duplo
·
· Score: 5, Funny
1) Take Printer to ISS 2) Tell people to send letters for 20K 3) Scan letters 4) email letters 5) Print letters on ISS 6) PROFIT
Re:NASA's new business model
by
BlueArchon
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· Score: 1
Um, what's the difference? They still have to get the blank paper from somewhere...:)
p-mail, e-mail, now s-mail...
by
Black+Parrot
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· Score: 1
What's next, SG1-mail?
-- Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
It shouldn't be too hard to mail Lance
by
tuxlove
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· Score: 5, Funny
Given a midsize cardboard box, a large garbage bag and a hacksaw, I think I can package him appropriately.
Coolness factors....
by
grantb
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· Score: 2, Interesting
This has got an expensive "just because i can" and useless coolness factor to it like, renting a suite in a nice hotel, getting a buggy when playing golf or using a Palm handheld
A bit too much?
by
Prof.Phreak
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Anyone who can afford this can probably afford to launch their own satellite...
...you could send an engagement ring up there before use... just think of all the corny lines you could get away with...
Er, no, actually, I can't think of any either. Ah well.
A request...
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 2, Funny
Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?
Sounds like a great idea. I have one request though...
For the return trip, he takes the shuttle.
Bad taste, I know, sorry.;)
It's all a matter of mass
by
2sleep2type
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
You don't get to send much
"Celestis will place cremated remains into personalized flight capsules that can hold approximately one-quarter ounce (7 grams) of ashes"
It's a symbolic act.
I'm guessing that your letters will weigh a bit more
A touch of space
by
2sleep2type
·
· Score: 3, Funny
I can imagine that this is going to be very popular.
Not just the wedding rings.
But you could send your favorite SIFI junk then send it up and back again and sell it on as truly out of this world.
Same kind of thing for new age healing power of space type junk
Very special edition Franklin Mint includes 0.001% of real space exposed material
Instead of dicking around with post-offices in space, why doesn't Russia offer to put a wireless webserver into space and sell access?
Just think -- budding entrepreneurs could buy space on the server and upload copies of popular movies or music which people could then download for a small annual subscription using a regular satellite disk and PC card.
How would the RIAA/MPAA kill that bird I wonder?
Does the DMCA reach that far above the earth's surface?:-)
We spent many thousands (millions?) inventing a pen that would write in the low-gravity of space. Finally, we came up with a pen that had a nitrogen-charged inkwell to push the ink out.
The russians used a pencil.
an alternative way to deal with spammers!
by
Unominous+Coward
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· Score: 1
they should force spamm- err I mean advertisers to send all their mail this way.
If they don't, punish them by firing them into space.
Without a space suit.
-- "Smoking helps you lose weight - one lung at a time"
-- A. E. Neumann
Finally the astronauts can order pizza up to the ISS. The policy is that if it's not delivered within 30 days, they'll get it for free.
Why would anyone want that?
by
DaneelGiskard
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· Score: 2, Informative
Why would anyone want that, when you can actually talk to the peeps up there, which is free if you have the necessary license/equipment (which is easy to get and cheap)...
Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?
Maybe somebody could "accidently" send him into deep space?
Re:Who would use the service? ( Was: Re:FP!!!)
by
jolyonr
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· Score: 1
Well, as I keep telling my stamp-collecting dad, phillately will get you nowhere.
Jolyon
--
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
Earth orbit? So what?
by
OpenYourEyes
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I've been trying for years to send mail to the post office that Apollo 15 left on
the moon. Although this was a notable achievement for the newly reorganized USPS, it doesn't seem to have a ZIP code...
NASA's a government bureaucracy - PROFIT is the last of their goals... Remember this proposal wasn't from free-enterprise America, but from (no longer Soviet-) Russia...
Diving into stupid buisness models a-la internet bubble.
Obligatory slasdotisms 1. find stupid people to give us $20,000 to put a piece of paper in space and bring it back 2. ???? 3. PROFIT!!!
What a horrible waste of resources. What does one get out of knowing that a piece of paper went into space? Retarded.
Also, as far as the article goes, why are return costs so high for pulling back to earth a kilo of material? You've already spent the $10,000-20,000 per kilo to GET something into space, much less fuel is required to bring the orbiter/rocket/whatever back to earth. Parachutes? Space Planes (even the shuttle just has to glide back)? I would think MOST of the work is getting things INTO orbit. Supplies, satellites, replacement equipment; what do you need to bring BACK, besides stupid letters?
I'm sorry if I sound like a troll, but the only thing newsworthy about this is the stupidity of the idea. I suppose it's nice to have some way to help the russians float their space agency, but I doubt this will help them.
-- -- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
It would Make GBWR...
by
Esion+Modnar
·
· Score: 1
Uh, Guinness Book of World Records...
as the most expensive letter ever Returned to Sender.
(thank you, thank you very much)
--
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
How can you tell?
by
duncf
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
So lets say you deicde to drop $20,000 on a letter to space. How do you know it gets there? Do they send the letter back after, is it a round trip thing?
And if it is, how do you know it hasn't just been half way around the world, not to our orbit and back? You can't. Do the contents smell different once they've been to space? Do they get heavier or lighter? NO!
If the $20,000 is a one-way thing, they might as well throw it out before it gets on the spaceship... claiming it contained dangerous materials, or something. And you will have no way of knowing.
Whoever actually sends a message to the space station is a moron and a fool. Just donate money to the Russians if you want, but don't fool yourself into thinking your getting something out of it!
And the Russians... wow, coming up with such a crazy scheme has got to be hard work.
That would require postage though.
by
gotr00t
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· Score: 1
Well, that would require postage. A better way is to put your address as the destination, and the ISS as the sender, but don't put postage on it. Seeing as how the letter had no postage, the post office would send it "back to the sender"
I'm not sure if that works anymore, but I remember reading about how someone did this and they succeeded in mailing something, without postage, to one of their friends in the same city.
Heinlein thought this up 40-50 years ago ...
by
dhogaza
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· Score: 1
in "The Man Who Sold The Moon".
Of course in the story it was decided that the weight penalty of actually taking the mail to the moon to be franked was excessive so a little fraud was perpetrated instead...
And can someone explain to me why you would want to do this for $20,000? Are the Russians really that hard up for money that they would try this scheme? If I was someone who was incredibly rich (and didn't care how my money was spent) I would send a box with a camera in it so I could see if it actually got to space.
-- SIGFAULT
now all knowledge of gravity aside....
by
Lord_Dweomer
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· Score: 1
imagine if we did to them what we did to Ralsky.......jesus, slashdotting the ISS with junk mail can't be a good thing. And the best part is hopefully the junkmailers would pick up the cost because they figure maybe SOMEONE finally wants to buy their product.
There's absolutely no way for them to prove whether they sent it up to space or not. They could just burnbag the mail and you would never know. Even if they did send it to space, would you expect a reply?
Assuming they did send it to space, would you get refunded if the letter was on a shuttle that had a Columbia-like disaster?
A good way to reduce construction costs
by
aiabx
·
· Score: 1
I once heard about a guy who built his house in the Alaskan wilderness by mailing himself cinder blocks. They were far cheaper to mail than to ship to wherever it was he was building.
NASA could learn from this and mail components to the ISS, instead of shipping them up in their own spacecraft.
-aiabx
I'm thinking masterbation in space must be a messy thing
Additionally, you always get a push in the opposite direction of where you noodle is pointing to (impulse laws). As Stanislaw Lem noted in "The Fiasco" (*): The perfect murder in space would be to place a naked person in the middle of a room, hovering. He mentioned that you have to be sure that that person has an empty digesting system and an empty bladder. The person would simply starve to death without any opportunity to reach the walls. He seem to have forgotten the noodle, though... (in case of male astronauts) But OK, how great a distance can one overcome with that technique? I mean, blowing off, sleeping for some hours, trying again...;-) . . [Yeah I'm weird and disgusting, I know that]
(*) Not quite sure if it really was in The Fiasco. Hell, I'm not even sure if it was from S.L. at all...
--
Excellence: Moderate (mostly affected by comments on your karma)
Slashdot Mirror
Is this a joke or just some stupid ploy to get money for the Russian space program. I mean, 20k...that's an expensive letter.
What would the point be except for rich people to claim that they spent 20k on a stamp basically. I know of some crappy fundraisers, but this one sucks.
I'd rather them just ask for donations really. It'd be more honerable I think.
-gabe
for 20g's can i request that lance recieve permanent residence?
Ah, the future is coming closer and closer, although I think someone misunderstood. Just as long as the sender pays the postage, it'll be OK.
Spammmm innnnn Spaaaaaaaace!
I think someone should be kind and mail them a Victoria's Secret catalog, or similar amusement. I know I would appreciate it, were I in orbit.
Somehow, I think this post is reason enough not to read slashdot at 4:30am...
fair.org counterpunch.com truthout.com indymedia.org salon.com
eff.org guerrilla.net debian.org gentoo.org
And like most first posts, yours is a total waste of a message.
My question is who, other than topical philatelists, would be interested in sending snail mail to orbit for $20K.
I do know of some philatelists who are crazy enough to do that, but then, philatelists are crazy, anyway.
Wind under They Wings
Amber
Suppose you did.
Suppose you did not.
"Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?"
And if we're lucky, permenantly!
Who is this "Poster" guy and why does he own all of my comments?!?
One question is whether the $20,000 for the stamp is merely an additional cost, or if it includes the cost of transporting a kilogram or so of cargo.
It looks like a good method for space-based experiments, at least until a cost-effective private alternative is created.
Unity in Diversity
oh wait...
so does it mean it'll be opened and read too? >:)
in this age of communication i'm just not getting through
I shudder to think of the kind of bills you'd need to have a $20-$30K stamp be a cost effective stalling method. I doubt they'd launch your letter before their check clears, at least.
I spent a year in Iraq looking for WMD and all I found was this lousy sig.
Do you think you could use one of those business reply envelopes (postage to be paid by addressee) to send your junk mail offers back via the ISS and thereby really stick it to that bank that keeps offering you the 0.01% VISA card?
IAAL
Imagine the dismay on the senders face when their galactic letter comes back with "Return To Sender" on the envelope :) For 20,000 bucka you better make damn sure that the letter is addressed correctly!!
I'll bet God and Santa Claus are on some very rich kids' space-mailing-lists now. Of course, in God's case, the letters shouldn't come back down, just get jettisonned Simpsons-style.
Yup...
OK excuse me for being dumb but whats they point? You can send stuff into space and get it back. Great an expensive SAE :)
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Which spammer would pay these amounts for his junk?
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
I once had a package pass through New Jersey on its way from Sacramento to Seattle. But through the ISS? I'd like a screenshot of that tracking history.
I wonder if it would be cheaper for NASA to outsource some of their experiments to the Russian agency?
Really, I can think of a lot of cool experiments for the serious scientist. Things like insect eggs in space, effect of zero-G on seeds, that kind of thing
I'm not Seth.
If I lived somewhere where it cost 20,000 to mail me, I don't think any advertiser would bug me again... ever.
SecondPageMedia - Wha
I reckon my postie will be rightly pissed if he has to ride his bike all the way from the space station Post Office to my appartment. But he does need the exercise so if anyone wants to send mail to me this way .. feel free.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Why not? Spam could be part of a balanced meal along with, say, a few space food sticks.
That $20K only is getting the one kilogram mass up, article says it is $60K for the trip back down.
...until someone sends an envelope full of Anthrax up there.
Would they ever be able to decontaminate the place, or would they have to scrap the entire station?
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
the article says:
# Delivery of one kilo of cargo to the ISS: $10-20,000
# Return of one kilo from the ISS to Earth: $60,000
# Cost of one hour's work by the team aboard the ISS: $18-19,000
"Cost of one hour's work by the team aboard the ISS: $18-19,000"????
does this mean i have to pay for the post and the time to read it?? or does it mean i can pay an extra 20g's to have them do what ever i want? id donate to a fund to have lance take an hour space walk w/ no space suit!
oh crap, i probably shouldnt post at 2am
What do you think this is? A joke?
But, if you want to save $2K and achieve the same result...
1. Put Lance in an envelope with the sender's address as "Space Station, Earh Orbit"
2. Mail him to your own address
3. Refuse to accept him and send him back to the post office
4. The PO will send the mail back to the original sender, i.e. the Space Station
The web is a dominatrix. Everywhere I turn, I see little buttons ordering me to Submit.
... I don't think they will be receiving any junk maianytime soon !
A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
Will this be an Elvis stamp or a Dimitry stamp?
Just curious about the consumer group they are trying to target.
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
1) Take Printer to ISS
2) Tell people to send letters for 20K
3) Scan letters
4) email letters
5) Print letters on ISS
6) PROFIT
What's next, SG1-mail?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Given a midsize cardboard box, a large garbage bag and a hacksaw, I think I can package him appropriately.
This has got an expensive "just because i can" and useless coolness factor to it like, renting a suite in a nice hotel, getting a buggy when playing golf or using a Palm handheld
Anyone who can afford this can probably afford to launch their own satellite...
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
...you could send an engagement ring up there before use... just think of all the corny lines you could get away with...
Er, no, actually, I can't think of any either. Ah well.
Sounds like a great idea. I have one request though...
For the return trip, he takes the shuttle.
Bad taste, I know, sorry. ;)
You don't get to send much "Celestis will place cremated remains into personalized flight capsules that can hold approximately one-quarter ounce (7 grams) of ashes" It's a symbolic act. I'm guessing that your letters will weigh a bit more
Not just the wedding rings.
But you could send your favorite SIFI junk then send it up and back again and sell it on as truly out of this world.
Same kind of thing for new age healing power of space type junk
Very special edition Franklin Mint includes 0.001% of real space exposed material
That's just a few moments of thinking
Instead of dicking around with post-offices in space, why doesn't Russia offer to put a wireless webserver into space and sell access?
:-)
Just think -- budding entrepreneurs could buy space on the server and upload copies of popular movies or music which people could then download for a small annual subscription using a regular satellite disk and PC card.
How would the RIAA/MPAA kill that bird I wonder?
Does the DMCA reach that far above the earth's surface?
By the saem token getting NASA to send email to the Russian crew cost $0.00..
Maybe Russians are more simple minded than us?
Don't Tread on OpenSource
they should force spamm- err I mean advertisers to send all their mail this way.
If they don't, punish them by firing them into space.
Without a space suit.
"Smoking helps you lose weight - one lung at a time" -- A. E. Neumann
Finally the astronauts can order pizza up to the ISS. The policy is that if it's not delivered within 30 days, they'll get it for free.
Why would anyone want that, when you can actually talk to the peeps up there, which is free if you have the necessary license/equipment (which is easy to get and cheap)...
Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?
Maybe somebody could "accidently" send him into deep space?
Well, as I keep telling my stamp-collecting dad, phillately will get you nowhere. Jolyon
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
I've been trying for years to send mail to the post office that Apollo 15 left on the moon. Although this was a notable achievement for the newly reorganized USPS, it doesn't seem to have a ZIP code...
Now the poor astronauts as ISS will also have to be bothered with white powder letters!
can I send Lance Bass' ashes to space?
C|N>K
And what if the post office loses the letter?
Then i'm 20 thou out?
-Grump
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
NASA's a government bureaucracy - PROFIT is the last of their goals... Remember this proposal wasn't from free-enterprise America, but from (no longer Soviet-) Russia...
Energy: time to change the picture.
Diving into stupid buisness models a-la internet bubble.
Obligatory slasdotisms
1. find stupid people to give us $20,000 to put a piece of paper in space and bring it back
2. ????
3. PROFIT!!!
What a horrible waste of resources. What does one get out of knowing that a piece of paper went into space? Retarded.
Also, as far as the article goes, why are return costs so high for pulling back to earth a kilo of material? You've already spent the $10,000-20,000 per kilo to GET something into space, much less fuel is required to bring the orbiter/rocket/whatever back to earth. Parachutes? Space Planes (even the shuttle just has to glide back)? I would think MOST of the work is getting things INTO orbit. Supplies, satellites, replacement equipment; what do you need to bring BACK, besides stupid letters?
I'm sorry if I sound like a troll, but the only thing newsworthy about this is the stupidity of the idea. I suppose it's nice to have some way to help the russians float their space agency, but I doubt this will help them.
-- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
as the most expensive letter ever Returned to Sender.
(thank you, thank you very much)
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
So lets say you deicde to drop $20,000 on a letter to space. How do you know it gets there? Do they send the letter back after, is it a round trip thing?
And if it is, how do you know it hasn't just been half way around the world, not to our orbit and back? You can't. Do the contents smell different once they've been to space? Do they get heavier or lighter? NO!
If the $20,000 is a one-way thing, they might as well throw it out before it gets on the spaceship... claiming it contained dangerous materials, or something. And you will have no way of knowing.
Whoever actually sends a message to the space station is a moron and a fool. Just donate money to the Russians if you want, but don't fool yourself into thinking your getting something out of it!
And the Russians... wow, coming up with such a crazy scheme has got to be hard work.
I'm not sure if that works anymore, but I remember reading about how someone did this and they succeeded in mailing something, without postage, to one of their friends in the same city.
Anthrax
in "The Man Who Sold The Moon".
...
Of course in the story it was decided that the weight penalty of actually taking the mail to the moon to be franked was excessive so a little fraud was perpetrated instead
And can someone explain to me why you would want to do this for $20,000? Are the Russians really that hard up for money that they would try this scheme? If I was someone who was incredibly rich (and didn't care how my money was spent) I would send a box with a camera in it so I could see if it actually got to space.
SIGFAULT
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is for the collectability of the stamp.
How much do you think the first stamp to be sent to a post office in space would go for? A hell of a lot more then 20K!
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
...a few more rate increases and we'll be paying $20K a letter...
Your government monopoly at work...
Where is Lysander Spooner when we need him?
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
I guess the average astronaut wouldn't be able to afford a subscription to the NY Times while at the ISS then.
Vote for Pedro
There's absolutely no way for them to prove whether they sent it up to space or not. They could just burnbag the mail and you would never know. Even if they did send it to space, would you expect a reply?
Assuming they did send it to space, would you get refunded if the letter was on a shuttle that had a Columbia-like disaster?
I once heard about a guy who built his house in the Alaskan wilderness by mailing himself cinder blocks. They were far cheaper to mail than to ship to wherever it was he was building.
NASA could learn from this and mail components to the ISS, instead of shipping them up in their own spacecraft.
-aiabx
Just this guy, you know?
Now spam for moon rocks
four words:
white powder, and anthrax.
I'm thinking masterbation in space must be a messy thing
;-) . . [Yeah I'm weird and disgusting, I know that]
Additionally, you always get a push in the opposite direction of where you noodle is pointing to (impulse laws). As Stanislaw Lem noted in "The Fiasco" (*): The perfect murder in space would be to place a naked person in the middle of a room, hovering. He mentioned that you have to be sure that that person has an empty digesting system and an empty bladder. The person would simply starve to death without any opportunity to reach the walls. He seem to have forgotten the noodle, though... (in case of male astronauts) But OK, how great a distance can one overcome with that technique? I mean, blowing off, sleeping for some hours, trying again...
(*) Not quite sure if it really was in The Fiasco. Hell, I'm not even sure if it was from S.L. at all...
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