Space Technology to Conquer Everest

Roland Piquepaille writes "These days, the European Space Agency (ESA) is busy sharing its space technologies. Last week, in "Space technology hits the slopes," it said that the ski maker Rossignol hopes to beat the world speed skiing record of 250 km/h by using skis stabilized by a mechanism developed for ESA's Rosetta spacecraft. And today, the ESA announced that a satellite-based Health Monitoring Kit developed by the Canadian company March Networks and co-funded by ESA, will help climbers to escalate Everest. Of course, this kind of technology can be applied at lower altitudes. This overview contains other details and references about the March Networks Health Monitoring Kit."

Comments

Well..

[PsilocybeCubensis]

I'm not impressed. Have ESA made a pen that can be used in zero gravity yet?

Thought not.

Re:Well..

[Soft]

I'm not impressed. Have ESA made a pen that can be used in zero gravity yet?

Yes.

Re:Well..

[JoScherl]

ESA doesn'T need a special pen - they use simple pencils or computers ;-)

Re:Well..

[zakezuke]

Have ESA made a pen that can be used in zero gravity yet?

http://www.spacepen.com/usa/history/index.htm

I've posted on slashdot regarding the urban legond of nasa developing a spacepen. According to what i've read it was not developed by nasa at all but rather by Fisher which was sold to Nasa at $5.00 a pop.

Re:Well..

[Da Fokka]

Yes. They call it a pencil.

Re:Well..

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is this (parent) modded troll? Europeans do indeed eat each other, on a regular basis, so it isn't surprising what other unorthodox things they would do.

Re:Well..

[PatrickThomson]

NASA spent millions on a zero-gravity pen.

In Solviet Russia, they used a pencil.

Re:Well..

[another_henry]

NASA spent millions on a zero-gravity pen.
In Soviet Russia, they used a pencil.

Bullshit.

Re:Well..

[Anonymous Coward]

That was supposed to be funny, you insensetive clods!

Re:Well..

[ShinmaWa]

In Solviet Russia, they used a pencil.

no. no. no. In Soviet Russia, a pencil used THEM!

What if he crashes?

[Number_1_Bigg$]

They may need that health monitoring equipment immediately after he finishes going 250kph on his face...

Or maybe they won't.

Re:What if he crashes?

[Mal-2]

At 250kph, all you need after a crash is a shovel. Motorcyclists who crack up at this speed usually end up scattered across several counties, so I don't see that a skier is going to be much safer (save that there are somewhat fewer obstacles).

With Everest, the problem everyone faces is that there's precious little air to breathe up there, so unless you're Andean or a Sherpa, you can only survive for a limited time without supplemental oxygen. No amount of monitoring will change this, although it may be able to identify afflicted individuals in time to save them (mostly from doing something stupid while impaired) and keep them from pushing any further. Any technology truly sufficient to overcome this would be seen as "cheating" in some sense, as is claimed by purists about O2-assisted climbs of any sort.

Mal-2

Re:What if he crashes?

[commanderfoxtrot]

I have skied at over 140kph (that's circa 90mph) down red runs (in the 3 Vallees) in the past. That's measured using a GPS, so add a few mph to take account of the angle.

Believe me, you really don't want to fall over! I am an instructor, and felt confident even at those speeds, but the biggest danger is as the article says: the vibration. With modern parabolic/carving skis, the slightest angle on the ski will result in it trying to turn away; if this is not what you want, it could be curtains. Those small vibrations you feel skiing at a "normal" 30mph are multiplied dramatically at 90mph. It's not a thing I would recommend to any skier who is not an expert.

Re crashing, I would hope that one would simply slide a long way; so long as you don't catch an edge falling and start tumbling, you should hopefully be OK. A motorcycle rider will probably correct me here :-) but bear in mind that you're more likely to slide on snow than on asphalt.

Re:What if he crashes?

[adamfranco]

As CommanderFoxTrot says, wrecking on skis is generally much better than wrecking on pavement/dirt/grass/etc since you generally just slide. Watch the olympic or world cup downhill races and you can see this in action. In the vast majority of falls, the skier will be simply sliding, straight or maybe spinning on the snow with no more harm than bruising/ice-rash.

Injury occurs in one or both of two places: either the skier's skis are still on and catch on the snow, starting a bone/joint/neck-breaking tumble, or the skier runs into some unmovable object before slowing down. Hitting trees, rocks, hay-bales, spectators, snowmobilies or large cliffs at high speed is gennerally detrimental to one's continued membership in the living.

I have seen videos in which a speed skier has fallen at VERY high speed and been ok -- they are going straight on an open, groomed, pitch with nothing to hit. However, as far as I know some have died from high speed falls as well, generally from tumbling.

Re:What if he crashes?

[DavittJPotter]

Nope, you're right. When (not *if* - *when*) you do have the misfortune of crashing on a bike, try and relax. That's why you wear leathers - they abrade and slow your body, hopefully before it wears through the leather and into you... :)

Tumbling is bad... that's why many times drunk/asleep crash victims survive - their bodies were limp, and didn't tense and begin bouncing and tumbling down the highway.

Yodel-a-e-hooo, Arghhh, slide, tumble

[malia8888]

From the article: The climb to the almost 9000 metre summit has claimed the lives of about one hundred people. The March Networks technology will transmit blood oxygen levels (SpO2), heart rates, blood pressure and body temperatures of the climbers. The recorded data will be stored on Bluetooth-enabled PDA's and ultimately transmitted via satellite to a Canadian-hosted website

Some of the other data which might be included is yodeling between 3000 and 6000 metres and the screams of a quick descent at 9000 metres.

Re:Yodel-a-e-hooo, Arghhh, slide, tumble

[tgrotvedt]

The yodelling data does actually exist. I remember a story on NPR's All Things Considered wherein they made measurements of yodelling. They also looked at the carrying distance of some obscure African languages.

Can't find a link, but someone may've heard it.

I swear when I read the title it read:

[SB5]

Space Technology to Conquer Everquest.

I don't play EQ, so I don't know how the association could have been made. I saw the first line and the mention of the ESA and wondered what the hell did they want to do with EQ. Then I reread the headline.

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not the only one. I read it as Everquest as well. Must... get... more... sleep...

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[Anonymous Coward]

Ditto here. We gotta stop playing that damn game.

It's eaten 2 years of my life here, what about you?

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you so lonely that you have to try to get compainonship from another anonymous coward? Poor pathetic bastard!

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[MagPulse]

Heh me too. I was thinking, finally the govt is putting my tax dollars to good use :-)

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[Anonymous Coward]

omg me 2!!1!11

k i red runescape not everquest...

but its same no

ne1 else red runescape? press 111

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[lommer]

it *DID* say everquest i think - it may have said that and been changed...

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, me too...I definately saw "Everquest" during my first headline scrollthrough, because I remember thinking "What do those weird 3d people want now?"

Re:I swear when I read the title it read:

[Lord_Dweomer]

I thought someone was releasing a new SciFi MMORPG!

escalate?

[evanbd]

Escalate??

I mean really, is it such a hard word? You scale a mountain. Or you climb a mountain. But escalate means something entirely different. A problem escalates. Not a mountain.

Re:escalate?

[robfoo]

No, it's right.

I think the technology will help the climbers make everest *even harder*, therefore *escalating* it from a 'really fucking hard' climb to a 'even superman shits himself at the thought' climb.

Although quite _why_ you'd want to do that, I don't know. But hey, that's the only way that sentence makes sense, so it must be right.

Re:escalate?

[PacoTaco]

I bet the article submitter is French:

escalader = climb/scale

Re:escalate?

[meshmar]

Think technology ... they are going to put an escalator up the side of Everest so the out-of-shape geeks can make the climb too! ;-)

Re:escalate?

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe what they are saying is that by using today's modern space technology they will be able to put escalators on Everest. As far as I can see this will make the ascent and descent much easier. :-)

Re:escalate?

[gardyloo]

Yeah, settle down there, turbo. My Spanish roommate, when he's not quite sure of the English word, picks something close (like 'scale') and does his funky Spanification on it. I'll ask him later, but I'll bet you that 'scale' will turn into 'escalate'. If the other poster is correct about a French parent poster, I see no problem with it. Sure, it's sloppy English, but they're doing a damn sight better than most Americans I know.

Re:escalate?

[Anonymous Coward]

They want to raise Everest to a higher level, don't you see?

Re:escalate?

[weiyuent]

Dude, when you can speak French better than the poster speaks English, you have a right to be so snarky.

Re:huh?

[nilbog]

woops...wrong thread

splat

[jerkos]

I hope that he's not using thier technology to stop(read land) after going 250kph, cause he'll prolly hit something and never be heard from again.

Re:splat

[Anonymous Coward]

to stop... just gotta 'plow' like the instructors taught you.

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

if woops...wrong thread gets modded +2 insightful than me pointing this out should get at least +3 insightful.

Escalate Everest?

[Atrax]

surely everest is high enough already?

oh, I get it. scale. ah.

Great for autopsies

[NMerriam]

So it records vital signs on a bluetooth enabled PDA, which can later be used to transmit the data when they get back to the satellite system. That's great -- if there is an emergency, all they have to do is find the bodies, hope that they used the kit during the emergency to gather data, bring back the PDAs, and they'll know exactly what killed the climbers!

Forgive my sarcasm, we did this in 1998 and 1999 (Everest Extreme"), except we were sending the data in real time over 900mhz radio to the doctor at base camp and via sat back to the hospital in the USA. And it was gathered 24/7 because they were wearing the monitors, not some box of medical tools to be used briefly. That way, if someone was having trouble, we could actually tell what was wrong and where to find the climber (GPS is handy that way).

The things that kill on Everest are getting lost/falling off in bad weather and hypothermia (dehydration is actually the biggest medical problem, but it doesn't usually kill).

Southpark reference

[Anonymous Coward]

Pizza... French Fries
Pizza..... French Fries
Pizza... French Fries
French Fries French Fries!!!

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

and me saying your both jackoffs will get me a +5 informative...

When people climb Everest

[LOL WTF OMG!!!!!!!!!]

They often seem to ignore their waning health. The kind of people that attempt a feat like this are often willing to accept the consequences of death.

It's interesting to note that quite a few people have made it to the peak of Everest, and then died on the way down.

Re:When people climb Everest

[dj245]

It's interesting to note that quite a few people have made it to the peak of Everest, and then died on the way down.

I think this may have to do with the psychology of the person. Maybe they get some sort of idea that once they get to the top, there will be blondes in bikini's there to meet them (Oxygen deprivation will do that to ya) and then everything will be fine, so they press on, when they should rest. They make it to the top but then don't have the energy to get down.

Perhaps these real-time life sign monitoring eqiupment can be used to help prevent that. Climbers of Everest pay some hefty fees just for the privlidge of the climb. Maybe we could have a doctor or two in a chateau at the bottom looking at everyones lifesigns in realtime? Could save a couple lives, especially with the last few seasons being particually deadly. Hey, why not. They're rich white folk. (well, mostly white)

Re:When people climb Everest

[LOL WTF OMG!!!!!!!!!]

But if they're stuck near the top of the mountain, dying, there isn't much anybody can do. I don't think it's possible to get helicopters up that high (they use those to get the base camp which I believe it at around 18k feet).

Re:When people climb Everest

[dj245]

The goal, uptimately, is to stop accidents before they start. Accidents are frequently caused by fatique. Any skier can tell you that accidents are far more likely to take place in the afternoon. A doctor monitoring things could warn the climber he was too tired. If he didn't listen? I donno, a severe penalty or something.

Re:When people climb Everest

[Anonymous Coward]

If he didn't listen? I donno, a severe penalty or something.

I think freezing to death at the top of a mountain because you're too tired to climb down is punishment enough. :)

Re:When people climb Everest

[YetAnotherGeekGuy]

It's interesting to note that quite a few people have made it to the peak of Everest, and then died on the way down.

So as long as they don't impregnate someone at the top, its a gene that will eliminate itself. See, these are the kinds of things that would spice up the Darwin Awards.

Of course it will pale in comparison to Phase 2, when the European Space Agency augments the Skis with a JATO pack for the return trip, and possibly suborbital flight.

Re:When people climb Everest

[Anonymous Coward]

Lots of factors.

On most large mountains (himalayas, denali, aconcagua etc) the standard approach involves spending a couple of weeks acclimatising and moving your gear up the mountain. This involves lots of going up and down with huge packs. Very gruelling.

Then you wait for a break in the weather, get yourself to the high camp and prepare yourself for "summit day". You start before dawn, you are freezing cold, you may be on bottled oxygen but the lack of o2 still makes you feel absolutely knackered.

Then you get to the top, turn around and go back down to your high camp. If you are too slow then you turn around at a prearranged time and make damn sure you are back before it gets dark.

Things that can go wrong:

- taking too long & getting benighted. You have to be pretty single minded to get up there in the first place. Determination + oxygen starvation can lead to trouble.

- change in the weather. Can happen very fast and catches lots of people.

- slip on descent. Heading downhill is a lot harder than going up. Snow slopes can be tricky in descent even with axe & crampons. On everest you generally get fixed lines to clip on to, but you can still get severely damaged.

- general "objective dangers" - avalanche (usually lower down), people falling on you, that kind of thing.

Re:When people climb Everest

[weiyuent]

It's interesting to note that quite a few people have made it to the peak of Everest, and then died on the way down.

Interesting, perhaps, but not surprising. If you include the descent as part of the whole expedition, then the summit is really just the halfway mark. And the descent can be just as risky, if not as strenuous.

Space Technology to Conquer Everquest?

[Like2Byte]

I swear when I first read this I read, "Space Technology to Conquer Everquest."

Now, where'd I put those caffeine molecules?

Everquest?!?

[Simarilius]

Anyone else read that as "Space Technology to Conquer Everquest"? Had me seriously confused for a minute there.

Re:Did anybody else read Everquest?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I thought it said "everquest" too... and I've never even played it. :)

Gyroscopes?

[SmackCrackandPot]

As I skimmed over the abstract, I first imagined the solution involved placing a set of gyroscopes on each ski.

me too, yers was the post I was looking for

[way2trivial]

I wonder, there must be a study in misread headlines based on demographics..

the symbolyogly of "ever---st" for skimming geeks will be misread as saying everquest

how do you make a headline everyone will get, or alternately, how do you create a headline everyone will intertpet in their own useful way..

Re:me too, yers was the post I was looking for

[mattjb0010]

how do you create a headline everyone will intertpet in their own useful way..

I don't know, but it probably involves the use of space technology.

Re:me too, yers was the post I was looking for

[dnoyeb]

There was a story on slashdot a while back about how many letters you need to see before you make your decision on what a word is.

Misreads

[MC68040]

And here I was, hoping space tech would come to EVERQUEST. I read it several times until I saw it was everest...
Serious gaming addiction problem?

Oh man,

[Anonymous Coward]

Did anyone else read Everquest? This thought I am thinking right now is so insightful!

Wow,

[Anonymous Coward]

I read everest as everquest, LOL!

I wonder if anyone else did that!

Can you believe it?

[Anonymous Coward]

I read everest as everquest, rofl what a geek I am (maybe that's why I'm at slashdot on a saturday night lol)

conquer what?

[LordMyren]

i thought they said everquest.

OT [Re:escalate?]

[Sanga]

Actually "problem escalation" is of recent vintage.

Usually prices/hostilities/tensions escalate.

Gauri Shankar is the name.

[Anonymous Coward]

I am a puritan and hate to see Gauri Shankar being called Everest, which is a stupid colonial name. Change the records I say! King Gyanendra! What are you doing about this?

Re:Gauri Shankar is the name.

[rubberpaw]

!!??!?!?!?!!?
I don't get the callousness of Slashdotters any more. Well, maybe I do. We're all too focused on the latest technology to wake up and look at what's happening in the world.

You want to know what King Gyanendra is doing? Read the news. He's supressing thousands of protesters in Kathmandu who want their democracy back. You want to see human rights violations? Look at Nepal right now. http://www.nepalnews.com/

But no. The American election is too imporant. Iraq's all the rage, for the supporters and for the detractors of Bush. Get over it. The middle east isn't the world, no matter what CNN might tell you.

Re:Gauri Shankar is the name.

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course the Middle East isn't the world... Bush is!

ESA technology ?

[Anonymous Coward]

...the ski maker Rossignol hopes to beat the world speed skiing record of 250 km/h by using skis stabilized by a mechanism developed for ESA's Rosetta spacecraft...

Just hope they won't depend on Beagle's braking system to stop the thing without breaking it.

Remeber Gauntlet?

[LabRat007]

I want my healt monitor to say things like...

yellow elf needs food badly

green warrior is about to die!

That way I always know when to eat and passers by can get a chuckle before I expire.

Wow

[mazarin5]

Am I the only one that read that as:
Space Technology to Conquer Everquest
More... coffee... needed...

Re:Wow

[TheInternet]

Am I the only one that read that as:
Space Technology to Conquer Everquest

Nope.

- Scott

ESA Technology?

[johnalex]

If that skier's flying down the mountain using the same stabilizing technology they used on the Beagle 2, I don't think the health monitoring kit will help.

Re:What if he crashes? - Terminal Velocity

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought terminal velocity was around 200km/h for a free falling object.

Shame on you, Osama

[Anonymous Coward]

Osama, is that you? That's great, man! I heard that you were stricken with a rare form of syphilis that's carried by camels, and that you were reduced to a quivering slab of wretched Islamofascist flesh.

So, I guess it's only partly true.

Good luck, Osama, here's hoping your buddy John Kerry wins in November! Take care, and watch out for your catamite Islamabuddies.

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

if woops...wrong thread gets modded +2 insightful than me pointing this out should get at least +3 insightful.

Technically its insightfuller.

Can I get the unclaimed +4 insightfuller-er? Clearly I was too slow for the insightfullest.

Exactly!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm francophone and I make this type of mistake all the time. It's just a mistake made by someone whose English isn't their first language.

But before you start yelling about Americans making fun of foreigners etc, people in most countries are much more apt to laugh at foreigners trying to speak in their language. Americans/anglophones are quite nice people in that regard.

I read that as...

[Anonymous Coward]

Spam Technology to Conquer Everquest

How sad is that

[Distortions]

I read the title and misread it.. Then thought .oO( WHAT?!?!? ) and re-read it.

Then I click the link and see a whole slew of people that misread it as well.
Maybe we should study their ads for subliminal advertising or something...

... How did this get past the lame filter?

[Distortions]

Time to revise it, methinks.

Spam Technology to Conquer Everest

[klevin]

Yeah, so did I. Well, "Spam Technology to Conquer Everest." I thought maybe someone was going to hook up some sort of wireless/satelite link to the summit. Bloody spammers!

`Course I just got done fiddling w/ my CRM114 installation and then reading O'Reilly's comments on Gmail, so spam was on my mind (Turkey Spam, not Ham Spam, of course ;).

Re:What if he crashes? - Terminal Velocity

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought terminal velocity was around 200km/h for a free falling object.

Depends on cross-section vs mass. Skydivers top out at around that speed, but they're falling spread-eagle and wearing loose clothing to increase wind resistance. Skiers who want speed wear form-fitting lycra and teardrop-shaped helmets and crouch down to reduce wind resistance.