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Space Technology to Conquer Everest

Posted by michael on from the great-day-for-up dept.

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."

49 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. What if he crashes? by Number_1_Bigg$ · · Score: 3, Funny

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

    Or maybe they won't.

    1. Re:What if he crashes? by Mal-2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      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

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
    2. Re:What if he crashes? by commanderfoxtrot · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.

      --
      http://blog.grcm.net/
    3. Re:What if he crashes? by adamfranco · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      "When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind." -- Bill Moyers
    4. Re:What if he crashes? by DavittJPotter · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      "If there's hope, it lies in the proles..."
  2. Yodel-a-e-hooo, Arghhh, slide, tumble by malia8888 · · Score: 2, Funny
    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.

    --
    Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
    1. Re:Yodel-a-e-hooo, Arghhh, slide, tumble by tgrotvedt · · Score: 2, Interesting
      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.

      --
      What makes a man want to be a mouse? (Python's Flying Circus)
  3. I swear when I read the title it read: by SB5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    --
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    it is because it is supposed to be. just laugh
    1. Re:I swear when I read the title it read: by MagPulse · · Score: 2, Funny

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

    2. Re:I swear when I read the title it read: by lommer · · Score: 1

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

    3. Re:I swear when I read the title it read: by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      I thought someone was releasing a new SciFi MMORPG!

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  4. escalate? by evanbd · · Score: 4, Insightful
    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.

    1. Re:escalate? by robfoo · · Score: 1

      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.

    2. Re:escalate? by PacoTaco · · Score: 1
      I bet the article submitter is French:

      escalader = climb/scale

    3. Re:escalate? by meshmar · · Score: 2, Funny

      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! ;-)

    4. Re:escalate? by gardyloo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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.

    5. Re:escalate? by weiyuent · · Score: 1

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

  5. Re:Well.. by Soft · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I'm not impressed. Have ESA made a pen that can be used in zero gravity yet?

    Yes.

  6. Re:huh? by nilbog · · Score: 1, Insightful

    woops...wrong thread

    --
    or else!
  7. splat by jerkos · · Score: 1, Troll

    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.

  8. Re:Well.. by JoScherl · · Score: 2, Funny

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

  9. Re:Well.. by zakezuke · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

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  10. Escalate Everest? by Atrax · · Score: 1

    surely everest is high enough already?

    oh, I get it. scale. ah.

    --
    Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  11. Re:Well.. by Da+Fokka · · Score: 1

    Yes. They call it a pencil.

  12. Great for autopsies by NMerriam · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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).

    --
    Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
  13. When people climb Everest by LOL+WTF+OMG!!!!!!!!! · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

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    1. Re:When people climb Everest by dj245 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      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)

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    2. Re:When people climb Everest by LOL+WTF+OMG!!!!!!!!! · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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).

      --
      That CSS file that blocks ads
    3. Re:When people climb Everest by dj245 · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    4. Re:When people climb Everest by YetAnotherGeekGuy · · Score: 1

      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.

      --

      to the Engineer, the glass is neither half full nor half empty. Its just two times too big.
    5. Re:When people climb Everest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      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.

    6. Re:When people climb Everest by weiyuent · · Score: 1

      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.

  14. Gyroscopes? by SmackCrackandPot · · Score: 1

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

  15. me too, yers was the post I was looking for by way2trivial · · Score: 1
    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..

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
    1. Re:me too, yers was the post I was looking for by mattjb0010 · · Score: 1

      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.

    2. Re:me too, yers was the post I was looking for by dnoyeb · · Score: 1

      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.

  16. Misreads by MC68040 · · Score: 1

    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?

  17. Re:Well.. by PatrickThomson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    NASA spent millions on a zero-gravity pen.

    In Solviet Russia, they used a pencil.

    --
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  18. Re:Well.. by another_henry · · Score: 4, Funny
    NASA spent millions on a zero-gravity pen.
    In Soviet Russia, they used a pencil.

    Bullshit.

    --
    "Studies have shown that people who eat peanuts live longer than those who do not eat."
  19. OT [Re:escalate?] by Sanga · · Score: 1

    Actually "problem escalation" is of recent vintage.

    Usually prices/hostilities/tensions escalate.

  20. Remeber Gauntlet? by LabRat007 · · Score: 1

    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.

    --
    "Capital punishment makes the state into a murderer. Imprisonment makes the state into a gay dungeon-master"
  21. Wow by mazarin5 · · Score: 1

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

    --
    Fnord.
    1. Re:Wow by TheInternet · · Score: 1

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

      Nope.

      - Scott

      --
      Scott Stevenson
      Tree House Ideas
  22. ESA Technology? by johnalex · · Score: 1

    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.

    --
    JA
    http://www.johnalex.org/
  23. Re:Gauri Shankar is the name. by rubberpaw · · Score: 1

    !!??!?!?!?!!?
    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.

  24. How sad is that by Distortions · · Score: 1

    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...

    --
    Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
  25. ... How did this get past the lame filter? by Distortions · · Score: 1

    Time to revise it, methinks.

    --
    Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
  26. Spam Technology to Conquer Everest by klevin · · Score: 1

    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 ;).

  27. Re:Well.. by ShinmaWa · · Score: 1

    In Solviet Russia, they used a pencil.

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

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