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Would You Move to Space?
garyebickford asks: "Slashdot discussions on the SpaceShipOne flight talked about whether folks would take the flight if offered. It reminded me of a question that used to go around. If you were offered the opportunity to move permanently into space - perhaps an orbital environment, or asteroid (mining?) or another planet, etc. - and you had an 80% chance of living five years, would you take it? What if your chances were 50%?"
80% chance of living for five years, and reaping the tremendous bounty of mining an asteroid? I might just take up that offer. It'd be a hell of a ride, whether or not I make it alive.
Also, just imagine the view every morning when you wake up. Every. Single. Morning. I'd risk my life for that, yes.
It'd be nice to live free for once.
"In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, 'Make us your slaves, but feed us.'" -Dostoevsky
Do they have cable modems in space?
There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
An 80% chance of living 5 years? Isn't that the same as L.A.? Between the freeways, the gangs, and the smog, it sounds about right to me...
"If you were offered the opportunity to move permanently into space - perhaps an orbital environment, or asteroid (mining?) or another planet, etc. - and you had an 80% chance of living five years, would you take it? What if your chances were 50%?""
What if there was peace, love and understanding on the Earth, so we wouldn't feel the pressure to leave?
Being a college nerd with poor social skills, I'm tempted to say yes to just about anything if there was a good chance of getting laid with a healthy member of the opposite sex. But I'm sure I'd regret it as I die in the vacuum of space. So no, I probably wouldn't even under such ideal conditions as I've only imagined but were not mentioned as perks.
Yes and yes. Those aren't great odds but the odds of being safe inside a automobile aren't great either... I'd rather die doing something that no humans have ever done...
Kind of reminds of what someone much wiser than myself said on a similar subject here.
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking
But it'd probably get old, just like the Spice Girls. It seems like great fun at first, but you later realize that they really didn't deserve a movie, nor a nation-wide release. But hey, get back to me with the next big thing, like Furby 2.0 and maybe I'll be interested.
The Political Programmer
Yes and yes, in a heartbeat. Now, I don't think so. Maybe if the children were grown up. I would have to check with the boss though...
but seriously, who wouldn't. even if it sucks, humans are hardwired to explore new places, even if it's dangerous or they're not wanted.
for further reading on human nature see the works of Smith, Agent.
I've been trying to find a quiet, non-NWO spot on this planet to live, but there ain't none left.
:)
Give me a six-pack worth of O2 and enough water to recycle through myself for 10 years or so, and I'll oversee the robotics on any asteroid you want.
Of course, the issue of hydroponics - and what you can and cannot grow - would have to be worked out first.
Just sign me up for the standard "Human Sustenance Science Package" (strictly -NOT- from Ikea, please...) and I'm there. Got my boots on right now.
The possibilities for freedom on this planet have been long-since removed by the powers that be. Gimme another planet, or some other space body, and watch out. My descendants will be back in 50 years to re-claim Earth!
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
In fact, if there was a 100% chance of me dieing within an hour of me getting into orbit, I'd still go if given the chance. I mean, every night I look up at the stars and I just wonder. The chance to experience life outside the womb of mother earth for just one minute... yeah, that's worth trading my life for. I am willing to die just to gaze upon the earth, stars and other galaxies from the outside for just one minute.
In that one minute I would see, learn, and experience more than most people see, learn, and experience in their entire lives. I would have an idea of my place in the universe that few currently have.
All of that near infinite universe and the chance to experience it outside the earth? Yeah, that's worth dieing for. An 80% chance of dieing within five years? I'd consider that a bonus - more time to experience it.
Yeah, I'm an oddball.
it would probably make me happy if
*you* did. And take your friends, too!
I mean, really, earth would be a great
place if it wasn't for the people.
On a more serious note, though, until
we can travel at the speed-of-thought
and *then* find a suitable earth-like
planet, I'd rather we spent our time
trying to fix our damaged ecological
and societal systems.
Peace & Blessings,
bmac
Yes and yes. I'd go. If NASA called and said they had a pre-Challenger O-Ring shuttle that had been sitting in freezing rain for two days and they needed a mission specialist, I'd be on the next plane. Would I live there? If it meant *either* that I could do so undamaged (zero-gee, radiation) by the day-to-day experience, barring accidents; *or* that my doing so would increase the chances others would get to do so, then yes, in a New York Minute, baby.
A hero is someone who knows when to run away. I am a hero. -Trent the Uncatchable
Not that I know the actual stats, but 80% survival rate over 5 years sounds pretty good. What was the survival rate of the early European-American colonists? Accounting for disease, starvation, being stabbed by someone or eaten by something - would it be better than 80%? Probably not.
So hell yes. I'd go. Anyone with a sense of adventure and courage would go (or in Australia's case, anyone with a criminal record).
The rewards are potentially massive (better than a tiny farm plot which is all the early colonists got) and the experience?! To have your name recorded as one of the first to colonise off-earth! Immortality is yours! Go and take it!
I don't think anyone could argue that a shortage of highly motivated and suitable volunteers would be a problem. Rather, the real problem is getting us all up there. At 80% or 50% or even 10%.
I'm ready now.
Being someone who is currently moving his life and family from one side of the world (Israel) to the other (Australia), I can clearly point out that as nostalgically charming as moving into space may sound,
** There is more to making such a decision than the presence (or lack thereof) of vaccum around the place we call home **.
Questions such as these arise:
* What are the prospects of a quality life there? (which leads to further questions like how we measure quality of life - by the amount of green around our house? the amount of accessible online gadget stores that ship to our location?)
* What are the prospects of economic prosperity there? Taxation? Salaries?
* Can I work in my chosen field there?
* Can I practice my recreation activities there? (Think diving, snowboarding, etc.)
* What kind of mentality do the people who live there share?
* WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
Hell, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Would I move into space? Tell me what's waiting for me there and what I'm running from here for starters, and I'll consider it.
The only people who'd answer such a question offhand are people who are either miserable with their current lives, don't have any, or are very deep into their fantasy worlds.
That kind of problem can usually be solved using much simpler methods.
-
According to my dad, I was nearly an astronaut.
He said if he'd pulled out 2 seconds earlier I would have been shot into space.
For problems, seek only the simplest solution, complexity brings with it more problems.
I'd love to go into space, but I don't see why it has to be risky, or why we should accept high risks in a gung-ho fasion. There is plenty of intelligent and advanced engineering that can be done to minimise risk. I realise that people do dangerous things like mountaineering for sport and for fun, but that's not my cup of tea.
As I get older, and become more aware of the limited time available for life, I realise that there's lots to do. Anyone can put their body into space, alive or dead, for short periods of time. What I'm saying is there is more to most people than a physical presence.
I can imagine getting very bored with being in space, cooped up in a tiny craft for any length of time. Many of us don't appreciate the importance to our well-being and sanity of being in the natural environment which we've evolved to be in. Could you imagine being in a tin can for years breathing recycled air, having nothing to eat but a small selection of plants and freeze-dried food? What about experiencing day and night, wind, tide, rain, hearing bird song, the fragrance of flowers and freshly cut grass or a good chicken jalfrezi? What about the company of friends and family? What about gravity? Wouldn't you get bored with floating about all the time and not being able to walk?
I'd love to go into space, for a week or two, in a safe, reliable and comfortable craft. Some people have that gung-ho spirit and would throw their lives and well-being away for a few minutes of experience that one day will be as common as walking down the street. Whatever floats your boat.
Personally, I'd prefer a more considered and rational approach, but heck, I'm rapidly becoming and old git.
Stick Men
Five years is a long time. What is the quality of like like, and what am I achieving while I am there?
Five years sitting inside a small capsule just to prove it can be done - forget it.
Five years in a moderately cramped environment with good communications, building part of a real space station, participiting in the escape from Earth - you're on.
While danger is not irrelevant, the cause, the goal, is much more relevant. People have taken huge risks for a cause they believe in - and lost, not infrequently. I believe in trying to ensure that humanity is not limited by the finite resources of the Earth. I want humans to inherit the stars. I am prepared to risk quite a lot of danger, and quite a lot of discomfort, in that goal. But not infinite danger, and not infinite discomfot.
So - give me a worthwhile job to do, and I'll sign up.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
Incidentally, probably the only thing the movie Armageddon has to contribute to society, is the answer to this question. The typical person who would most likely take on an assignment in space, like drilling into an astroid or setting up base there, would have to have little ties like family, be very well paid (at those odds) and more than slightly suicidal. This is not a scientist's (or nerd's) type of job. It involves following instructions to the letter (like: drill here) and very hard and continuous manual labour. After that part is done, people can start to think about *living* in space, at far better odds.
Depends on the asteroid's spin. There might even be a morning every hour. Too fast a spin might make working an asteroid impractical. (Coriolis, effective surface gravity, dizziness, etc.)
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Of course at some point said colonies would get their independence, and presumably could offer some "freedom" for newcomers. Of course, acquiring independence has traditionally been a bloody mess, and as often as not has lead to a very unfree dictatorship...
Once independent, the new colonies would be kindly requested to sign trade treaties etc, and as a condition to doing so, promise protection for intellectual property etc. Until and unless they'd be totally self-sufficient, the colonies would have to agree to limit music downloads and software piracy and everything else the earthlings demand...
All in all, going to space will happen, it will be exciting, dangerous, and rewarding, but it will not provide much "freedom" in any way. That's my prediction.
In Murphy We Turst
No, which is one of the many benefits of leaving Earth :-)
When we are discussing this, remember that the same discussions were held nearly 500 years ago. Replace the word "space" with "the new world" or "the wild west". There is probably an added element of danger with it being space and all. It probably evens out with the pioneer days, animals, weather, etc.
I hate sigs.
The drugs and hookers would have to be _really_ good. But forgetting to put your helmet on during decompression can be a mind-blowing bummer.
This overlooked movie has always been my standard to judge all movies about what "fun" it would be to work in the greater solar system.
After reading Kim Stanly Robinson's Red Mars I thought about this a lot. I considered whether or not I'd go to Mars if I had the chance, assuming it meant it was a one-way trip, with a high likelyhood that I would die on Mars, on account of the radiation. Not sure why I had this stuck in my head, there are ways to shield the radiation. But I think I'd do it, though not at this point in my life... I'd have to be older.
:)
:)
With an 80% chance of survival... I think I'd do it now, as long as my S.O. could go with me, and I think she would. As for 50%... well, let's just say that I'd wait a little while longer until the odds got better.
If you've not read Red Mars, as well as the rest of the series (Green Mars, Blue Mars) I highly reccomend it. KSR is on comissions at NASA and elsewhere for Mars colonization. He certainly knows what he's talking about. The really great thing about Red Mars is that it is very, very realistic- there isn't a lot that we couldn't do now with the right resources. When you read a book that is *so* close to what we could achieve now, it really makes you think, and makes you wish you could be one of the First Hundren.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
in all sincerity, I expressed the following..
should the opportunity arise where I could go into space, even on a one-way trip (generation ship, suicide mission, whatever) and she could not go, (denied for whatever reason) I wouldn't go, but if she had the same opportunity, and declined to go,(doesn't want to leave the kids, doesn't want to leave the planet,) I'd go without her. she looked at me, said "ok" and immediately started laughing.
I meant it, most truly, and remind her about it occasionally..
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
According to myth, the fates appeared to Achilles and offered him a choice between a short but interesting life, or a long but unremarkable life. He chose the life where people would remember him after he was gone.
I'd have to take the chance if it was offered. How many people have had the chance to fly in space? Even with all of its risks, I'd have to try.
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
Just remember that wherever you are, your odds of survival are ultimately 0.
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.