Slashdot Mirror
Reality TV "Astronauts" Lift Off
RJG writes "In the latest reality show on British TV, three British "space tourists" last night succesfully blasted off on a five day mission and are currently orbiting the earth 200 miles up. Or so they think. And to forestall the first question. They aren't experiencing weightlessness due to a combination of being in a low orbit (rather than outer space where the weightlessness is) and a few under-floor gravity generators."
You are of course labouring under the illusion that the whole thing isn't a hoax on the viewer.
At first I was disgusted from the initial appearance of this show, and unfortunately after a few quotes from the profiles such as these: I realize that this will probably be an instant success. It appears to be on a UK channel but I'm guessing it will be picked up and aired in the states.
I guess when you put people like this together, you have a formula for an instant TV hit (like every reality show before it). Am I allowed to hate this show if it's making light of the people I dislike the most in this world?
If you disagree that it's going to be a hit, check out the 9 pages of posts on its bulletin boards.
Also to note, there are posts on the bulletin that this may be a hoax on the viewing public. Just relaying that speculation.
My work here is dung.
And then... the final twist.
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" - Plato
Not sure about that. I'd spotted the guy in the Give Blood ad too - they're still showing it fer crying out loud - but remember that on previous Big Brothers several contestants were registered as actors/models while eking out an existence in a real job until someone 'recognized their talent'.
The kind of people who apply for Endemol shows are desperate for the oxygen of publicity. This isn't going to be the only show they've tried to get on. eg: this bloke won 'Playing it Straight' on Ch4 and also won 'Britains worst builder' on Ch5. Crap ctor? Crap model? Crap builder? Probably all three; not a confidence trick by the producers but a fame-grab by the contestant.
The whole fakery of this bullshit taken to a new level by E4's Bamboozle - a gameshow where the point is to get yourself on other telly shows as much as possible.
I think it would be awesome to do a 5 day simulation of a space flight, even if I knew it was fake. It would just be cool to do, and probably stressful as hell (if Mission Control decided to make it so); think of how involved you can get in a computer game you can walk away from. Now add social dynamics and the immersion factor of being in a giant space-ship mock up! It would be rad!
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
The only had one "casting call" episode, and yes, it was entertaining. They also didn't tell the applicants what they were applying for until the end of the selection process, so these people were doing all sorts of wacky things without any clue as to why.
;-)
I agree with you that it's a horribly cruel trick to be playing. But it does make for cringeingly funny viewing.
On the other hand, as long as they don't work out the ruse, the participants will be awarded with a trip to the real Russian space training centre, and an experience of weightlessness in the vomit comet, so if they can stay stupid for another five days, they'll at least get the chance to do some of it for real.
One thing I will place a bet on is that this show will be very quick to make the jump over the Atlantic.
One final note -- there are some rumours flying around that all the contestants are actually actors, and that the whole thing is actually a hoax on the viewers. But frankly, the viewing is entertaining enough that it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. hehehe.
(Spudley Strikes Again!)
Two words for you: prove it.
This post from another thread seems to do so -- stuff confirming the participants are actors when the show claims they're not. Some counterarguments follow in the linked thread, but it sounds like a reasonable theory with fairly good evidence to me.
The filesystem is the package manager
No. Sorry, and I know that as a Brit my opinion is biased, but if you'd read the article you'd know that the thing has been *advertised* AS A HOAX. The 'cadets' are being hoaxed, for the entertainment of television viewers (in much the same way as thousands of hopeful people are invited to audition for 'pop' reality shows, and ridiculed in front of the country by showing people who really can't sing for the enjoyment of the public, occasionally throwing in one which does have talent for the sake of credibility)
... is blasting a group of adventurers, ordinary members of the public, off into space to spend five days orbiting the earth. It's thrilling, it's exciting, and it's totally bogus. "
My point is, the british public hasn't been hoaxed, since the program's been entirely advertised as a hoax since day one, as from the article:
"[Space Cadets]
Note the word bogus.
If you want to settle scores, then I'm afraid the US is still in the lead, with William Shatner's "Invasion Iowa" which was an attempt to trick an entire town in Iowa into thinking aliens had landed. As I've not got around to watching any of this yet, I can't comment on its success.
Very funny scotty, now beam down my clothes
Even more amusing would be if they don't believe the truth afterwards.
I could easily see someone either very gullible or in deep denial, insisting that he really went into space, and that the TV program is the real hoax.
You are correct. Both Newton's theory of gravity and Einstein's, don't have a limit on the range of gravity. It gets weaker the farther away you get from something, but it is always there (microgravity, as you said). The only way that you would find "zero" gravity is between two objects, say the Earth and the Moon, where the pull of gravity is the same in both directions. That's not the same, of course.
Yes - there is gravity in low earth orbit. If there weren't then you wouldn't be orbiting. Orbits happen when the gravity of an object is strong enough to bend the path of your 'flight' around it, but the momentum of your flight is powerful enough to stop you falling straight down. Essentially, you are moving sidways so quickly as you fall, that you wont hit the ground for a very long time because you keep over-shooting.
The catch as applies to the contestants "space station" is that for them to experience gravity of even close to normal Earth gravity, they would have to be at a very low altitude (compared to true low-earth orbit) and consequently moving at horribly horribly fast speeds (that's a technical term). Also they would be burning up in the atmosphere, scaring the Hell out of the Air Force, etc. I'm not sure how high you have to go before you start noticing a loss of weight, but it's definitely a lot lower than Low Earth Orbit.
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
Why bother with the elaborate double-bluff? Why hire crappy actors - one of whom is only known as an extra from some advert, another who only appears in some catalogue of crappy actors - and try to get them to become good enough actors to maintain the pretence?
Wouldn't it actually in the end be easier to just find some authentic idiots? God knows there are enough of them around.
I suspect that what's happened here is that they have on their hands a collection of desperate wannabes. Reality TV can be your launchpad into the glittering world of C-list celebrity. For someone who works most of the time as an electrician and occasionally gets work as an extra in a 'Give Blood' campaign... well, it's the big opportunity to become a star, right?
It just seems... stupid... to do it on purpose. What are they going to do? Tell the watching millions 'sorry, the whole thing has been a fake, they're all actors'? Potentially turn them all off from the entire suddenly-discredited reality TV genre and derail the gravy train? Why would they do that?
You can do what you like to your contestants, but don't insult the public. They'll respond by not tuning in next time, and that's the last thing you want.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
The only thing more pathetic than this show is the people who point and laugh while thinking "I'd never do that!" when, in fact, we do it every day. How many times have articles on the front page of
Now I'm all in favor of ridiculing stupidity and playing practical jokes. But creating an elaborate scheme designed to fool the participants for days on end so they can be derided at the national level is just pathetic.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
You make a very good point.
I generally can't stand the reality TV show scheme; however, I happened to catch half an episode of the first Joe Schmoe season at a friend's house and was instantly hooked. I've now seen the whole season.
It was a remarkably humane and thoughtful program. It not only celebrated humanity at its best but managed to tackle complicated ethical questions with more depth and integrity than any other program on television. (Albeit with the occasional gratuitous tit flash.)
Although it's not clear to me the producers *intended* (and it sure as hell isn't the program that was advertised in commercial spots), they managed to create a something genuine and moving in a field dominated by the cruel and the stupid. The result is closer to Studs Terkel than to Survivor.
I know nothing about the astronaut show except the slashdot blurb (TFA won't cooperate with my browser at present), but there's certainly the potential there to create something which isn't mean spirited and cruel. Tone down the competition, hire people who aren't selfish and stupid, and it's possible to create something truly worthwhile in reality TV.
I do hope they eventually straighten participants out about the bad physics they've had to feed them, though. Pointing out to the audience that their gravity explanation is total bullocks would seem an ethical must as well.
Also bear in mind that 'rotational artificial gravity' (that effect caused by 'centrifugal force') is not indistinguishable from real gravity. For instance, if you walk in the direction of rotation, you'll feel heavier, and the opposite is true as well. Also, you'll be prone to dizziness, as gyroscopic effects will sometimes make it more difficult to turn your head in one direction than another. It'd be a fun, strange environment. :)
Don't just stand there, get that other dog!