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US Draw Up Rules for Space Tourism
AsiNisiMasa writes "The BBC reports that the United States Federal Aviation Administration has drafted a report proposing some regulations regarding space tourism. Among the rules is a set of guidelines to prevent terrorists from gaining access to the space ships in order to use them as weapons. Many of the other regulations are similar to those regarding regular commercial flights, including safety advice precluding the flights. From the article: 'Space tourists should also be given pre-flight training to handle emergency situations such as a loss of cabin pressure or fire. However, the FAA has so far left any medical requirements in the hands of the tourist, who should decide themselves if they are fit to fly.' The final report will affect enterprises such as Sir Richard Branson's SpaceShipOne."
China launches 3 people into space, 50 years after everyone else and you anti-american trolls predict the fall of the US space program. 110 successful shuttle launches with an average of 4 'new ' passengers per launch and that equals 440 people the US has put into space since 1980 not counting veteran fliers. Even with all shuttles grounded we still surpassed the world in terms of tonnange and people put in orbit the last few years.
Depends. Could a knowledgable terrorist have even a distant, slim-to-nil chance of operating a spacecraft and crashing it into another satellite?
Rational people say "Of course not!" The NSA, CIA, FBI or what have you presumes that if the answer to "could" is "yes" (as in, a snowball's chance in hell, but yes), then it's their job to look at the possibility and address it
Yes it is absolutely their job to look into and investigate all sorts of scenarios, however improbable they may seem to the average person. And they do it.
They do it because they know if they don't do their job then some nutty liberal politician is going to pop up and start haranguing them about why the hell they didn't anticipate that lemmings were going to mutate into ninja pirate splodeydopes with frickin' lasers on their heads and begin massacring their biggest, mostest important campaign contributors at the Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered Vegetarian Body Modification Pagan Poetry Reading Protest and Potluck Supper
Correct me if I'm wrong, but exactly how is a terrorist going to hijack a spacecraft and crash it into even the approximate neighbourhood of Pennsylvania Avenue?
Get with the program.
All someone has to do is be motivated and quiet enough to get a passport and come into the US or walk across the Canadian or Mexican border if that is easier. Then, take spaceship flying lessons at the local NASA-mart. Then, take over spacecraft. Then, carefully aim it at your house, not the big white one on Pennsylvania Ave. It happens every day. Some people still get upset because they simply have not accepted that this is how things go, but they will get accustomed to it over time.
I mean, besides the US government killing thousands of people every year, what motivation would outsiders even have to give us trouble? Suicide bombings don't give too much gratification like they used to. Once the god that loves everyone so much puts you in hell for eternity, the fun of a quick bombing looses its appeal.
Keep in mind, that the largest terrorist attack on US soil before 2000 AD was by a US military trained citizen in protest of the government's involvement in a raid of private property.
Maybe if the government would abide by the Constitution and keep out of its citizens and the citizens of other countries business then people wouldn't get so pissed off.
Hell, even I wouldn't mind the government if all they did was provide decent transportation systems, healthcare systems, protect our borders, protect our rights, and the other basics. Its the imprisonment, murder, revocation of rights, deception, and that stuff that pisses people off.