It's not like they're in the middle of someone else's torpex.
There are many similarities between submarining and living in space, but the astronauts have it far better than submariners:
1. Daily contact with loved ones, not 67 days of communications blackout while on station. I bet no astronaut has come back from space and found his apartment and bank accounts empty, himself divorced, and his ex-wife gone.
2. Technology that is only 5 years out of date, not 20! Iron core memory is reliable, but using it in the fire control system in the early 90's is a bit much.
3. Windows (the kind that you can look through, Linux prosletisers). OK, a submarine has two periscopes, but it is not like everyone gets a turn.
4. Much lower optempo. 1 ISS, hundreds of astronauts. 300 days at sea/duty per 2-3 year sea tour, with 1-2 year shore tours in between.
5. Living in a fishbowl like the ISS has its advantages. Nobody is going to order the astronauts to breathe toxic bilge paint for hours at a time as they are frantically painting while still at sea so the OSHA people can't find out what they are doing.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not like they're in the middle of someone else's torpex.
There are many similarities between submarining and living in space, but the astronauts have it far better than submariners:
1. Daily contact with loved ones, not 67 days of communications blackout while on station. I bet no astronaut has come back from space and found his apartment and bank accounts empty, himself divorced, and his ex-wife gone.
2. Technology that is only 5 years out of date, not 20! Iron core memory is reliable, but using it in the fire control system in the early 90's is a bit much.
3. Windows (the kind that you can look through, Linux prosletisers). OK, a submarine has two periscopes, but it is not like everyone gets a turn.
4. Much lower optempo. 1 ISS, hundreds of astronauts. 300 days at sea/duty per 2-3 year sea tour, with 1-2 year shore tours in between.
5. Living in a fishbowl like the ISS has its advantages. Nobody is going to order the astronauts to breathe toxic bilge paint for hours at a time as they are frantically painting while still at sea so the OSHA people can't find out what they are doing.