Proud but ashamed...

[jumper03 0]

I'm proud to be american, but sometimes I'm ashamed at our arrogance...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/04/20/nasa.rejects.reut/index.html

The russians know more about long duration space flight and biomedical effects than anyone. If they say its okay to stay a year why not??? Just because we don't know? And refuse to learn from them???

Something I'm missing? dunno.

Jump

edit to add clicky. sorry bout that - won't thinking.

Scars remind us that the past is real

[Gawain 0]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/04/20/nasa.rejects.reut/index.html

Clicky....

Edit to add: The Russians certainly have the knowledge, but the ISS is probably not the best platform for that plan. As I understand it, it's been having its own share of problems. That, and we don't know much about their safety records.

If they can get cash with the tourists though, that would be great.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[beowulf 1]

The Russians don't have a good history of taking care of their people.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

This might have more to do with NASA not liking that the Russians have the jump on them in the tourist market.

[Kennedy 0]

Quote

This might have more to do with NASA not liking that the Russians have the jump on them in the tourist market.

How about NASA has concerns about becoming a commercial whore versus a scientific agency?

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[jumper03 0]

Quote

How about NASA has concerns about becoming a commercial whore versus a scientific agency?

I've been involved in nasa for awhile now and I feel safe in saying, they can't see past their own arrogance. I'm betting it has a whoooole lot more to do with not wanting everyone to know the Russians actually do know more than us about something.

*Jumper watches his funding fly away now*

Scars remind us that the past is real

[billvon 3,120]

>The Russians certainly have the knowledge, but the ISS is
>probably not the best platform for that plan.

Although it is surely better than Mir, which has hosted astronauts for even longer than a year (437 days max.) In an ideal world the astronauts would decide what sorts of risks they wanted to take, but the space program in both countries is far from ideal.

[wzettler 0]

I admit that I know very little about the subject, but I thought that with extended periods of stay in space muscles atrophied because gravity wasn't puting any resistance. I thought this included the heart and thats why people couldn't live without gravity for extended periods (although I don't know how long) because it would cause heart failure or something? Is this right?

I think when Jesus said "love your enemy" he probably meant don't kill them.

[wmw999 2,589]

I've been working as a NASA contractor for almost 20 years, in various areas. I don't speak for them, but I do have some familiarity. I'm about 1 mile from Johnson Space Center.

NASA folks are like anyone else -- some are good, some are bad, most care very very deeply about the safety of the various crews, and they have differing opinions about what's safe.

Of course there is some Not Invented Here syndrome -- that's something as American as apple pie (just read any thread on this forum and you can see that). I think we invented it .

But right now, with the loss of Columbia and all the analysis of how it happened still first and foremost in both the rear view mirror and the windshield, it's not hard to understand that this is a risk that NASA feels is unwarranted, and the Russians feel is.

A little over a year ago, many people felt the foam strikes weren't a problem, because we had had them. What's an acceptable risk now is not what was acceptable then. Sometimes we know more, and sometimes we just change the definition of "acceptable." How many people here feel that jumping without a Cypres or a helmet is an unacceptable risk, and how many don't?

There are definitely health problems with long-term weightlessness. Part of having a Space Station is to learn how to deal with those, and hardware, issues -- that's a lesson that was learned with Mir, too. Determining how they will be learned is up to the teams that plan it. Sometimes they'll be right, and sometimes they'll be wrong.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[TheAnvil 0]

There's a lot more to this than is apparent. # of astronauts in the pool, how long they train for missions, etc. Do the Russki's do some things better than we do in space? Absolutely. Do we do some things better than they do in space - absolutely. Dan Bursch, the current US space endurance record holder, is a friend/former co-worker of mine. Haven't spoken with him about this, but from previous conversations don't doubt he'd agree. Having met both Sean O'Keefe AND Mr. Toktev (sp? I forget his first name) I'm sure they'll find some sort of amicable and efficient agreement.

Beers to all,

Vinny the Anvil

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[jakee 1,596]

If NASA is serious about its mars timetable then long term space exposure is surely a field in which they need to pull their thumbs out of their arses.

Not only reduced gravity but also radiation exposure.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?