HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

⬐ ugh

Damn, it’s really busy up there with the shuttle docked.

I wonder how long the most-people-concurrently-in-space-record (13) will stand after the shuttles retire. It could be a long time …

⬐ sbierwagen

Perhaps relevant is Maciej Cegłowski's 2005 piece on the uselessness of the Shuttle and the ISS.

  Taken on its own merits, the Shuttle gives the impression 
  of a vehicle designed to be launched repeatedly to 
  near-Earth orbit, tended by five to seven passengers with 
  little concern for their personal safety, and requiring 
  extravagant care and preparation before each flight, with 
  an almost fetishistic emphasis on reuse. Clearly this 
  primitive space plane must have been a sacred artifact, 
  used in religious rituals to deliver sacrifice to a sky 
  god. 

http://idlewords.com/2005/08/a_rocket_to_nowhere.htm

⬐ wazoox

Obviously, he's got a point. The shuttle was meaningless without a space station to dock too, and obviously many weird concessions were made for the sake of military applications.

But by his metric, manned flights as a whole are meaningless. That everything we do must be useful and come with a predictable ROI is questionable. Do we need the pyramids, the cathedrals? What about the LHC?

⬐ patio11

But by his metric, manned flights as a whole are meaningless.

Manned flights as a whole are meaningless. They accomplish no purpose but to generate PR for billion dollar handouts to defense contractors.

There is nothing -- nothing -- humans can do in space that systems cannot do better, with the exceptions of "mug for the camera" and "perish". What passes for "science experiments" in space bears more resemblance to a high school fair in microgravity than to actual science.

(Here's a spider spinning its web... in microgravity! With four highly trained military officers and a few hundred million in hardware along for the ride!)

⬐ wazoox

> Manned flights as a whole are meaningless. They accomplish no purpose but to generate PR for billion dollar handouts to defense contractors.

Sure, but people /do want/ to fly, and visit the moons of saturn. Well I don't know for you, but I sure want to :) It's probably the main motivation for space exploration at the individual level.

⬐ decadentcactus

Agreed. I want to go up there too, mostly because it's there, and something to accomplish. I think robots also have their place however.

⬐ jluxenberg

Got a kick out of the "speed limit" sign at 4:25

⬐ jonursenbach

Seeing the inside of the shuttle flight deck gives me very very vivid reminders of crashing my shuttle/team during a sim at the old Space Camp in Mountain View; I was part of the first class to go through in '96.

⬐ gregn

that would have been really good if they would have cut the music and eliminated the silly editing, just leaving it in one fluid shot, no overlays, none of that crap. as it was, it was so distracting I had to turn it off. blech.

⬐ kaib

A few minutes after the horrible video editing it turns into a great full screen narrated tour. Just grit your teeth in agony until then...

⬐ gregn

thanks

⬐ ars

Mute the horrible audio till 2:30.

⬐ gregn

thanks, I will.

⬐ paraschopra

You mean there is no floor to walk in ISS? Seriously, the tour was amazing but I kept wanting to look for the window-view of Earth.

⬐ jschuur

They attached the 'cupola' window to Node 3 a few months ago, that points down towards Earth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwEyWrEqXmg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNQ8s2jnMTc

⬐ dareiff

Look to be quite a few hacks in there — tubes and tubes and tubes. Though I suppose with all the modules, it's one big hack.

⬐ None

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⬐ est

in space people walk by hand.

⬐ snprbob86

Is anyone else incredibly jealous?

⬐ ars

I'm almost 100% certain I'll be able to experience free fall sometime during my life.

I'll be pretty disappointed if that doesn't happen though.

⬐ wlievens

A lot of people said that in 1969. Don't get your hopes up too high.

⬐ ars

Too late... :)

I'm hoping recent developments with scramjets (the X-51) will lead to single stage to orbit, and more specifically Air launch to orbit.

⬐ lisper

Free fall for short periods (a couple of seconds) is easily attainable in a small airplane. Go to your nearest general aviation airport and find yourself an aerobatics instructor and you can get a taste of zero G for a couple of hundred bucks.

⬐ None

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