Artemis, new book by Andy Weir, chapter 1 teaser.

[Spaceception]

Yay!

http://www.readitforward.com/longform/artemis/

[Bill Phil]

Is it just me, or are the words "...oxygen reserve plummeted while I watched" changing in brightness?

[ZentroCatson]

Yeah, when you click on them it does a little animation.

I really like it so far, I definitely will buy the book

[Elthy]

Wow, this will be awesome!

I loved the excrements out of the Martian, i hope we will see as much science in Artemis...

[Norcalplanner]

Looks interesting...

[TotallyNotHuman]

HYPE! HYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPE!!!!!

[tater]

My suspension of disbelief instantly ended with the Kenya Space Corporation. That is less believable than moon bases filled with tourists, etc.

 

[Spaceception]

48 minutes ago, tater said:

My suspension of disbelief instantly ended with the Kenya Space Corporation. That is less believable than moon bases filled with tourists, etc.

 

Well, maybe we'll get an explanation later on, it could be a mixture of government and private corporations based in Kenya, hence the name.

[tater]

Just now, Spaceception said:

Well, maybe we'll get an explanation later on, it could be a mixture of government and private corporations based in Kenya, hence the name.

That's pretty much the only possibility, and even that is far-fetched given the neighborhood (launch companies would like the stability that would result from not having the countries surrounding Kenya). Unless it's a future history where the far, far more likely players are gone from the picture, it was so jarring as to make me wonder if I would buy it. I will require some clarification before reading it, honestly (and I suspended disbelief on the Mars storm, even though I thought of a better mechanism to strand Mark that wasn't goofy).

[Skylon]

1 hour ago, tater said:

My suspension of disbelief instantly ended with the Kenya Space Corporation. That is less believable than moon bases filled with tourists, etc.

 

It could be an alternate timeline or just a private/government collab. Kenya's on the East coast; maybe they wanted more space than was available in Florida for launch and has land on the equator (but not on the coast as well)

[tater]

A launch site is fine. The Kenya Space Corp running a moon base? Sounds like those letters, then faxes, now emails I get from Nigeria.

[Elthy]

In the future Kenya could be part of a bigger collaboration of nations (think European Union, just bigger), where it becomes the main spaceport due to the location. Dont forget the book seems to take place 50 years in the future (based on the Star Trek reference), the world could change drasticaly in such long timeframes.

I kinda think French Guiana would a more logical location for such a gigant spaceport due to existing infrastructure and politics (its an official part of France and thus the EU), but the future is hard to predict.

[qzgy]

Looked through it - intriguing.

[tater]

1 hour ago, Elthy said:

In the future Kenya could be part of a bigger collaboration of nations (think European Union, just bigger), where it becomes the main spaceport due to the location. Dont forget the book seems to take place 50 years in the future (based on the Star Trek reference), the world could change drasticaly in such long timeframes.

I kinda think French Guiana would a more logical location for such a gigant spaceport due to existing infrastructure and politics (its an official part of France and thus the EU), but the future is hard to predict.

If Kenya is a player in space in 50 years and I'm still alive to see it... I'll eat an ITS.

Not impossible is one thing, ridiculous is another.

I'm curious to know what could be stolen as well, given it's stated to be a heist thing.

I'd bet that choice has more to do with possibly selling it as a movie, frankly.

Edited June 2, 2017 by tater

[Spaceception]

1 hour ago, tater said:

If Kenya is a player in space in 50 years and I'm still alive to see it... I'll eat an ITS.

Not impossible is one thing, ridiculous is another.

I'm curious to know what could be stolen as well, given it's stated to be a heist thing.

I'd bet that choice has more to do with possibly selling it as a movie, frankly.

I heard 20th century fox is already looking at it

[tater]

5 hours ago, Spaceception said:

I heard 20th century fox is already looking at it

I like the idea of a woman protagonist (my daughter will like that as well). I'm fine with people in space from everywhere on Earth, and that broadens the appeal of the book and movie, that's great, too. Making it Kenya is so bizarre I cannot wrap my head around it. I can think of a few rationales that are in the real world, but none that make sense for the story (and getting into any of them would be inappropriate for the forum).

[Bill Phil]

1 hour ago, tater said:

I like the idea of a woman protagonist (my daughter will like that as well). I'm fine with people in space from everywhere on Earth, and that broadens the appeal of the book and movie, that's great, too. Making it Kenya is so bizarre I cannot wrap my head around it. I can think of a few rationales that are in the real world, but none that make sense for the story (and getting into any of them would be inappropriate for the forum).

Well, it is a country with more than 40 million people, and it's economic growth isn't anything to scoff at. It's certainly a stretch, but saying that it's impossible? I don't know. It's possible that the nation is sponsoring the effort, and not directly partaking in it. 50 years is a long time. Then again, the future is hard to predict... I can certainly understand how it can be a believability issue. 

[tater]

It seemed particularly jarring given the names of the domes, too. I suppose those of us here spend far more time thinking about these sorts of things than most people, but the sort of tourist destination suggested means that it's private sector to me, and if Bezos were to set up such a thing, for example, why would it involve Kenya? A tax dodge, perhaps? It's not impossible assuming it's private, and there somehow needs tone an Earth country to pay taxes to, and maybe someplace like Kenya offers to be "host" in return for some investment, I suppose.

[Norcalplanner]

I've read the excerpt again, and the Kenya thing is making more sense. It's the Kenya Space Corporation, and Artemis is referred to as an off-shore platform and considered international waters for legal purposes. When one thinks of the current practice of "flagging" a ship in Liberia for legal and tax purposes, or incorporating a business in Ireland to minimize taxes, this structure makes sense. Artemis is, quite literally, a company town, owned by a corporation instead of a government. For all we know the seed capital was provided by tech entrepreneurs who went "shopping" for a country willing to change its laws in exchange for a once-in-a-lifetime economic development opportunity.

[tater]

6 minutes ago, Norcalplanner said:

I've read the excerpt again, and the Kenya thing is making more sense. It's the Kenya Space Corporation, and Artemis is referred to as an off-shore platform and considered international waters for legal purposes. When one thinks of the current practice of "flagging" a ship in Liberia for legal and tax purposes, or incorporating a business in Ireland to minimize taxes, this structure makes sense. Artemis is, quite literally, a company town, owned by a corporation instead of a government. For all we know the seed capital was provided by tech entrepreneurs who went "shopping" for a country willing to change its laws in exchange for a once-in-a-lifetime economic development opportunity.

Yeah, I said that was the only plausible explanation, but even then it's bizarre. Current launch facilities already operate outside of local taxes, otherwise no one would send a satellite to KSC for launch (they'd have to pay import duties just to send it away to space).

[Benjamin Kerman]

On 6/2/2017 at 10:35 AM, Skylon said:

It could be an alternate timeline or just a private/government collab. Kenya's on the East coast; maybe they wanted more space than was available in Florida for launch and has land on the equator (but not on the coast as well)

Yeah, i was going to say that its on the equator and on the east coast. Good in both respects for launching large rockets to the moon!