Should We Launch a Kid to Space?

[qzgy]

19 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Children are smaller. We can pack two for the price of one.

And weigh less. Less weight = less delta-v needed for launch.

But really, sending a child would be a publicity stunt. Don't see the point.

[Hay]

6 hours ago, qzgy said:

And weigh less. Less weight = less delta-v needed for launch.

But really, sending a child would be a publicity stunt. Don't see the point.

Child labor = cheap

[tater]

If my kid doesn't get off Minecraft soon, you can launch him into space.

[Pawelk198604]

19 hours ago, _Augustus_ said:

This is such a bad, dangerous, and downright dumb idea that I don't really have any comments. If anything went wrong it would be the worst PR disaster in spaceflight history.

Why you think so? Why you think it would be PR Disaster?

what could go possibly wrong   

 

As kid i dreamed to go into space, i began dream it as young kid as i watched one movie in TVP (Polish Public National television) in it's weakly Saturday with Walt Disney with was usually classic Disney Cartoon and one feature length movie for kids and teens in my case it was this move   

In this case was accidental launch of Space Shuttle full of kids (very Kerbal if you ask me  ) but i wonder if we ever do real space mission under adult supervision pf course it would help people understand how our Earth fragile is that that, is our home cradle of life as we know it, but as someone wise told, no one rest in cradle forever  that colonization of space is not only possible but it's necessary, the sooner we realize it is the better.  

13 hours ago, Hay said:

Child labor = cheap

LOL That's good one  

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

6 hours ago, Pawelk198604 said:

in my case it was this move

I even can guess, why. Space is so... nice.

P.S.
Apes flied, why kids can't?

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by kerbiloid

[YNM]

On 8/20/2017 at 9:08 AM, _Augustus_ said:

This is such a bad, dangerous, and downright dumb idea that I don't really have any comments. If anything went wrong it would be the worst PR disaster in spaceflight history.

 

On 8/20/2017 at 9:29 AM, qzgy said:

But really, sending a child would be a publicity stunt. Don't see the point.

As I've said : this is more of a question whether we can truly live in outer space and other places. If we can't even send our young "up", how could that be possible ?

The answer probably lies in "no, we're not going to leave this rock" or "not now".

Edited August 21, 2017 by YNM

[Pawelk198604]

2 hours ago, YNM said:

 

As I've said : this is more of a question whether we can truly live in outer space and other places. If we can't even send our young "up", how could that be possible ?

The answer probably lies in "no, we're not going to leave this rock" or "not now".

at least we can try, we send one kid they inspire others kids and in couple years we would have s hell of a lot of new Aerospace engineers, spece advocates, and space enthusiasts   

Like they guy in the article i gave link said. 

[p1t1o]

19 minutes ago, Pawelk198604 said:

at least we can try, we send one kid they inspire others kids and in couple years we would have s hell of a lot of new Aerospace engineers, spece advocates, and space enthusiasts   

Like they guy in the article i gave link said. 

I think it would result in one new aerospace engineer/advocate/enthusiast.

When you were a child, were you inspired by other children, or the adults that actually did the cutting edge stuff?

We're all interested in space because we've watched real astronauts do amazing things, not because we saw another child be toured around some space hardware.

***

Basically, who is more inspiring, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, or Ensign Wesley Crusher?

*drops mic*

/thread

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by p1t1o

[YNM]

4 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Basically, who is more inspiring, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, or Ensign Wesley Crusher?

*drops mic*

/thread

 

At least the kid will inspire longer, hopefully.

[Pawelk198604]

10 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

I think it would result in one new aerospace engineer/advocate/enthusiast.

When you were a child, were you inspired by other children, or the adults that actually did the cutting edge stuff?

We're all interested in space because we've watched real astronauts do amazing things, not because we saw another child be toured around some space hardware.

***

Basically, who is more inspiring, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, or Ensign Wesley Crusher?

*drops mic*

/thread

 

Of course Captain Jean-Luc Picard without  doubt but i would hard time to decide who is better  Jean Luc or this guy  

 

As for Wesley Crusher, so you said that such kid in space would be basically real life Wesley Crusher?  
Maybe, as kid when TNG was first aired on TVP (Polish Public National TV)  i was in fact very inspired by Wesley but when i becoming adult myself i found Wesley Crusher more annoying, deeply annoying than inspiring    

Edited August 21, 2017 by Pawelk198604

[wumpus]

16 hours ago, Pawelk198604 said:

In this case was accidental launch of Space Shuttle full of kids (very Kerbal if you ask me ) but i wonder if we ever do real space mission under adult supervision pf course it would help people understand how our Earth fragile is that that, is our home cradle of life as we know it, but as someone wise told, no one rest in cradle forever that colonization of space is not only possible but it's necessary, the sooner we realize it is the better.  

LOL That's good one

Way back when I was young (and the Apollo program was fresh in people's minds, if already canceled), there was a made-for-TV movie called "stowaway to the Moon".  A kid sneaks on board a Saturn V and proceeds to make it to the Moon (no idea how they convinced anyone that you could hide in a space capsule).  I doubt there was any more realism involved.

Another space-kid-stowaway was shown in "The Twilight Zone" (1980s edition, probably a reaction to "Space Camp" above).  Things didn't go as well for anyone onboard, especially the kid.  It was called "the Cold Equations".

[NSEP]

No, not just because its incredibly stupid and unnecessary, but imagine the media's reaction. I bet my left leg people will discredit space travel in general and giving it a bad look even when the child inside cries a little.

You have to be careful when taking actions, before you know it society hammers you because you picked strawberry ice cream instead of vanilla for example.

[Pawelk198604]

7 hours ago, NSEP said:

No, not just because its incredibly stupid and unnecessary, but imagine the media's reaction. I bet my left leg people will discredit space travel in general and giving it a bad look even when the child inside cries a little.

You have to be careful when taking actions, before you know it society hammers you because you picked strawberry ice cream instead of vanilla for example.

Certainly the child inside would not cry, because it would likely be a kid dream come true and parents agree. 

BTW If it was boy he would likely not cry at all, a girl maybe    

[munlander1]

No, as if it goes wrong (challenger, Soyuz 11, and even the milder Apollo 13) would make the public go crazy. Plus there is the training aspect of it.

[PB666]

On 8/18/2017 at 11:04 AM, Nibb31 said:

If it's for PR, it's instrumentalising a child, which is bad and counter-productive.

If it's for science, then it's unethical and illegal, which is bad.

When there is no reason to do something, then don't do it. Doing something "because you can" is stupid.

What if the kid is really annoying? There's a balanced ethical question.

[kerbiloid]

So, two kinds of kids look appropriate candidates for a spaceflight: bad and clever.

We have to define Courage and Stupidity filters.

[NSEP]

8 hours ago, Pawelk198604 said:

Certainly the child inside would not cry, because it would likely be a kid dream come true and parents agree. 

BTW If it was boy he would likely not cry at all, a girl maybe    

A ride to orbit is like an extremely dangerous rollercoaster that takes stops during that 3g loop. Even if my dream came true, you cant reach your dream without pain. A ride with a rocket is also a pain.

Oh no, nononononomnono, lets not get on the boy/girl discussion here.

 

[KerikBalm]

there are more cost effective ways to inspire people.

The kid wouldn't do anything useful, it would be a ~ hundred million dollar joyride for a kid.

Also, "inspiring" kids can be bad if you give them unrealistic goals. The world doesn't need 100 million kids in the next generation all trying their hardest to become astronauts, just like it doesn't need 100 million history majors. Many college graduates are left regretting their major once they realize that there is a huge gap between the number of people with degrees in a certain field, and the number of jobs available in that field.

We have no shortage of people with a desire to go to space. Perhaps a greater interest in science is needed, but a mission to Europa will inspire more than some lotto to select one lucky kid. We don't need any more "popular science" that is just hyped up and dumbed-down. An endeavor that results in hyping dumbed-down science isn't going to change society for the better

[kerbiloid]

They can prepare kids to be furure Martian colonists right now,

All what they need: shovels, buckets, a water crane and potatos.

[Pawelk198604]

I just talked with other my fellow Polish space nerd, we talked a loot, that many of us wanted to fly into space as kids, but mission could go horrible wrong like this one, that American gambled with sending civilian teacher in space, and it ended badly for NASA

 

And Russians almost lost whole crew, it was ended in Emergency Mission Abort

 

 

But i argued that new launch systems are much safer now, and if we send more civilians into space, not just kids, maybe spaceflight would be gain more so needed publicity.   

On 22.08.2017 at 3:27 AM, munlander1 said:

No, as if it goes wrong (challenger, Soyuz 11, and even the milder Apollo 13) would make the public go crazy. Plus there is the training aspect of it.

training aspect?

[Pawelk198604]

On 22.08.2017 at 7:51 AM, kerbiloid said:

So, two kinds of kids look appropriate candidates for a spaceflight: bad and clever.

We have to define Courage and Stupidity filters.

Maybe, but look like at this kid  

G force twisted his face like (he was just drank 100 ml of our Polish vodka  , pardon this vodka humor maybe it's bit inappropriate  ) he survived 8,5 g and smiling like jebediah Kerman  

 

And here you have adult petite Turkish woman a pilot candidate

 

I think that if someone want to fly into space badly, the gender age and so on, are no matter only the strength of will are the matter    

[p1t1o]

The more I think of it, the more the idea of "inspiring a generation" seems hollow.

I mean, how cool is space, right? Did someone have to twist your arm to get interested? 

What is the stereotypical "example answer" to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" ?

Its "Princess" or "Astronaut". 

Space is already awesome and most kids of the appropriate mind know it.

Getting kids interested in space is the (very, very, very) easy part!

The hard part is that there are far, far fewer positions available in the field than there are people interested in it.

But that is another issue. Suffice to say, space exploration/budget, is NOT limited by the number of applicants!

The whole question is a sham in the first place!

And, oh look, the person who came up with the idea is selling a book. Colour me shocked.

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by p1t1o

[insert_name]

Another factor no one seems to have mentioned is that spending 6 months in space would likely interfere with the child's education and social life

[munlander1]

11 hours ago, Pawelk198604 said:

training aspect?

I believe training the kids to be able to adjust to everything may be difficult 

[Pawelk198604]

12 hours ago, p1t1o said:

The more I think of it, the more the idea of "inspiring a generation" seems hollow.

I mean, how cool is space, right? Did someone have to twist your arm to get interested? 

What is the stereotypical "example answer" to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" ?

Its "Princess" or "Astronaut". 

Space is already awesome and most kids of the appropriate mind know it.

Getting kids interested in space is the (very, very, very) easy part!

The hard part is that there are far, far fewer positions available in the field than there are people interested in it.

But that is another issue. Suffice to say, space exploration/budget, is NOT limited by the number of applicants!

The whole question is a sham in the first place!

And, oh look, the person who came up with the idea is selling a book. Colour me shocked.

 

you said "The hard part is that there are far, far fewer positions available in the field than there are people interested in it." and i'm partially agree with you, i'm graduated in Library Science bachelor degree with good average grade yet i cannot find employment with my specialization  
I get Job in fast food restaurant KFC, and sometime i think that this whole higher education was waste of time, but at least in my country we have free higher education      

2 hours ago, insert_name said:

Another factor no one seems to have mentioned is that spending 6 months in space would likely interfere with the child's education and social life

And who said about 6 months? 
On full day a weak at best, in my country one crippled teen (now adult)  made trip to North Pole and South Pole in less than a year and survived  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Mela

 

http://v1.explorapoles.org/UK/Gazette_UK/dia/com_2005/kaminski.htm

 

So why the Spaceflight would be any difference? 

Edited August 24, 2017 by Pawelk198604