Questions about real space programs

[Red Iron Crown]

We've been sending mixed gender crews up for a long time. I think the suggestion that no one has taken the opportunity to join the "Zero-G Club", especially if they think they're the first, is incredibly naive.

[Shpaget]

Do you think they have regular Earthside meetings, reminiscing about the good-ol' days?

[peadar1987]

They haven't actually, the studios just claim that to make more money.

From what I've turned up on google, it seems as though the particular nature of the scene they filmed would be hard to fake. I'm quite sure the forum rules prevent discussing the specifics.

Why, exactly do you think ... wouldn't work in zero gravity?

[hugix]

We've been sending mixed gender crews up for a long time. I think the suggestion that no one has taken the opportunity to join the "Zero-G Club", especially if they think they're the first, is incredibly naive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-47

This mission had a married couple aboard. But I doubt they 'did things'.

Edited August 19, 2015 by hugix

[Tazin]

Thanks guys! Very informative! You are all very kind. I have to say, i am mostly surprised at the low cost of a spacex launch. 50-100 mill is a fraction of the price tag on a 330 mill boeing 777. And lets not get into the cost of military units. Low cost can only be good for space exploration.

[Streetwind]

I'm saying that Karman pulled the number out of his derrière.

Some people just make me weep for the Science Labs.

That sounds made-up. I can't think of any reason why ... wouldn't work in complete weightlessness, and as a matter of fact, they have shot some adult film scenes in a plane flying a parabolic arc, simulating weightlessness.

They haven't actually, the studios just claim that to make more money.

Pornhub is actually trying to shoot an adult movie in space. They launched a crowdfunding campaign asking for $3.4 million (no joke) in order to charter an undefined future commercial spaceflight service. To the great relief of everyone except Pornhub, the campaign fell flat on its face in a spectacular fashion. Unfortunately they seem to be planning to try again at a later date.

If you dare, look at the pitch video - it is a pure and unadultered cringe-fest. No adult content in it, but wow. I couldn't make it further than two minutes. It hurt to watch.

[Shpaget]

Some people just make me weep for the Science Labs.

Do you have the calculation?

[Kerbart]

I'm saying that Karman pulled the number out of his derrière.

Yes. Of course. One of the greatest aerodynamic theorists of the 20th century, and a cofounder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, just completely made up numbers to come to a value generally accepted by scientists and the aeronautical industry. It makes totally sense.

Mind you, nobody is daft enough to think that 99.9km is "atmosphere" and 100.1km is "space." However for many purposes -- legislation, jurisdiction, etc, there needs to be a well defined boundary, and we tend to prefer boundaries that have some reasonable assumptions behind them. Von Kármán based his calculations on an "average wing load," whatever that might have been at the time he came up with the definition, and it stuck.

[Kryten]

Thanks guys! Very informative! You are all very kind. I have to say, i am mostly surprised at the low cost of a spacex launch. 50-100 mill is a fraction of the price tag on a 330 mill boeing 777.

To be fair every rocket on the market today is less than that price, with the sole exception of Delta IV Heavy.

[peadar1987]

Shpaget, you're the one seemingly on a crusade. The maths behind the Karman line is all here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line#Definition

It will be pretty easy to work out a value for (m/Cl*A). You can then compare it to any aircraft you desire and see how close the values are.

[Shpaget]

Crusade? All I'm doing is asking for numbers. You guys are all up in arms because I dare to question partial data and the Mr. Von Untouchable. The wiki article has already been linked and I pointed out the problems with it.

I desire the aircraft Karman used for his calculation. Which one was it?

That's all I ever wanted, haven't I said this before?

[peadar1987]

Crusade? All I'm doing is asking for numbers. You guys are all up in arms because I dare to question partial data and the Mr. Von Untouchable. The wiki article has already been linked and I pointed out the problems with it.

I desire the aircraft Karman used for his calculation. Which one was it?

That's all I ever wanted, haven't I said this before?

If you want it so badly, do the maths. You seem to care about it far more than anybody else here, so why should they do the work for you? Work out (m/Cl*A), compare it to any number of aircraft from the early 20th century.

[_Augustus_]

We've been sending mixed gender crews up for a long time. I think the suggestion that no one has taken the opportunity to join the "Zero-G Club", especially if they think they're the first, is incredibly naive.

Not enough privacy on the Shuttle, and no one has done it on space stations.

There would be evidence left behind by it, regardless. We'd know.

[Red Iron Crown]

Not enough privacy on the Shuttle, and no one has done it on space stations.

There would be evidence left behind by it, regardless. We'd know.

You really don't need much privacy and the crew sleeps. Gonna need a citation for the space stations. People are people, they do what people do.

I think the space agencies keep the "evidence" private for the appearance of propriety and because, well, it's private.

Edit: A quick googling suggests that NASA has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy about it, they do not outright deny that it has or hasn't happened.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Red Iron Crown

[NovaSilisko]

We've been sending mixed gender crews up for a long time. I think the suggestion that no one has taken the opportunity to join the "Zero-G Club", especially if they think they're the first, is incredibly naive.

I think it's insulting to their professional careers to suggest that it's being done and subsequently covered up. For one, it's kind of insane to think that nobody would blab, through the entire history of the space program. They're up there to do their jobs. ^{They also, I should note, send people who are older than their mid-20s, generally 30s and 40s seems to be the most common. Beyond the, shall we say, "years of common activity". But let's not get into that very much...}

Maybe you could send in a Freedom Of Information Act request about it.

Edited August 19, 2015 by NovaSilisko

[Red Iron Crown]

I think it's insulting to their professional careers to suggest that it's being done and subsequently covered up. For one, it's kind of insane to think that nobody would blab, through the entire history of the space program. They're up there to do their jobs. They also, I should note, send people who are older than their mid-20s, generally 30s and 40s seems to be the most common. Beyond the, shall we say, "years of common activity."

They aren't "doing their jobs" 24/7. Hadfield famously had time to record a music video. Astronauts are people who, to some degree, are selected for their pioneering spirit, I find it difficult to imagine that absolutely no one has availed of the opportunity for this "first". I don't think it is being covered up, precisely, more that it is just not being confirmed or denied publicly (which I think is the best policy).

As a man in my late 30s married to a woman in her early 40s, I can assure you that the "years of common activity" do not end in the mid-20s. Far from it.

[NovaSilisko]

I don't think it is being covered up, precisely, more that it is just not being confirmed or denied publicly (which I think is the best policy).

That's the thing though, I don't think it could or would stay secret. I think it would get out pretty fast. And, if it did, it would be an utter scandal - not just for the astronauts, but for the whole agency, and could jeopardize their careers as a result. And I think that possibility alone would be a deterrent.

[Red Iron Crown]

That's the thing though, I don't think it could or would stay secret. I think it would get out pretty fast. And, if it did, it would be an utter scandal - not just for the astronauts, but for the whole agency, and could jeopardize their careers as a result. And I think that possibility alone would be a deterrent.

I fail to see how it would be an utter scandal. For that matter, an astronaut has confirmed, uh, solo activity while aboard ISS and the program hasn't come to a grinding halt.

[NovaSilisko]

I fail to see how it would be an utter scandal. For that matter, an astronaut has confirmed, uh, solo activity while aboard ISS and the program hasn't come to a grinding halt.

Mostly in the eyes of a variety of members of the public who want ammo to talk about how spaceflight is bad. "You spend millions of dollars to send them up to do what?!" and such. Also, I seem to remember an oblique reference to... how was it phrased... "I know of no bodily functions that don't work in space" or something to that effect. Or was it more of a... direct statement?

^{(One more for the list of conversations I never expected to happen on the KSP forum)}

Edited August 19, 2015 by NovaSilisko

[peadar1987]

Mostly in the eyes of a variety of members of the public who want ammo to talk about how spaceflight is bad. "You spend millions of dollars to send them up to do what?!" and such. Also, I seem to remember an oblique reference to... how was it phrased... "I know of no bodily functions that don't work in space" or something to that effect. Or was it more of a... direct statement?

^{(One more for the list of conversations I never expected to happen on the KSP forum)}

Not really direct but talk of "getting away" and "private time" in this AMA (inverted commas included)

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/r62jp/iama_nasa_astronaut_that_recently_returned_to/c437nfi

And a quote attributed to Cosmonaut Alexandr Laveikin:

"It's up to yourself how you will deal with it. But everybody is doing it, everybody understands. It's nothing. My friends ask me, 'How are you making ... in space?' I say, 'By hand!'"

Edited August 19, 2015 by peadar1987

[NovaSilisko]

Well, huh. The more you know. Makes one wonder about the Apollo command module pilots, now.

Now I want to find further pieces of evidence into this phenomena.

Edited August 19, 2015 by NovaSilisko

[_Augustus_]

Well, huh. The more you know. Makes one wonder about the Apollo command module pilots, now.

Now I want to find further pieces of evidence into this phenomena.

Mike Collins wrote something, he said that the flight planners suggested it but later changed their minds.