So I met an astronaut today and asked him

[hugix]

Today I was invited to join a few masterclasses given by the top of the Dutch military army. And one of the key note speaks today was Dutch expedition 30/31 astronaut Andre Kuipers.

After his talk there was time to ask questions to the speaker via an open mic. this was my chance to talk to an real life astronaut so I did.

the subject was taking responsibility and I asked him a very clever question on the responsibility of commercializing manned space programs. He gave a long answer on how these company's and talked some about opening the first Dragon capsule at the ISS (He was aboard during the test dragon berthing).

After my question I was asked if I had another question. I kinda lost track of where I was and asked Andre if he was familiar with or even played Kerbal Space program.

After the question I heard a few laughs, a "yeah!" and some applause behind me. but to bad. Andre Kuipers didn't knew the game .

Edited November 6, 2013 by hugix

[Sof]

Its more impressive because the Dutch have further to go to get into space, what with being below sea-level and all.

[hugix]

You just made my day even more complete!

[Lar-E]

"Andre Kuipers didn't knew the game" ... now he does!

[SunJumper]

Its more impressive because the Dutch have further to go to get into space, what with being below sea-level and all.

Their latitude is probably a higher limiting factor.

[Xetalim]

ARE YOU ALL SERIOUS

No seriously, his name is spelled as André Kuipers.

Dont insult him with that(People do the same with my name, forgetting the é)

But yeah, proud to live in the same country as André.

[AmpsterMan]

People let's stay on topic, no need to derail this thread any further.

[Wallace]

ARE YOU ALL SERIOUS

No seriously, his name is spelled as André Kuipers.

Dont insult him with that(People do the same with my name, forgetting the é)

But yeah, proud to live in the same country as André.

Letters with graves or any other accent do not appear on UK or US keyboard layouts, so we can't type an accented e, we would have to memorise the alt codes, of which there are hundreds.

[LtHeckard]

Uh, he needs to play it, um NOW.

[hugix]

Uh, he needs to play it, um NOW.

I emailed him the link to the game when I got home. Might even buy him a copy of the game for him.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Vanamonde
More off-topicness.

[TYRT]

He is Scott's lost brother.

[Holo]

Are there any astronauts who frequently play Kerbal Space Program? It would be so cool if one became a KSP youtuber.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Vanamonde
Still more off-topicness.

[Lordherrmann]

I had the chance to talk to Ulf Merbold, a German astronaut, for an hour. Talking with him about his time aboard the shuttle with John Young might have been one of my coolest conversations ever.

[SyberSmoke]

I think we just found a legit reason to increase NASA funding.

An inflatable add-on to the ISS where they can film space porn? I bet they would be able to solve their budget issues with that cornered market!

In all seriousness...I am not that surprised, I doubt many astronauts have time for games. Though it would be cool if your question sparked an interest in KSP and some promotional opportunities for Squad.

[Vanamonde]

Folks, you may have to look back a ways to find it, but there was indeed a topic to this thread. Meeting an astronaut. No, really. Go check. I'll wait.

Since he was from another culture, the discussions of other alphabets at least has some informational value even if it's only semi-related. But please, this is the second notice to keep this discussion productive and on-topic. If it wanders again, we'll have to lock it. Thank you, and good day.

[hugix]

Folks, you may have to look back a ways to find it, but there was indeed a topic to this thread. Meeting an astronaut. No, really. Go check. I'll wait.

Since he was from another culture, the discussions of other alphabets at least has some informational value even if it's only semi-related. But please, this is the second notice to keep this discussion productive and on-topic. If it wanders again, we'll have to lock it. Thank you, and good day.

Do you think it might be possible for Squad to send a gift code to Mr Kuipers? After all he did in some way had a lot of input into the game.

I would like to clear some air. During my Q&A with Mr Kuipers I had a very brilliant question. the subject of the conferance was "Taking responsibility" and my question was about taking the responsibility of safe space flights which are maintained by private company's. Company's who's first objective is profit. SpaceX might be capable of launching stuff cheaply but if it leaves lots of debris in space, it might have a bad side (Kessler).

all with all, I'd like to know if more space people play KSP. I've read an article (which was featured on these boards) that it is a popular game in JPL. And Scott Manley played the game with an astronaut. But it would be so cool if an real life astronaut played the game out of its own!

[Xetalim]

I think, the problem is for real life astronauts

They are used to real life physics, real life controls and probably real life autopilots.

But yeah, it would be great to give André Kuipers a gift code, i would love to meet him, as we have the same interests.

[MickG]

Letters with graves or any other accent do not appear on UK or US keyboard layouts, so we can't type an accented e, we would have to memorise the alt codes, of which there are hundreds.

In The Netherlands we also use the US keyboard lay-out. To get accents, simply use the US-International lay-out in your OS and you can get accents bij typing the ['] first and the [e] key next to get é for example.

[boxman]

Folks, you may have to look back a ways to find it, but there was indeed a topic to this thread. Meeting an astronaut. No, really. Go check. I'll wait.

Since he was from another culture, the discussions of other alphabets at least has some informational value even if it's only semi-related. But please, this is the second notice to keep this discussion productive and on-topic. If it wanders again, we'll have to lock it. Thank you, and good day.

I saw one comment that was slightly off topic, but yet you act like this one has been derailed completely??

The closest thing to a derail was someone making a small joke but staying completely on topic rest of the post.

[Vanamonde]

I saw one comment that was slightly off topic

You only see one because 17 others were removed after AmpsterMan's first reminder to stay on-topic. If you have further questions about this, please take the matter to PMs. For now, carry on with the subject of the thread, please.

[boxman]

You only see one because 17 others were removed after AmpsterMan's first reminder to stay on-topic. If you have further questions about this, please take the matter to PMs. For now, carry on with the subject of the thread, please.

Ah sorry about that then. my fault

[kurja]

Letters with graves or any other accent do not appear on UK or US keyboard layouts, so we can't type an accented e, we would have to memorise the alt codes, of which there are hundreds.

might work a little different depending on your keyboard and operating system, but there's no need to memorize ascii or unicode numbers.

that being said, people who don't use accents, umlauts or "special symbols" in their own language can't be expected to use them correctly, everyone should relax about it...

[Johno]

I had the opportunity to have an email discussion with an Astronaut once. However, I'd be surprised if Jim Lovell played KSP; computer games just don't seem to be his style!

[hugix]

I had the opportunity to have an email discussion with an Astronaut once. However, I'd be surprised if Jim Lovell played KSP; computer games just don't seem to be his style!

A lot of astronauts started painting after their missions. It would be so cool if an astronaut would paint / design some flags for KSP.

[Luckless]

I think it would be really interesting if you could get someone like Chris Hadfield on board to do mission series along the lines of what Scott Manley does. You could probably get a lot of valuable feedback to help direct future development with that as well.