What's happening in space (that's interesting)

[Woolen_Horde]

Shatner, passengers float in capsule

[JD]

Meteorite crashes through roof of Canada woman’s home and on to bed

[dtolman]

Judging by the reaction of the passengers glued to the windows - and Shatner practically shrugging off the micro-gravity after a few seconds… it appears The View and not the weightless-ness is the primary take-away for some passengers.

[CraigM]

I mean… yeah?

Would I pay the asking price for that view? No, I would not. But if I had movie star money? Yeah, probably.

[Mark_Asher]

@CraigM

Would I pay the asking price for that view? No, I would not. But if I had movie star money? Yeah, probably.

In Shatner’s case, he went for free. I don’t think he would have paid for the trip. He expects to be paid for everything. He traded his fame for a free ride.

I have to give him credit. He’s 90 and he pulled that off. He’s a damned impressive 90.

[CraigM]

Oh absolutely!

Like laugh about Blue Origins ‘achievement’ all you want, I will too. But Shatner both got to do something cool, and I don’t begrudge him at all, and he did it at 90!

Damn I hope I’m doing as good at 90 as he is.

[Mark_Asher]

@CraigM

Damn I hope I’m doing as good at 90 as he is.

I hope I’m still breathing oxygen at 90. More likely I’m taking a dirt nap.

[Gordon_Cameron]

Shatner rules!

Meanwhile, I’m a pretty big climate hawk, but I find this line of thinking really tiresome. I don’t see why it has to be an either/or proposition and I doubt whether the modern environmental movement would even exist in the way it does without the space program, Apollo 8, all that.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/14/prince-william-earth-space-tourism-race/

Headline is: “Prince William: Let’s focus on saving Earth, not exploring space for new planet to live on.”

I agree that trying to ‘live on’ a new planet (that is, in large numbers) is impractical in any proximate timescale (does any non-caricature of a space enthusiast think otherwise?), but it doesn’t follow that we shouldn’t explore space. IMO.

[BennyProfane]

I find Shatner incredibly inspirational to me. He went from a show about space when we had barely put humans into space at all, and wouldn’t land on the moon for two more years, to living long enough to go there himself, and using private funding rather than government resources to boot!

I sometimes just stand in amazement that I walk around with a damned-near Tricorder in my pocket every day. For all of our woes and disfunction as human creatures, we’ve managed some pretty amazing things in my lifetime, and even more so in his.

[Timemaster_Tim]

I imagine most reading this thread have seen this.

How William Shatner Changed the World

[Houngan]

Huh. I hope it doesn’t seem like bragging that I can consider that (hell, I’m single and pushing 50, so yeah I’ve saved some money) but then I also have to consider that I already get seasick, so it might be $7,500 down the drain and a whole lot of breakfast up it. I’d love to orbit the Earth but the cost differential is way too much. I wonder if they still do the Russian fighter thing where they fly you really damned high, where you can see the curvature and more or less be outside the atmosphere? Seems like that was still crazy money, like 50k.

[RichVR]

I am overweight and have hypertension. Given the opportunity, even with a chance of dropping dead. I’d take it. No problem. OTOH I would probably have to be the only one in the rocket. Weight limits and all that.

Oh. Now I’m sad. :P

[Houngan]

There’s some kind of Flight of the Conchords song in this.

“Don’t fret, space ranger,
embrace the danger
You might be a gastronaut
But still be an astronaut
Fly above, puke below
Never let your fear show
Jump around on that plane
No embolisms for your brain . . .”

[RichVR]

Dude. You’re weird. But that’s okay. What’s a Conchord?

[Houngan]

Do you have HBO Max? Because if not, it’s easily worth a month’s subscription to binge Flight of the Conchords:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8f_XCH3zmM

New Zealand’s 4th most popular humor band! If it helps, somehow between these two wankers there’s an Oscar and a Disney crab.

[Strollen]

@RichVR

I am overweight and have hypertension. Given the opportunity, even with a chance of dropping dead. I’d take it. No problem. OTOH I would probably have to be the only one in the rocket. Weight limits and all that.

Oh. Now I’m sad. :P

I’m certainly willing to spend 10% of my net worth, and it would be far the greatest motivation for me to lose 50+ pounds. Although, it would have to be orbital something like John Glenns 3 orbits would fine.

I was fairly skeptical of these space tourism flights, but between the inspiration 4 flight, and the ravings of William Shatner, I think they are going to have a positive outlook on spaceflight.

I did aerobatics with my dad, decades ago, and I seem to be pretty immune to nausea

[Grunden]

Not to mention it led directly to What We Do in the Shadows (including several reprising cast). In the TV show the vampire council assistant is the groupie from Flght of the Conchords

[schurem]

Wow, that sure as shit brightened up my saturday! Thank you for that :)

[Djscman]

These Cassini guys are saying that while Saturn (the planet) is 4.5 billion years old, Saturn’s rings may only be 100 to 10 million years old. Not exactly newer than the pyramids, but younger than marsupials and feathered creatures and flowering plants here on Earth.

NASA's Cassini Data Show Saturn's Rings Relatively New – NASA Solar System...

(Edit: the article is from January 2019, but that is relatively new to me, as I only just happened upon it.)

[orald]

As he has always done, Sutter used Excel as one of his trajectory tools — a program most people associate with accounting — to design Lucy’s path through space. “I can do all kinds of magical things in it,” Sutter said.

NASA's Lucy Mission: A Journey to the Young Solar System – NASA Solar System...