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James Oberg On Mars!
Pat Flannery wrote:
The crew would find the whole thing very frustrating as Mars slowly approaches...and then just as slowly withdraws again, with the long voyage home again ahead of them Look, but don't touch; the space exploration equivalent of a strip tease. Pat, Here's a good sci-fi angle for you. Say country X mounts a flyby mission. Aboard are some 1-way surface probes, some are large enough to carry 1 human if stripped of gear. Unknown to mission control, the patriotic/fanatical crew decides to choose a volunteer among the group to go. Anyone can withdraw from consideration. The rest choose straws. If you think about it, might not be that huge a stretch. Think 'Space Cowboys' for example. Flags, footprints and mausoleum, all rolled into one! Dave PS: So as a corollary, no person capable 1-way probes to be included on any flybys! PPS: Maybe 'Defying Gravity' is getting to me! |
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James Oberg On Mars!
David Spain wrote:
Pat, Here's a good sci-fi angle for you. Say country X mounts a flyby mission. Aboard are some 1-way surface probes, some are large enough to carry 1 human if stripped of gear. Unknown to mission control, the patriotic/fanatical crew decides to choose a volunteer among the group to go. Anyone can withdraw from consideration. The rest choose straws. If you think about it, might not be that huge a stretch. Think 'Space Cowboys' for example. Oh, don't bring that thing up... that's the one where the Russian bomb platform is in imminent danger of orbital decay from its 1,000 mile high orbit. Flags, footprints and mausoleum, all rolled into one! I'll volunteer! And I'll slay the white personality-filled apes of Mars, and bang the brass britches off of Dejah Thoris... I'll do that to her and the other thing, not because she is easy, but because I am hard: http://www.gwthomas.org/whiteapesofmars.htm Pat Flannery Of Mars |
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James Oberg On Mars!
Pat Flannery wrote:
David Spain wrote: Flags, footprints and mausoleum, all rolled into one! I'll volunteer! And I'll slay the white personality-filled apes of Mars, and bang the brass britches off of Dejah Thoris... I'll do that to her and the other thing, not because she is easy, but because I am hard: http://www.gwthomas.org/whiteapesofmars.htm Pat Flannery Of Mars Pat Flannery suffering anoxia induced hallucinations on Mars. Signed, Dejah Rachael Maddow Vu Thoris Air Plant Works, Helium, Mars 90210 (That zip code is no co-incidence...) ;-) |
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James Oberg On Mars!
David Spain wrote:
Signed, Dejah Rachael Maddow Vu Thoris Air Plant Works, Helium, Mars 90210 (That zip code is no co-incidence...) A friend of mine has told me that there is now a new name for men that are attracted to lesbians...apparently, I am now a "Lesbro". I actually did know a pair of lesbians back in college; they got into a hell of a fistfight (and footfight... one had the other down on the floor and was kicking her in the head) that I tried to stop...then both of them started stomping my ass instead of each other's. This was the price I paid to assure that true Sapphic love would not go astray. My way of stopping the fight was inspired to say the least... I broke down in tears and asked them why they were fighting like that, and beating the crap out of me. Assuming that I was gay, they then saw me as a kindred spirit, and not as a completely straight crybaby like I really was. When you fully encompass Zen, your actions work in perfect harmony with the situations you encounter...instinctively, rather than by thought. Pat |
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James Oberg On Mars!
On Aug 25, 10:11*am, Anonymous Remailer wrote:
"David Spain" wrote in message ... Pat Flannery wrote: The crew would find the whole thing very frustrating as Mars slowly approaches...and then just as slowly withdraws again, with the long voyage home again ahead of them Look, but don't touch; the space exploration equivalent of a strip tease. Pat, Here's a good sci-fi angle for you. Say country X mounts a flyby mission. |
#6
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James Oberg On Mars!
Anonymous Remailer wrote:
Stupid idea. Why would they include a one-way landing capsule if they don't have the intention of using it? Remailer AI still needs work I see. Where you read 'idea' I say 'story' as in 'fiction' as in an idea made up to entertain. If you'd actually read my post, you see that I was talking about 1-way probes not 'capsules'. A 1-way surface probe would be *intended* to be unmanned, but capable of performing an automated landing soft enough to preserve whatever surface experiment was intended to be used. If the 'G' load was low enough at landing, and the probe large enough, perhaps a space-suited human could replace the 'experiment' w/o mission control's knowledge or consent. No government is ever going to allow a one-way mission to Mars. Imagine that if they did the person on Mars got second thoughts and would be broadcasting pleas for rescue on a daily basis. That would be extremely emberrasing for his national government. Eventually they'd have no choice but to attempt get him back. He (or she) would expire long before that could happen. In any improvised scenario, likely only enough O2 to last a day or two, with comms limited only to the flyby spacecraft. No government would 'grant' permission for this, but no government would be in a position to stop a crew that decided to do it. I suppose they could arrest the surviving crew on return to Earth and charge them all with manslaughter, or aiding and abetting a suicide of a national hero, which many of those being charged also likely volunteered to be but for the luck of the draw were not chosen. Sure, like that would happen.... I can't think of any modern society that was puritanical enough not to make a hero out of the crew mate who chose to be first on Mars for their country. Dave |
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