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SpaceX has been kicking ass for a while now, I wouldn’t bet against them being in it for the long haul. BUT, I don’t think the people who sign up for this shou

SpaceX has been kicking ass for a while now, I wouldn’t bet against them being in it for the long haul. BUT, I don’t think the people who sign up for this should seriously expect to fly around the moon. That is a very very non-trivial engineering challenge, and the only people who did it were highly trained, had balls of pure cast iron, and frankly accepted the very real possibility of death. I feel that the statements “SpaceX is the real deal and not to be discounted” and “selling tickets to the moon is a PR farce” are compatible.

captain_perl 8y ago
> the only people who did it were highly trained, had balls of pure cast iron Astronauts are highly-trained, but I haven't seen any evidence they were necessary - they don't do the orbital calculations, and if there was an emergency, Ground Control would solve the problem.
- Latteland 8y ago
  well, they did something on apollo 13. they would have died if they hadn't done the 'rebuilding work' as seen in apollo 13. if they were not highly trained, capable, in self control they might not have been able to make it, repoint the spacecraft manually.
- shshhdhs 8y ago
  > and if there was an emergency, Ground Control would solve the problem. False. If there was an emergency, it could take several minutes for communication. Multiple responses could take an hour or more. They were highly trained to deal with issues because of this
  - informatimago 8y ago
    Nope, not to the Moon. It takes less than 2 seconds. You can still do interactive conversation with that delay. Remember, the speed of light is very big!
- nickik 8y ago
  Nowdays Astronauts maybe don't need to be that good, but they absolutely did have to do difficult calculation and other tasks in the 60s to land on the moon.
- andyjohnson0 8y ago
  > Astronauts are highly-trained, but I haven't seen any evidence they were necessary - they don't do the orbital calculations, and if there was an emergency, Ground Control would solve the problem. Although the normal procedure was to get navigation instructions from earth by voice and uplink, the Apollo astronauts that flew on lunar missions were trained to navigate without assistance, if that was necessary in an emergency. They could even navigate without assistance from the onboard computer, if that wasn't available, by using charts and a sextant. Buzz Aldrin had a doctorate in astronautics and helped develop the navigation techniques that were used by NASA at that time.
nickik 8y ago
> and the only people who did it were highly trained, had balls of pure cast iron, and frankly accepted the very real possibility of death. Because it was a 60s space craft. A modern space craft you get in do nothing, it will fly its plot and land. Sure there is risk but you highly trained is hardly necessary.
- GW150914 8y ago
  Can you give me some examples of those modern spacecraft which are capable of a moonshot and don’t require trained personnel?
  - nickik 8y ago
    That is what SpaceX is designing. The Dragon 2 does that for ISS and what they had planed for the moon and it how SpaceX will run these BFR flights as well.
    - GW150914 8y ago
      Or in other words, no such “modern spacecraft” fitting your earlier description exists outside of designs which may or may not work as intended or ever fly. When such designs are actually built, tested and proven feel free to make sweeping statements about what constitutes the reality of what’s required to fly around the moon. Until then the entire existing history of spacecraft is probably more reliable and informative as to astronaut requirements than paper fantasies.

captain_perl 8y ago

> the only people who did it were highly trained, had balls of pure cast iron Astronauts are highly-trained, but I haven't seen any evidence they were necessary - they don't do the orbital calculations, and if there was an emergency, Ground Control would solve the problem.

Latteland 8y ago
well, they did something on apollo 13. they would have died if they hadn't done the 'rebuilding work' as seen in apollo 13. if they were not highly trained, capable, in self control they might not have been able to make it, repoint the spacecraft manually.
shshhdhs 8y ago
> and if there was an emergency, Ground Control would solve the problem. False. If there was an emergency, it could take several minutes for communication. Multiple responses could take an hour or more. They were highly trained to deal with issues because of this
- informatimago 8y ago
  Nope, not to the Moon. It takes less than 2 seconds. You can still do interactive conversation with that delay. Remember, the speed of light is very big!
nickik 8y ago
Nowdays Astronauts maybe don't need to be that good, but they absolutely did have to do difficult calculation and other tasks in the 60s to land on the moon.
andyjohnson0 8y ago
> Astronauts are highly-trained, but I haven't seen any evidence they were necessary - they don't do the orbital calculations, and if there was an emergency, Ground Control would solve the problem. Although the normal procedure was to get navigation instructions from earth by voice and uplink, the Apollo astronauts that flew on lunar missions were trained to navigate without assistance, if that was necessary in an emergency. They could even navigate without assistance from the onboard computer, if that wasn't available, by using charts and a sextant. Buzz Aldrin had a doctorate in astronautics and helped develop the navigation techniques that were used by NASA at that time.

nickik 8y ago

> and the only people who did it were highly trained, had balls of pure cast iron, and frankly accepted the very real possibility of death. Because it was a 60s space craft. A modern space craft you get in do nothing, it will fly its plot and land. Sure there is risk but you highly trained is hardly necessary.

GW150914 8y ago
Can you give me some examples of those modern spacecraft which are capable of a moonshot and don’t require trained personnel?
- nickik 8y ago
  That is what SpaceX is designing. The Dragon 2 does that for ISS and what they had planed for the moon and it how SpaceX will run these BFR flights as well.
  - GW150914 8y ago
    Or in other words, no such “modern spacecraft” fitting your earlier description exists outside of designs which may or may not work as intended or ever fly. When such designs are actually built, tested and proven feel free to make sweeping statements about what constitutes the reality of what’s required to fly around the moon. Until then the entire existing history of spacecraft is probably more reliable and informative as to astronaut requirements than paper fantasies.