33 replies to this topic

[Norrad]

As the topic says, if you had the opportunity to go on a deep space mission but you knew it was a one way trip, would you do it?

Lets say fro arguments sake, that you would see the following sights:

The moon
Mars
Jupiter and its moons
Saturn and the outer planets.

I would like to see what everyones opinions are, I would personally do it if I had the opportunity.

[TypoMage]

I would not do it. ( I do not wont to get sucked out of a hole the size of a nickel )
But thanks for asking!

[prasanna]

One Way Trip?

No way...Whats the point when you get to see spectacular things and don't have a chance to describe them down here.

[delivi]

Definitely a Big NO

I love the dear earth and I'm happy here, so I don't wanna leave it.

[street]

I would not like to go to a deep space mission cause i would not have my computer lol it will be cool to see the moon and all those planets but i will get bored and plus i dont want to be stuck in space.

[Plenoptic]

I would do it. Space intrigues me. I would really like to go exploring Mars. As long as I survive I am good. I would find it really interesting to go to the planets and the moon and maybe even search for life. I would build a fort on Mars Jupiter I don't know if you can even stay on there but I'd like to see the big red dot with it looking really big. Even going off to Pluto the not so planet as long as there is a heater on the ship. It would be pretty hard to though to leave my family and friends on life on Earth but I think it'd be quite the experience. But you know, if I were to it'd be far in the future and I could probably see them everyday. Best internet connection

[~Dave]

I voted no because it is fun and all but its just like taking a vacation and on vacations i would not like to worry about dieing or anything like that, and i would be scared out of my mind up there every little sound would rattle me and i would jump at anything, not what i'd call a nice vacation or getaway, now unless u were a Astronaut then it would be your job but if it was for "entertainment purposes" only i would not like to be up there

[mojoman]

I voted "I don't know". Space is a vast unknown area, being able to see some of it would be a great experience. Seeing Pluto and laughing at how it got kicked out of the list of planets, the Kupiter belt, etc. Would all be great to see all of this stuff in one life time. In the end though my decisions would depend on the situation back home. If I'm at a good enough age to say that I've seen enough, or that I'm really just about to die soon, then I'd take the trip. If its not free I wouldn't do it

[Marina]

if its a one way trip no way I love life on earth way to much.

if it wouldn't have been a one way trip maybe I would have go to try this out.

I think this must be fantastic out there,A must see but with a come back lol.

[coby]

Definitely a NO

I cannot live depend on the some oxigen tube to keep me alive and I'm happy here, I don't wanna leave it.

[CinnamorollTK]

I wouldn't risk my life on something like that. The technology doesn't seem to be at lest 99.9 percent safe. Even though the sites would be beautiful, its still not worth it.

Imagine this:

"Wow, what beautiful sites in the universe," you're thinking. "Jupiter is so huge!"
You're drifting and looking around. You've been in space for many weeks, contacting your friends by internet from your 1,000 square foot space RV.
"This is the best thing I've even done," you think. "Wait until they see what they missed! I better get a good shot of Jupiter's moons."
SWOOSH you hear. From your window, you see a large plate mass in front of you. Its the portion that contains your oxygen and supplies. Toothpaste, pens, and human waste float farther from you as seconds pass.
"NASA, come in NASA!" you shout into your headset-speaking device. "Can you hear me!?"
You hear static. Multiple noises come from all around you. Screws and other pieces are falling out from their proper place.
Then your window floats off. NASA still doesn't respond, making you panic and wet yourself. You feel cold and alone, doubting you'll ever make it back. The stench from your urine reaches you and makes you gag.
Oxygen is sucked from your lungs. No air; no space; no time. You feel claustrophobic.
You hold your breath, seeing Jupiter and the stars as symbols of death and destruction. You reach for the escape pit in the next room. The door to the pit wont open. No more static. The power is gone.
You can't hold your breath and try to breathe. Nothing. Your lungs pull on themselves. Your body increases in pain. You can't move. Moments later everything has gone black.

The government knows there was an error, but in an effort to try and stay not guilty, they say they haven't lost contact. Your family and friends find out from a truthful NASA member that you've passed. They hold a secret funeral in tears, wishing that you never went on that mission. "Its suicide" they warned, but you didn't listen.

Now that its too late, they hope that you soon rest in peace in the paradise of your religion.

Now would you go on a deep space mission?

Edited by CinnamorollTK, 26 February 2007 - 11:16 PM.

[salamangkero]

CinnamorollTK, on Feb 27 2007, 07:13 AM, said:

Now would you go on a deep space mission?

Hmmn... how do I put this... If you, CinnamorollTK were part of NASA or the government, then I probably would have stayed in bed

Seriously, though, the only things I see, which I have to fear, in a deep space journey is loneliness and claustrophobia. If I'm ever gonna make the trip, I'd like an asteroid-sized craft hurtling through space instead of a small and cramped broom closet where I have to sleep with my knees hugged close to my chest.

I'd like some gravity too, 'coz weightlessness can be interestingly novel only for so long. Having an AI robot capable of human interactions would also be great, even if it's Marvin (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) or G.I.R. (Invader Zim)

I once read a booked called Yargo by Jacqueline Susann where a human girl, mistakenly picked up by a (supposedly) far more intelligent extraterrestrial race disabled from feeling emotions, has been sentenced to an exile in deep space. She was initially sentenced to death, to protect the secrets of the civilization from her "peasant running-mouth" but, probably out of respect for life, she was just sentenced to an exile. Well, there's more but that's all that's relevant right now

In the end, I suppose life in deep space is not too bad, so long as you bring all your amenities with you in an earth-sized handbag

[Saint_Michael]

Yep I would because then I my name would become immortal in the history book as I go farther then anyone has ever before and I get the chance to one with the universe as well. So if I was giving this opportunity to go their where no man has gone before I would do it.

[aminzzlink]

a trip for me alone ... NO !!!!!
but if i can bring with me my Planet , maybe yes

[Casino.Royale]

I diffently would do it, even if it meant not coming back to Earth. I've always had a small facisnation for space and everything that is out there. Being able to see the other planets and go to them would be great! Well thinking about it while typing tyhis post I guess it would depend on when I would go. If I were to go now when I'm seventeen I don't think that I would. Maybe after I become 30-40+ but I'm to young now and have to continue experiencing another one of Mankinds mysterys... Woman..

[cangor]

Hey, look, I love life, and I don't care enough to go into space if I knew I wasn't coming back. Someone else can do that and be famous, but, eh, not for me...

[lemonwonder]

I would definately do it!! NOT!!!!!!

There is absoultely no way I would do it... unless the whole of earth was doing it, and cellphones and internet and stuff came along... coz really... ud get bored. Also, the radiation... dont wana get cancers... NO WAY!

[anwiii]

well i thought this topic was funny....especially the voting option. why? because i am curious and an adventurer by nature. i explore hoping i'll get lost just so i can try to find my way back. i love to experience to things and new places. if i were to visit outer space, i doubt i would ever return. i would be lost forever out there. it intrigues me though so is my exploration knowledge worth my life? i doubt it in this lifetime. too much good for me to do here on earth to be selfish and satisfy my curiosity on just one area of space. i'm still undecided though because sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me

[Rezy56241]

Nope, guess I'm a chicken, what can I say. XD

But seriously, I'm not going to go on a one-way mission (Pointless) as I would see all this amazing stuff and never get to share it with anyone else or use my knowledge, so what would be the point of wasting my entire life on a deep-space trip.

[bishoujo]

I would go, provided I can come back! Exploring space has been one of my fantasies, but I don't fancy getting stuck in space forever!

[jopak134]

it would be wonderful, i would like to go. but if you mean just in the ship then maybe not.

[heavensounds]

Now, what kind of a question is that? I think that nobody wouldn't go into the deepest space if one had no chance to survive. We don't eve have the equipment to go there so it would be like going into the jungle at night, alone and with a bloody, smelly wound. You DIE!

Even if it were possible to go somewhere sooooo far, try not to forget that you'd still be there yourself. Your ego wouldn't stay on earth but follow you everywhere you'd go! It is therefore completely pointless to run away in space or anywhere else!

So many of you said yes, that I really am concerned about humanity

[Wolfpack]

heavensounds, on Apr 10 2008, 07:04 PM, said:

Now, what kind of a question is that? I think that nobody wouldn't go into the deepest space if one had no chance to survive. We don't eve have the equipment to go there so it would be like going into the jungle at night, alone and with a bloody, smelly wound. You DIE!

Even if it were possible to go somewhere sooooo far, try not to forget that you'd still be there yourself. Your ego wouldn't stay on earth but follow you everywhere you'd go! It is therefore completely pointless to run away in space or anywhere else!

So many of you said yes, that I really am concerned about humanity

I am really concerned about the lack of humanity in you, does your soul NOT guide you to new, exciting and thrilling experiences? I see most of you wish to remain safe and certain, not wanting change at all, or wanting reward for your acts. I laugh at you, cold hearted robots, laughing at my supposed lack of humanity.

Well, I'd do it even if nobody would know I was the guy who tripulated that ship. I do not care about rewards for after my death I won't be able to rejoice on them, I'd rather wish to live life to it's fullest. And by the way, if I had the opportunity to travel to the depths of space I'd probably not come back because of personal choice and not because of technical limitations.

[bangms]

My answer would probably be No. I think leaving the Earth, friends, family, practically my life behind for the experience of seeing deep space doesn't seem worth it to me. I mean it does sound like an incredible experience, like truly spectacular, but going out and never being able to come back, it doesn't sound worth it. It does make me curious to think about what is out in space and even further than what we know but I guess I just have to leave my mind to imagine.

[salamangkero]

Wolfpack, on Jun 20 2008, 02:14 PM, said:

I am really concerned about the lack of humanity in you, does your soul NOT guide you to new, exciting and thrilling experiences? I see most of you wish to remain safe and certain, not wanting change at all, or wanting reward for your acts. I laugh at you, cold hearted robots, laughing at my supposed lack of humanity.

Well, I'd do it even if nobody would know I was the guy who tripulated that ship. I do not care about rewards for after my death I won't be able to rejoice on them, I'd rather wish to live life to it's fullest. And by the way, if I had the opportunity to travel to the depths of space I'd probably not come back because of personal choice and not because of technical limitations.

I have something that might be of relevance. When Marge Simpson spent days inside a glass dome that covered all of Springfield, she said, "I think what I miss the most is the feel of the wind blowing."

Now, consider this, exploring space is not like exploring earth. Within our planet, our ancient mariners spent months, or maybe a year, at sea, but there's always fishes to catch, islands to land on, reefs to avoid, ports to moor in, gulfs to take shelter in, natives to trade with, heck, they even have each other to play cards with and, generally, share 99 bottles of good rum. They had the sun, moon, stars, wind, storm, rain, lightning, thunder, sea, spray, foam, whirlpools and ocean currents to keep them a rather lively company.

In space, there is nothing. Oh sure, you'd get to cross the asteroid belt and see Jupiter two years after leaving Earth. Within twelve years, you could be viewing the frigid Neptune. Then what?

Really, I don't even think humans could manage to last twelve years of complete isolation and inactivity. Yeah, sure, Jupiter and Saturn are really lovely to look at, but of what use are they to you, as an individual? Can your patience hold out for two years? For two years, can you really wake up every single day, looking forward to a brief encounter with the gas giants?

If only we could really be selfless people in the name of science, we'd gladly undergo a one-way mission, enduring an eternity of solitude in exchange for a few weeks of "discovery" Unfortunately, we are but humans who have needs like social interaction, various weather conditions like wind and rain, recreation, sex, heck, even just human touch or the presence of another human, that, m'dear, is real humanity. That is soul, the imperfection that makes us humans. You call us cold-hearted robots; what do you think then of those high-technology machinery that we hurl unto planets to gather data?

There is a reason why these trips are meant for cold-hearted, unimaginative, inhuman precision instruments called robots.

Now then, let us get back on that hypothetical trip. Right after speeding past Neptune (or Pluto, depends on which one's closer to the sun) twelve or thirteen years after your launch, we come right into the middle of nothing. There'd be not much matter here, no planetoids, no asteroids, not much space dust, there are lots of electrons zipping outside your window, but I doubt you'll care much for that. You'll soon enter the Kuiper Belt but don't expect to be encountering a profusion of trans-Neptunian objects. They don't really breed that much celestial bodies out here anymore.

You'll probably spent a healthy twenty years inside the Kuiper Belt, so you might as well sit back, relax and enjoy the view. On the porthole on your right side, you'll see pretty much nothing, dotted with little white dots of somethings that are so far away. Every five or so years, perhaps, you'll actually see something, a shadow moving, blotting out those small specks. The good news is that you can still see the sun. Head to the stern of your ship and you'll see a faint white speck. Yes, ladies and gents, that is the sun that was, twenty-two years ago, blazing brilliantly overhead.

Now comes the hard part. Waiting. After the very exciting region known as Kuiper Belt, you'll really come into the middle of nowhere. This is where you'll probably die of old age, if not isolation. Your body will no longer be able to hold itself together and you will simply degenerate into a helpless lump of old human, missing social interactions. Oh what you'd give for a game of chess with your old buddy!

Now, note that you are not even in deep space yet. In a thousand years, your corpse will reach the Oort cloud, which is, relatively, a lively region in space. Sorry to disappoint, though, but much of this region is emptier than the Kuiper Belt. It was probably just as well that you're dead for even the most creative bloggers out there will soon run out of words to describe this emptiness. Even the most zealous scientist will soon grow tired of reporting nothing.

A few more thousand years and you'll come into interstellar space. According to wikipedia, this is a very turbulent region, where the solar winds meet other stellar winds. Yet, still, this is not deep space. It's gonna take you billions of years to get halfway there. Double that and you finally come to the edge of the Milky Way. Welcome to deep space. Welcome to the beginning of your journey into nothingness. If you thought that gap between Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud was boring, see what you can make of this