Thoughts on Packing for Mars
Nov. 3rd, 2010 09:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribSo, I said I was going to talk about Mary Roach's book Packing for Mars
. Before I do, a few comments on last night's election.
Regarding the election in general, I agree with what Scalzi said, although now that Boehner, et. al. will actually have to govern, I suspect that they'll be some disappointed Republicans in 2012. Regarding the Tea Party, I'd like to thank them for running such a crew of flakes - we couldn't have held the Senate without you.
Moving on to Packing for Mars, I found it an interesting book. Mary Roach, the author, focused a lot of the book on stuff NASA doesn't like to talk about, namely the messy biological "stuff" like bowel movements and space sickness. Gross, but not surprising for somebody who wrote a book about the science of sex.
Having said that, anybody interested in space colonization needs to understand the problems facing living in space. Two things I learned were of especial interest. First, methane gas build-up can be a problem. Gas from where, you ask? Well, ever see somebody light a fart on fire? (I did attend the occasional party in college.) That blue flame is methane, and if you don't do something with it, over time you could blow up your spaceship. Which would be bad.
The second thing I learned was that the meals for the Gemini and Apollo program were designed by veterinarians! See, in the 1950s, the Air Force had been using monkeys to test if people could actually survive in space. So, they needed some veterinarians to deal with the monkeys. When it came time to figure out what to feed the astronauts, the best "experts" were, you guessed it, the vets. This led to some seriously unappetizing food items.
At any rate, I found Packing for Mars an entertaining read.
. Before I do, a few comments on last night's election. Regarding the election in general, I agree with what Scalzi said, although now that Boehner, et. al. will actually have to govern, I suspect that they'll be some disappointed Republicans in 2012. Regarding the Tea Party, I'd like to thank them for running such a crew of flakes - we couldn't have held the Senate without you.
Moving on to Packing for Mars, I found it an interesting book. Mary Roach, the author, focused a lot of the book on stuff NASA doesn't like to talk about, namely the messy biological "stuff" like bowel movements and space sickness. Gross, but not surprising for somebody who wrote a book about the science of sex.
Having said that, anybody interested in space colonization needs to understand the problems facing living in space. Two things I learned were of especial interest. First, methane gas build-up can be a problem. Gas from where, you ask? Well, ever see somebody light a fart on fire? (I did attend the occasional party in college.) That blue flame is methane, and if you don't do something with it, over time you could blow up your spaceship. Which would be bad.
The second thing I learned was that the meals for the Gemini and Apollo program were designed by veterinarians! See, in the 1950s, the Air Force had been using monkeys to test if people could actually survive in space. So, they needed some veterinarians to deal with the monkeys. When it came time to figure out what to feed the astronauts, the best "experts" were, you guessed it, the vets. This led to some seriously unappetizing food items.
At any rate, I found Packing for Mars an entertaining read.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-11-03 03:31 pm (UTC)The main problems with long-duration spaceflight (or hab operation) all relate to the buildup of what would normally be trace gases or organisms in the life support system. You need a well-designed life support system and a competent operator. Surprisingly few opponents of manned space travel realize this: they focus on the visceral fears of suffocation and thirst, even though the air and water supplies are actually the easiest part of any such system to monitor, or restock from local ices on another world.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-03 03:57 pm (UTC)Regarding trace organisms, I read a novel about the first Mars trip (drawing a blank on author and title) in which a ship was lost due to mold growth.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-03 04:50 pm (UTC)I think he even admits in The Case for Mars that it might be something to try and give up on. Rolling out tethers in space isn't something we've had a lot of success with yet and the failure modes are moderately entertaining, to say the least.
I suspect that exercise, improved drugs and perhaps some iternal centrifuge are the more likely solutions short/medium term.
Stephen Baxter's excellent Voyage dealt with the physical impact on a space vehicle in use over that period of time with some cracking throw away lines about the toilets...
no subject
Date: 2010-11-03 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-03 06:18 pm (UTC)Packing for Mars
Date: 2010-11-03 05:28 pm (UTC)\_/
DED
no subject
Date: 2010-11-03 06:23 pm (UTC)