SuicideGirls attended the NASA / Jet Propulsion Labs Open House the other weekend at their California Institue of Technology site in Pasadena. Members of the public were able to roam around the space flight operations and assembly facilities, and watch JPL's boffins play with very expensive remote control toys like their Mars and lunar rovers. While the Deep Space Network control room was suitably ground control to Major Tom, it was amazing how much of the research and gadgets on show relied on duct tape and tin foil.
Encouraged by the "Ask A Scientist A Question" badges on offer, SuicideGirls also ascertained that the prototype Mars rover JPL had built at great expense currently relied on wheels bought from the local bike store to get around. (Their giant spider-like ATHLETE rover, intended for use on NASA's 2020 moon mission, was far more impressive however.) When a fellow bystander asked about Virgin Galactic and Richard Branson's plans for space tourism, a JPL boffin was rather dismissive of the endeavor, saying he couldn't understand why folks would want to pay a small fortune for the flights which will only allow time for 15 minutes of weightlessness, during which time approximately 50% of the tourists would get space sick (apparently the resulting vomit would then float in globules around the fellow passengers in the craft). We helpfully explained that it was all about shags in space (Branson's always marketed his ventures using sex) -- and that some people will be willing to pay almost anything to join the 60-Mile High Club. We feel that all parties came away enlightened from this scientific encounter.
For more of our scientific musings on invisible cloaks, stars in SF, zombie ants and attack squirrels check out Science Digest 1.0.
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