How much bloody Public money is that Star man wasting?

tim_wand

Admittedly I m no too well informed on this, despite several years studying to be a space cadet, some would say I graduated with honours.

However with a tittle that Includes the word National in it, I would envisage N.A.S.A receives many Billions in public funding to do such things as the International Space Station missions.

So just how much money as it cost for that Moustachioed Prat Commander Chris Hadfield to take his guitar into space and make his Sad Dad homage to Bowie.

Sorry to get all stiff shirted about this , but surely just carrying the extra payload of a Guitar cost Millions.

Its a bloody Vanity project and he should be sacked for twatting around rather than applauded.

Told that C*nt James Blunt (Sorry Major James Blunt) the same in Bosnia when he used to get the Guitar out.

Jimfrandisco

massive surge in public increase in space = easier to justify the spend to the voting public in a recession.

AchillesLeftKnee

Well, after blowing up a saxophonist (and his saxophone) on Challenger, maybe they were conducting research into whether instruments on which a solo can be reasonably be expected to be played can be placed into orbit in the first place.

*cough*

Personally, I really do wonder what the point in manned spaceflight actually is beyond giving a bit of career progression for middle aged military scientist and test pilot types. There are no doubt a few things that would be useful (as opposed to fun*) to try out in zero gravity, but given that humanity's not exactly pushing back boundaries up there, the whole manned spaceflight thing just seems like a bit of a waste to me.

Okay, so I might well be wrong about the pointlessness of it all, but given the predilection for blowing massive amounts of sunshine up their own bottoms that people like NASA have, the lack of a load of interesting, publicly demonstrated results as a result of manned spaceflight does smell pretty heavily of time-wasting.


* And I for one would be really disappointed if it turns out that no-one's had it off in space.

AchillesLeftKnee

tim wand wrote:

Moustachioed Prat Commander

tim wand wrote:

Sorry Major

Now those are some fabulous ranks.

estampida

well PR is PR, whether its good or bad

good PR - people singing famous songs in space, first time I have seen anything like this and he was there already...

bad PR - people dying in space, and as we are about to go further in space there will be plenty of these

money on this scale is an abstract concept, it really is just a number on a piece of paper
but the advances in technology and political weight are priceless

and then it gets all ruined by the mention of jamie b lunt..... WHO?

simonhead

The Soyuz costs about $5k per kilo to put something in orbit, guess a guitar weighs about 3 or 4 kilos. So the cost of that is say $17k.

Bigger than that is the waste of time, it costs about $11bn a year to run the space station (including depreciation) equating to about $1.3m per man hour (they do a 55 hour week).

AchillesLeftKnee

simonhead wrote:

...it costs about $11bn a year to run the space station (including depreciation)...

Surely depreciation can only be applied to stuff that can subsequently be sold? "One space station, regularly serviced, several bazillion miles, never used in the rain, buyer collects" might not attract that much in the way of eBay bids.

daviesee

simonhead wrote:

Bigger than that is the waste of time, it costs about $11bn a year to run the space station (including depreciation) equating to about $1.3m per man hour (they do a 55 hour week).

Assuming that they need it in the first place, the maintenance is necessary and so is the man hours anyway.
If they work a 55 hour week then what do you expect them to do for the remaining 57 hours? Assuming 56 hours sleeping.
He's been in space for 156 days and you are denying him a guitar. I can see a "Here's Johnny" moment if no one had personal possessions to while away the time.

simonhead

daviesee wrote:

simonhead wrote:

Bigger than that is the waste of time, it costs about $11bn a year to run the space station (including depreciation) equating to about $1.3m per man hour (they do a 55 hour week).

Assuming that they need it in the first place, the maintenance is necessary and so is the man hours anyway.
If they work a 55 hour week then what do you expect them to do for the remaining 57 hours? Assuming 56 hours sleeping.
He's been in space for 156 days and you are denying him a guitar. I can see a "Here's Johnny" moment if no one had personal possessions to while away the time.

Not saying he is right or wrong, just calculating the cost of doing it. The album he is releasing was all done in his own time but this one song was apparently on company time.

nicklouse

tim wand wrote:

Admittedly I m no too well informed on this,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/ ... ation-nasa
so it would seem.

using a guitar already aboard the complex

sungod

^^^this

if people are going to be stuck in a confined space for months on end, there does need to be some form of entertainment and recreation available

btw cost per kg into low earth orbit is a few thousand quid on a russian launch vehicle, even the notoriously expensive shuttle would get it up there for under 30 grand

seems harmless enough, we wasted far more in iraq and afghanistan

tim_wand

nicklouse wrote:

tim wand wrote:

Admittedly I m no too well informed on this,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/ ... ation-nasa
so it would seem.

using a guitar already aboard the complex

Fair Point. still no bloody excuse for that Moustache.

Pituophis

i suppose any hobby that cuts "boredom masterbation" down has to be a good thing in a weightless environment! :shock:

VTech

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

* And I for one would be really disappointed if it turns out that no-one's had it off in space.

That will change with lynx and virgin and relatively cheap space flights.
They are asking people. What they would do if given the opportunity and the slots I'm sure awarded at times to those who will bring the most publicity.

Pituophis

So those lynx adverts are actually true! :shock: Fantastic, I'm off to get some.
Those ladies don't look like virgins to me though

VTech

Pituophis wrote:

So those lynx adverts are actually true! :shock: Fantastic, I'm off to get some.
Those ladies don't look like virgins to me though

Ohh yes, and much cheaper than the virgin galactic version.
You can now go to space for a similar price of a medium family saloon and I for one think that that's a bargain, imagine the feeling I looking down on the earth, you would take that to the grave and never forget the experience.

ballysmate

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

* And I for one would be really disappointed if it turns out that no-one's had it off in space.

I wouldn't care for the bodily fluids floating around in weighlessness.
Bukkake for everyone!

MountainMonster

So wait, somebody goes into space to do their job and watch after a very expensive piece of machinery and technology, they are confined in very small spaces, there are wars on Earth much more immoral than imaginable and you are complaining about some dude bringing his guitar into space and filming a video in his free time. Since he is in space is he supposed to be working 24/7 in those conditions with no breaks?

Or are you just pissed off you didn't get to go?

Giraffoto

sungod wrote:

if people are going to be stuck in a confined space for months on end, there does need to be some form of entertainment and recreation available

Someone did once say "All the conditions necessary for a murder are satisfied by confining two men together in a small space for long periods." Can't remember the name, but he was a Russian cosmonaut. Must have been fun to fly with. I like to imagine as the countdown reaches about 6 he would turn to the other crewman and say, "Two men enter. One man leaves"

sungod

yep, and some hippie strumming on a guitar crooning kumbaya would be my snapping point

plowmar

Cracking pictures he did though

jawooga

As a nervous flyer, the idea of going into space scares the shit out of me. :shock: