Starship Asterisk*

Boomer12k wrote:

Ann wrote:

heehaw wrote: Do you really mean that? How is this different from a million other things people do where they are dependent upon their own skill and the quality of their equipment? Mountain climbing, scuba diving, skydiving.

Reminds me that for a few years (a few years ago) at my university we had a Dean who had a horror of black holes. It seemed to come up in every talk she gave.

Well... this is the first time I've mentioned any fear of floating free in space, I think.

I'm not afraid of floating free in space, because I trust the gravity of good ol' Earth not to let go of me!

I think the root of whatever fear I may have of the thought of floating free in space harks back to 1969, when I first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. One of the astronauts in the ship that is on course for Jupiter falls out, and I realized that he would be falling and falling and falling and falling forever in the black emptiness out there. (Today, of course, I would say that he'd be orbiting the Sun.)

David Bowie's video Blackstar spoke pretty strongly to me. Bowie sang about his own imminent death, and he portrayed himself as a jewel-encrusted cranium inside a space helmet, and as a skeleton falling into the Sun. Those images resonated with me.

(And now, when I watched that video again, the scene with the skeleton falling into the Sun was gone. Well, it was there before.)

Ann

Ann... Frank Poole does not "fall" off of the Discovery...he is SHOVED by HAL...his oxygen tube is severed, and he frantically tries to get it reconnected...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3m-Zu3 ... MA%20CLIPS
And...he does not "fall forever", as Dave Bowman goes out and gets him... so, nothing to fear.....EXCEPT HAL!!!!!

:---[===] *

Ann wrote:

heehaw wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote:

Do you really mean that? How is this different from a million other things people do where they are dependent upon their own skill and the quality of their equipment? Mountain climbing, scuba diving, skydiving.

Reminds me that for a few years (a few years ago) at my university we had a Dean who had a horror of black holes. It seemed to come up in every talk she gave.

Well... this is the first time I've mentioned any fear of floating free in space, I think.

I'm not afraid of floating free in space, because I trust the gravity of good ol' Earth not to let go of me!

I think the root of whatever fear I may have of the thought of floating free in space harks back to 1969, when I first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. One of the astronauts in the ship that is on course for Jupiter falls out, and I realized that he would be falling and falling and falling and falling forever in the black emptiness out there. (Today, of course, I would say that he'd be orbiting the Sun.)

David Bowie's video Blackstar spoke pretty strongly to me. Bowie sang about his own imminent death, and he portrayed himself as a jewel-encrusted cranium inside a space helmet, and as a skeleton falling into the Sun. Those images resonated with me.

(And now, when I watched that video again, the scene with the skeleton falling into the Sun was gone. Well, it was there before.)

Ann

heehaw wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote:

Ann wrote:Anyone who really wants to float free in space must either have a death wish, or have imbibed too much!

Do you really mean that? How is this different from a million other things people do where they are dependent upon their own skill and the quality of their equipment? Mountain climbing, scuba diving, skydiving.

Reminds me that for a few years (a few years ago) at my university we had a Dean who had a horror of black holes. It seemed to come up in every talk she gave.

Chris Peterson wrote:

Ann wrote:Anyone who really wants to float free in space must either have a death wish, or have imbibed too much!

Do you really mean that? How is this different from a million other things people do where they are dependent upon their own skill and the quality of their equipment? Mountain climbing, scuba diving, skydiving.

I don't think the astronaut here was in much danger. The dangerous part about space is mainly in getting there and getting back, not being there.

Chris Peterson wrote:

Ann wrote:Anyone who really wants to float free in space must either have a death wish, or have imbibed too much!

Do you really mean that? How is this different from a million other things people do where they are dependent upon their own skill and the quality of their equipment? Mountain climbing, scuba diving, skydiving.

Ann wrote:Anyone who really wants to float free in space must either have a death wish, or have imbibed too much!