An idea to re-ignite public passion for space

[missionunknown]

I was just thinking the other day about what a great idea it would be if nasa sent a civilian up on one of its remaining shuttle launches to send the last one off with a cheer and retire the fleet with a bang! There could be a competition with the winner picked out of millions of entrants and obviously the winner would be in the media spotlight alot. Or the competition could be amongst presenters or celebrities which would entertain the general public. I was just thinking this as i hear that american ethusiasm for space is quite low and this could help a little.

[MeteorWayne]

Possibly a good idea, but with less than a year until the retirement of the shuttle fleet, not realistic.

[tampaDreamer]

Yeah, they could send a teacher up to get kids interested in space....



Sorry, black humor.

[MeteorWayne]

One of many reasons why it's unrealistic

[samkent]

Didn't they prohibit non astronauts after Challenger?

[MeteorWayne]

Sort of, but IIRC but I recall a Congressman (and I think Sen Glenn, however he was an astronaut) flew after that, but my timing could be off.

BTW, this topic is not related to a specific Mission or Launch, so will soon be found in SB&T.

[radarredux]

to send the last one off with a cheer and retire the fleet with a bang!

Bad choice of words. The last one didn't go too well.

Besides, the private space industry will probably do a pretty good job at igniting excitement -- and they'll put an advertising budget behind it. There are already several sub-orbital projects well underway for which anyone with enough money can earn their astronaut wings, and I'm sure there will be raffles for those eventually. There is Zero-G where you can experience weightlessness on the relative cheap, and I've heard of raffles for that.

And I bet within 5-7 years there will be private orbital flights too.

[EpitomeOfMan]

A good idea yes, but flawed non the less. Sorry.

There are just to many rules, and red tape to go around that NASA just isn't willing to do. As far as I am concerned NASA primary cares about keeping itself a float, and less about actual space travel and exploration. If they wanted to get the public interested in space, they would have already.
True, the future of space travel is in the hands of private industry, which should be hosting sub-orbital flights in the next 5 years or so, a part of space travel that I personally hope to be a part of. Maybe once the private industry enthralls the public, NASA and other governmental space agencies will use that temporary boost in public interest to acquire an increase in government budget, and possibly unite with other nations space agencies to further out reaches in the solar system.
A better educated public will also help. Come back Carl Sagan, we miss you.
To bad the Human race isn't united, would make things much easier.

[bdewoody]

I hate to say this but the one thing that would get us all off our collective butts is either a real live verifyable encounter with some form of alien race or a moderate sized asteroid or comet slamming into some populated area of the earth. One would have hoped that Shoemaker/Levy 9 would have created enough concern to get us motivated but the further away that event gets the less everyone worries about the problem.

[SpaceXFanMobius57]

Or a large impact on the moon.

[Eman_3]

Basically, public interest and support is crap. I recall the Apollo days, and it was exciting for everyone. Every age, every nationality was captured up in this magnificent endevour, and everyone talked about it. Now, flash forward to 2009, and we now see complete apathy from the general public. And without support from the general public, no politician is going to push for funds for any program.

If you're going to take a shot at re-igniting public interest, it has to involve people outside the industry. My personal concept is to invite some A-list pop star such as Miley Cyrus to go along on a shuttle mission, with a professional cameraman. While up there she can shoot some public interest clips, and footage to be used in creating some videos and a movie. Miley Cyrus would win because she would be the first entertainer to break new ground, put out unique videos, and capture a lot of media attention. NASA and space enthusiasts would win because kids would become aware that there's more to life than Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, and Paris Hilton.

Hey, apathy is at an all-time low, drastic measures should be considered to combat this nation-wide lack of interest..

[missionunknown]

Basically, public interest and support is crap. I recall the Apollo days, and it was exciting for everyone. Every age, every nationality was captured up in this magnificent endevour, and everyone talked about it. Now, flash forward to 2009, and we now see complete apathy from the general public. And without support from the general public, no politician is going to push for funds for any program.

If you're going to take a shot at re-igniting public interest, it has to involve people outside the industry. My personal concept is to invite some A-list pop star such as Miley Cyrus to go along on a shuttle mission, with a professional cameraman. While up there she can shoot some public interest clips, and footage to be used in creating some videos and a movie. Miley Cyrus would win because she would be the first entertainer to break new ground, put out unique videos, and capture a lot of media attention. NASA and space enthusiasts would win because kids would become aware that there's more to life than Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, and Paris Hilton.

Hey, apathy is at an all-time low, drastic measures should be considered to combat this nation-wide lack of interest..

Its worth noting that its more of an american problem than a worldwide problem, here in Britain we commemorated the apollo 11 moon landings quite well and there was a buzz about space for ooh i don't know a month, and some politician said britain would have its own space agency sometime soon. Then theres the moonlite project.

I reckon it would take china testing out its own lunar space craft in space to get americans talking again, basically another space race. And to ever said its a pity that the world isn't united making space venturing easier, im not so sure thats true. I think a century or so more of space races is the best way to go forth. After all would the moon landings ever have happened without the cold 'war'?

[annodomini2]

Many people are not interested because it detracts from their own selfish 'happiness'.

A cheap, reliable, working SSTO system providing orbital trips that anyone could use would attract some interest.

Maybe landing people on Mars.

But until we determine a realistic method for interstellar no-one is going to want to know.

[samkent]

Many people are not interested because it detracts from their own selfish 'happiness'.

By happiness do you mean no health care or retirement concerns? Remember back in the sixties social security was going to last forever. And some companies had generous retirement programs. So you were sure you were going to have plenty of money when you retired. Plus there were no high tech treatments for diseases that drained your funds requiring you to sell your house. You just died. Wait until you get into your 50’s and see if you don’t get a bit selfish.

A cheap, reliable, working SSTO system providing orbital trips that anyone could use would attract some interest.

It doesn’t exist and we have no idea how to make one. It remains in the realm of Star Trek.


People still don’t see a need to be out there.

[Bill_Wright]

Notice how "Defying Gravity" didn't get picked up this fall? Nobody cares. We are no longer about adventure and sacrifice. We just want to see TV doctors.

[MeteorWayne]

Wait. You are seriously suggesting that a crap TV show not getting get picked up as showing the public doesn't care? It's based on some kind of alien entity (what we don't know) being transported to somewhere (not exactly clear) for some purpose (unknown). It's scientifically unrealistic (i.e no communication delay, no explantion for the artificial gravity, etc, etc) Sometimes crap TV is just crap TV.

Sheesh...

[samkent]

I miss Defying Gravity. It was a lot better than another cop/medical show.

It's scientifically unrealistic (i.e no communication delay, no explantion for the artificial gravity, etc, etc) Sometimes crap TV is just crap TV.

You must have missed the first episode. The body undersuits they wore were magnetic and so was the floor. They also had a magnetic hair spray which kept their hair hanging correctly. The series stopped right at the point where the com delay would have become a problem.

[MeteorWayne]

That's not really the point. Bill said the fact that a network sci-fi show was cancelled (by a revenue driven TV network) indicated that there was no support for space exploration. I say that is a completely invalid viewpoint.

The fact that 80% of the american public doesn't know enough about science to punch their way out of a wet paper bag is a separate issue.

[missionunknown]

Oh damn have they cancelled defying gravity? I'm on episode 4 and not sure what to think about it, its good all the right actors in it, but i think its just started off too slow as if it presumed it was in it for the long run. Needs more action i reckon. But theres a lot of crap tv series mostly american out there. What was the programme Bill was hinting at was it 'house' ? Man i saw a bit of that show once god it was rubbish, hugh lauries american accent is so crap.

Also i take back what i said about it just being the american public not interested in space its the british as well and maybe other nations. I reckon you're either interested or your not and sometimes everyones interested when something actually happens (eg a man lands on the moon).

[MeteorWayne]

My point is that whether a sci-fi show is cancelled or not is irrelevant to the subject of this topic, which is a passion for space exploration.
The people who can stomach watching such bad sci-fi are unlikely to understand enough of the science to support a space program.