49 Years and a day

[Bruce]

Well it happened with Australia and we are still here. Just dumped here.

 

I reckon the moon is the best colony start. There is lots of energy there, a solar collector near a pole on a hilltop will work all day. Plants will grow well in moon soil. I'd go if I could.

 

We would sell metals refined in a true vacuum to start.  Bugger, I would have to leave the planes behind.

 

 

[willedoo]

There have been no deaths in space so far

 

 Georgy Dobrovolsky, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov, Soyuz 11, 1971.

 

 

[octave]

 Georgy Dobrovolsky, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov, Soyuz 11, 1971.

 

Ah yes decompression during reentry. Also of course the odd parachute failure, technically not in space, If you also include training exercises it is higher. Still not a huge toll considering the risks. My point was that we are not going to send hundreds of colonists to a certain death, this is not how things are done.

 

 

[willedoo]

The Soyuz 11 crew are the only ones so far. And that was bad design at fault as much as anything.

 

 

[octave]

The Soyuz 11 crew are the only ones so far. And that was bad design at fault as much as anything.

 

I have heard speculation that they may have been accidents that were not publicised.   The modern Soyuz is an amazingly safe and reliable vehicle with a good safety record since.   

 

"It quickly became apparent that they had asphyxiated. The fault was traced to a breathing ventilation valve, located between the orbital module and the descent module, that had been jolted open as the descent module separated from the service module, 12 minutes and 3 seconds after retrofire.[16][17] The two were held together by explosive bolts designed to fire sequentially; in fact, they had fired simultaneously.[16] The explosive force of the simultaneous bolt firing caused the internal mechanism of the pressure equalization valve to loosen a seal that was usually discarded later and which normally allowed for automatic adjustment of the cabin pressure.[16] The valve opened at an altitude of 168 kilometres (551,000 ft), and the resultant loss of pressure was fatal within seconds.[16][18] The valve was located beneath the seats and was impossible to find and block before the air was lost. Flight recorder data from the single cosmonaut outfitted with biomedical sensors showed cardiac arrest occurred within 40 seconds of pressure loss. By 15 minutes, 35 seconds after retrofire, the cabin pressure was zero, and remained there until the capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere.[16] Patsayev's body was found positioned near the valve, and he may have been attempting to close or block the valve at the time he lost consciousness."

 

 

[willedoo]

A lot has come out in recent years & I guess there's probably no more cover-up's to be revealed. The other Soyuz loss, Vladimir Komorov in Soyuz 1 was particularly awful. He knew he was going to die but went because Yuri Gagarin was no.2 backup choice and Komorov said they couldn't afford to lose a national hero. The fact that they've finally released the audio of him screaming abuse at the management as he hit the ground at several hundred kph gives the impression that there's not much more to fess up to. The Soviets were the big achievers in space, but it's a sad history with a high cost.

 

 

[willedoo]

This thread has drifted about as far as one can - off into space.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Well it happened with Australia and we are still here. Just dumped here.

 

I reckon the moon is the best colony start. There is lots of energy there, a solar collector near a pole on a hilltop will work all day. Plants will grow well in moon soil. I'd go if I could.

 

We would sell metals refined in a true vacuum to start.  Bugger, I would have to leave the planes behind.

 

Not if you wanted to fly inside the domes... wouldn't need much of a wingspan at 1/6th Earth gravity!

 

 

[Bruce]

Yep, at 1/6 gravity, strap-on wings might work! ( no jokes about other  strap-ons please ).

 

There were at least 2 human colonies on earth which died out... the Greenland Vikings and the Port Victoria Australians.

 

I reckon the dust on Mars would be dreadful. The moon is dusty too, but with no wind, it wouldn't get everywhere.

 

I'm an expert on surviving Mars on account of having seen the movie.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

A lot has come out in recent years & I guess there's probably no more cover-up's to be revealed. The other Soyuz loss, Vladimir Komorov in Soyuz 1 was particularly awful. He knew he was going to die but went because Yuri Gagarin was no.2 backup choice and Komorov said they couldn't afford to lose a national hero. The fact that they've finally released the audio of him screaming abuse at the management as he hit the ground at several hundred kph gives the impression that there's not much more to fess up to. The Soviets were the big achievers in space, but it's a sad history with a high cost.

 

 There is an incedibly sad picture of this disaster. The control staff brought in his wife and left the room while she spoke to him for the last time before he fired his retro rockets for re-entry, which he knew he couldn't survive.

 

 

[robinsm]

One of the best thread drifts I have seen, hope the reunion goes well young fella...lol

 

 

[facthunter]

30 days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31 except February (28 & 29).  Nev

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Resurrecting an old thread....

 

This time it was 39...

 

He was fit and healthy... Had a seizure last weekend and passed away this morning... Leaves behing a 1 year old and 2 year old... Life is just sometimes unfair.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Jerry_Atrick

[Jerry_Atrick]

Re-resurrecting the thread..

 

This time... I open an Aussie newspaper (second tier) website.. On the live today stream, news of a bloke in his mid 60s dying.. The name is familiar and I check it out and yes, it is the husband of a long lost 1st cousin, whom, when we were kids were very (platonically) fond of each other. Thinking, as I clicked through to the article, that I will look up my long lost cousin and send condolences, the article informs me his wife died in 2016, aged 55.

 

In my visits back to Aus through the years, I used to say, "next time I will look her and her husband up and say Hi".. Not doing so is one huge, huge regret.

 

I do have to remind myself every so often, we are mortal.

[nomadpete]

A long time ago, when I was in early high school, one of my fellow students died. I hadn't known that he even had a job. But he was helping deliver milk. Just around sunrise, a drunk ran into the back of the milk truck, killing him.

One wise (older) teacher addressed the school later that day, saying

"....and look around you. By the time you are my age, a quarter of your friends will have died one way or another. Please be careful. Please be kind to each other. Look after each other."

 

As a kid I thought it ridiculous but now I feel a little isolated by the diminishing numbers of familiar faces available to say "Hi!" to.

[old man emu]

In 2019 I organised a 50-year reunion for my final year high school class. We were Boomers from the 51/52 drop.  Of a group of about 60 back then, only about six had passed away and most of us seemed to be in pretty good shape for the shape we were in. Now we have passed our "three score and ten" and the messages are coming in of blokes being diagnosed with age-related complaints and those who succumb to the years. We even have a thread here noting the passing of those celebrities of our youth.

 

Mortality is a scary thing to contemplate, especially since once you step back from your duties as a family man and get more time for yourself, you realise that there is so much to do, and so little time to do it. 

[facthunter]

Keeping busy is good for you , but really much of what we do is of little real consequence in the big scheme of things. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, You bring nothing into the world and take nothing with you.  Not creating poisonous situations would be a plus. . There's NO PLANET "B".   Nev

Edited July 8, 2023 by facthunter
spelling

[Old Koreelah]

Seems this is a good place share good advice about a life well lived. 

Here’s a start:

[facthunter]

You only need a fairly small number of REAL friends. Have a swimming pool. Pool table  Ski Lodge, Ski Boat  House boat  Fridge always full of beer and you'll have hangers on, galore.  Nev

[spacesailor]

OK

I cannot follow that ( picture ) post.

Or I will go fly my kite    (?. Without a licence ).

" last paragraph " .

spacesailor