johnfoss said:*I don't know how realistic Bush's plans are for us paying
for new manned space missions (they would cost a lot more
than what we did in the 60's), but I think it would be a
great goal for us to have. There is nothing like pushing
the limits of human achievement to give us a sense of
wonder and possibility.
Obviously you need to have gravity for a unicycle to be
fun. To ride on in orbit, for example, you'd have to build
up some centrifugal force or something. Give me the moon
for that. Indoors on the moon, you wouldn't have to worry
about all the environmental gear you'd need to carry
outside. So how about an indoor Trials course? You could
still land bigger drops than in Earth gravity, because
you'd have more time to absorb your inertia as you came
down (I think). You should be able to invent lots of new
tricks right off the bat, but only after relearning to
ride the thing in the first place.
If I had enough indoor space on the moon, however, I'd get
into human-powered flight. I read an interesting science
fiction story once, where people were living inside the
moon, in large underground spaces. This would provide the
headroom. Supposedly you'd be light enough to fly under
you own power. That might make the unicycle seem a bit
quaint by comparison... *
Actually, if you hollowed out the moon evenly, the
gravity on the inside would cancell and you'd be
waitlessa, so yes, you could fly under your own power,
but it'd kinda be cheating.
Also, Bush's plan for the moon is a load of bullsh**. If
congress gives NASA the $800 million per year, it'll come
out of their science budget, and basically not be any budget
increase. Not to mention that the moon's only habitable near
the poles where there *might* be water, and where the
sunlight is weak enough to keep the temperatures to a
reasonable range. Near the equator the moon's surface can
reach temperatures of up to 400 degrees farenheight, and a
lack of an strong magnetosphere makes it so you're exposed
to extra rediation and things like that. Also, by the time
we're established enough on the moon to go for unicycle
trials and the like people like Ryan Atkins and me will have
been dead for about 30 years. I think Bush has no idea what
he's saying, and our chance of getting an established
moonbase is way too close to nil. And as for Mars, to quote
sky and telescope "Going to Mars actually -is- rocket
science." Really, humanity has much more pressing concerns
than unicycling on the moon or Mars, and those won't happen
for at least another century and a half.
Bevan
P.S. If we could technologically get people to Mars, there'd
be the problem of keeping them alive for the trip.
During the 6month+ trip, the astronauts would be
exposed to over 10 times the amount of radiation a
nuclear plant worker is exposed to per year. Also,
whenever there's a solar flare, the astronauts would
have to rush into a protected space in order to keep
from being seriously burned with radiation. Not to
mention, what do you do when you get there? What if you
break your arm? "Um Houston, I just snapped my humerus
and need to be medivaced back to Earth" "Sorry, you're
6 months journey from home, without enough fuel for a
return trip manufactured yet, in 1/2 of Earth gravity.
Looks like you're dead. Sorry 'bout that." Not to say
that it wouldn't be fun to ride down the rim of a giant
crater, but we can do that in Arizona anyway.
Also, someone post a counterpoint to this, and correct me if
I'm wrong about anything.
--
gerblefranklin
I don't break equipment, I make it cheaper.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
gerblefranklin's Profile: unicyclist.com4295Open ↗
View this thread: unicyclist.com29871Open ↗
