Britain's first proper astronaut.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

And of course where's my jetpack

Yes............... disappointed in all respects. Do you think we could get compensation for shattered expectations?

[Nearly Sane]

And of course where's my jetpack

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3139277/Finally-World-s-consumer-jetpack-sale-year-warned-set-150-000.html

[Rhiannon]

I too do not begrudge him the title "Astronaut" but admit to not seeing the point of it all.  It costs a great deal of money which could be better spent elsewhere.  Just my opinion.  Plus it is dangerous.  He's a family man.

I suppose Britain, or UK, feel they are in some sort of competition with the USA and Russia but why?

Being a family anything is no reason not to do something dangerous.

[Bubbles]

Need to get to Mars.
That is good measure of success.
We must have enough other information by now, it not we are incredibly dim.

We have people in orbit 365 days of the year. It's all quite dull.

Getting to Mars is difficult, challenging and I think we should do it.

I am not interested in the next person going into orbit. We have been doing this for decades.

Equally, I want a fusion reactor please on stream delivery cheap clean electricity (too cheap to meter)

Before they set out to Mars they need to sort out the issue of the body losing bone and muscle..

Apparently it could be a big problem on a long journey like Mars.

They are trying to find out how big a problem it is going to be.

It would be tragic for the astronauts if they couldn't return to Earth after a successful mission.

I think getting to Mars is very important for the human race, but there are some issues that need sorting first.

We owe that to the ones who would be going.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast01oct_1/

[jeremyp]

That's right. A meteor travelling in a straight line from one point to another ,isn't in an orbit.

Meteor's don't travel in straight lines when they are under the influence of Earth's gravity.

Or alternately, in General Relativity, they do, but then an orbit is also a straight line.

[jeremyp]

I too do not begrudge him the title "Astronaut" but admit to not seeing the point of it all.  It costs a great deal of money which could be better spent elsewhere.  Just my opinion.  Plus it is dangerous.  He's a family man.

The death of the human spirit.

[jeremyp]

It would be tragic for the astronauts if they couldn't return to Earth after a successful mission.

I think there would be plenty of volunteers for a mission that meant almost certain death. Even so, there has to be a good probability of getting there alive. Dying on the way there is a tragic failure. Dying on the way back is a heroic sacrifice in the pursuit of human knowledge.

[Bubbles]

I think there would be plenty of volunteers for a mission that meant almost certain death. Even so, there has to be a good probability of getting there alive. Dying on the way there is a tragic failure. Dying on the way back is a heroic sacrifice in the pursuit of human knowledge.

Amazingly you are probably right, it never fails to amaze me what people are prepared to do.

[Bubbles]

Meteor's don't travel in straight lines when they are under the influence of Earth's gravity.

Or alternately, in General Relativity, they do, but then an orbit is also a straight line.

That doesn't make much sense to me as orbits are normally curved and go round what they are orbiting

However, that said,  I have found this

http://www.space.com/26572-how-it-worked-the-apollo-spacecraft-infographic.html

Which shows the path taken by Apollo to reach the moon.

I think that supports what you are saying more.

I had imagined them orbiting the Earth then leaving that orbit to reach the moon ( in a straight line).

This shows an elliptical orbit though.

[Bubbles]

If anyone is interested there is a programme tonight on BBC 4 horizon at 21.00 horizon on the Apollo landings and the future of space travel with James Burke
A bit old though 💐
🌹🌝

[Brownie]

Being a family anything is no reason not to do something dangerous.

Good point Rhiannon, many parents do dangerous jobs every day.  I just can't see the point of sending people into space when there is enough to do here.  Yeah I'm bah humbug  .

[Maeght]

The Independent refers to Major Tim Peake as Britain's first Proper astronaut but has the generally secular humanist rag fit only for wiping your arse with got it right?

Only you could manage to mention secularism and humanism in a post about a British Astronaut (and that's meant as a compliment!).

[Brownie]

I smiled at the description of the Independent, being a "secular and humanist rag".  That has nothing to do with astronauts but as it was mentioned, I have never thought of that newspaper in that way.  Admittedly it is a long time since I purchased it but I have read it a few times and found it rather bland.