NASA Exercise

[necine]

The pistols are imporant because of newtons law. Get in the raft, shoot pistol = going fast. I dont feel like ranking them however i know i have very close to the right answer.

 

[dxkj]

You guys are overthinking this, and that is the point....

the entire point of this theoretical situation is to test thinking skills, analysis, etc.... as was pointed out, almost every one of these items is useless, but if you are talking through it, it gives a glimpse into thought procses....

 

[dxkj]

Useless ie dont bring

_ Box of matches (no Oxygen)
_ Food concentrate (oxygen wont last long enough to warrant starvation, and how will you eat?)
_ Portable heating unit (light side of the moon, IE it is damn hot!)
_ One case dehydrated milk (waste, just drink water, dont need milk)
_ Stellar map of the moon?s constellation (light = no dark)
_ Magnetic compass (doesnt work on moon)
_ Signal flares (if they worked in a vaccuum, yes, if not, no)
_ First aid kit containing injection needles (to inject your skin, under suit?? lol riight)


Semi-Useless (The most e fficient methods of traveling will require jumping, so dragging these will just hinder)

_ 50 feet of nylon rope
_ Parachute silk
_ Life raft


Only things worth bringing.

_ Two .45 caliber pistols (propulsion, woohoo)
_ Two 100 lb. Tanks of oxygen (you need to breath, BITCH)
_ 5 gallons of water (assuming you can drink it)
_ Solar-powered FM receiver/transmitter (ET phone home base)

 

[everman]

This is a very poor adaptation of the lost in the desert scenario.
We have no air, no way to eat or drink. Basically all we have here is the O2 and guns to kill the other guy taking my O2 😛 radios are built into the suit.
I can't see the pistol propelling a raft very far...

 

[Kibbo86]

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's because the moon's rotation is tidally locked to its revolution. That is, it takes 27.something days to go around the earth and 27.something days to rotate once about its axis. So a lunar day lasts about 2 earth weeks. The problems states you are on the lighted side of the moon, so it'll probably be a while before it gets dark 🙂

On earth we can't see the stars during daylight because of the refraction of sunlight through the atmosphere, and the resultant blue sky.

On the moon, it may be possible to make out some stars even during daylight. I dunno though, I've never been.

 

[Savarak]

lets assume we know approximatly where we landed, compared to the rendevous site...(you should know, with all the instruments prior to the few seconds before the crash... so knowing the general topography of where you landed and the very general direction of where you should go... i would bring...

O2,
Radio,
Raft and Rope,
and flares and gun or just SOMETHING to light up the oxygen 😉 get where i'm going with this?

Its the moon... figure out some way to ignite one of the oxygen tanks so you'll "fly/float" a huge distance using the raft and rope as your ride(or maybe you dont need the raft at all and ride the O2 tanks themselves), somehow 😉 with a 100lb (guessing earth weight) tank of O2, it'll provide a fairly long stream of propulsion if managed properly, maybe use it in bursts, you run up and jump, giving it a little boost of O2 powered flame lit by flare or match(light the match directly in front of the O2 as you let a little out)...

i dunno, it might work 😉

 

[Savarak]

oh, and this will only work for one crew member... once at least one member reaches near enough the mothership to contact them... the mothership can send help(it IS a mothership... 200miles should EASILY be reachable by the mothership or any of the smaller ships inside)

 

[dxkj]

lol, knock the top off the two tanks connected by a rope the raft, go flying high and far, creative 🙂

 

[jagec]

Would the pistols fire in a vacuum? I doubt it...I can't imagine the small amount of oxygen found in the cartridge is enough to keep the reaction going.

BTW, do our suits have CO2 scrubbers? Because the oxygen is worthless if we just get CO2 poisoning...

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Kibbo86

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's because the moon's rotation is tidally locked to its revolution. That is, it takes 27.something days to go around the earth and 27.something days to rotate once about its axis. So a lunar day lasts about 2 earth weeks. The problems states you are on the lighted side of the moon, so it'll probably be a while before it gets dark 🙂

On earth we can't see the stars during daylight because of the refraction of sunlight through the atmosphere, and the resultant blue sky.

On the moon, it may be possible to make out some stars even during daylight. I dunno though, I've never been.

Try going out at night and have a friend shine a flashlight in your face while you look at the sky 😛

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Savarak
lets assume we know approximatly where we landed, compared to the rendevous site...(you should know, with all the instruments prior to the few seconds before the crash... so knowing the general topography of where you landed and the very general direction of where you should go... i would bring...

O2,
Radio,
Raft and Rope,
and flares and gun or just SOMETHING to light up the oxygen 😉 get where i'm going with this?

Its the moon... figure out some way to ignite one of the oxygen tanks so you'll "fly/float" a huge distance using the raft and rope as your ride(or maybe you dont need the raft at all and ride the O2 tanks themselves), somehow 😉 with a 100lb (guessing earth weight) tank of O2, it'll provide a fairly long stream of propulsion if managed properly, maybe use it in bursts, you run up and jump, giving it a little boost of O2 powered flame lit by flare or match(light the match directly in front of the O2 as you let a little out)...

i dunno, it might work 😉

O2 doesn't burn dude... It makes other stuff burn, but you can't just light oxygen on fire.

That being said, a tank of oxygen with the valve opened carefully could provide propulsion.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: jagec
Would the pistols fire in a vacuum? I doubt it...I can't imagine the small amount of oxygen found in the cartridge is enough to keep the reaction going.

BTW, do our suits have CO2 scrubbers? Because the oxygen is worthless if we just get CO2 poisoning...

You can fire guns underwater no?

 

[kirkaptain]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: Kibbo86

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's because the moon's rotation is tidally locked to its revolution. That is, it takes 27.something days to go around the earth and 27.something days to rotate once about its axis. So a lunar day lasts about 2 earth weeks. The problems states you are on the lighted side of the moon, so it'll probably be a while before it gets dark 🙂

On earth we can't see the stars during daylight because of the refraction of sunlight through the atmosphere, and the resultant blue sky.

On the moon, it may be possible to make out some stars even during daylight. I dunno though, I've never been.

Try going out at night and have a friend shine a flashlight in your face while you look at the sky 😛

Then try putting your hand up to create a shadow over your eyes, let your eyes re adjust, and try again.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Kibbo86

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's because the moon's rotation is tidally locked to its revolution. That is, it takes 27.something days to go around the earth and 27.something days to rotate once about its axis. So a lunar day lasts about 2 earth weeks. The problems states you are on the lighted side of the moon, so it'll probably be a while before it gets dark 🙂

On earth we can't see the stars during daylight because of the refraction of sunlight through the atmosphere, and the resultant blue sky.

On the moon, it may be possible to make out some stars even during daylight. I dunno though, I've never been.

I'm pretty sure this is correct. With out the atmosphere to scatter the sunlight, the sky from the moon will look black. And away from the immediate vicinity of the sun you should be able to see stars.

I think I read something to the effect on one of the moon-hoax debunking sites - that the pictures don't show stars because the exposure was set up for the bright foreground. But that the astronauts looking up at the sky could see stars.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: jagec
Would the pistols fire in a vacuum? I doubt it...I can't imagine the small amount of oxygen found in the cartridge is enough to keep the reaction going.

BTW, do our suits have CO2 scrubbers? Because the oxygen is worthless if we just get CO2 poisoning...

yes, its a gunpower is a chemical reaction.

 

[tranceport]

http://www.bpccs.com/lcas/Articles/survive.htm

 

[OutHouse]

Answers to the Survival on the Moon Exercise





Item
NASA Ranking
NASA's Reasoning

Box of matches
15
Virtually worthless -- there's no oxygen on the moon to sustain combustion

Food concentrate
4
Efficient means of supplying energy requirements

50 feet of nylon rope
6
Useful in scaling cliffs and tying injured together

Parachute silk
8
Protection from the sun's rays

Portable heating unit
13
Not needed unless on the dark side

Two .45 caliber pistols
11
Possible means of self-propulsion

One case of dehydrated milk
12
Bulkier duplication of food concentrate

Two 100 lb. tanks of oxygen
1
Most pressing survival need (weight is not a factor since gravity is one-sixth of the Earth's -- each tank would weigh only about 17 lbs. on the moon)

Stellar map
3
Primary means of navigation - star patterns appear essentially identical on the moon as on Earth

Self-inflating life raft
9
CO2 bottle in military raft may be used for propulsion

Magnetic compass
14
The magnetic field on the moon is not polarized, so it's worthless for navigation

5 gallons of water
2
Needed for replacement of tremendous liquid loss on the light side

Signal flares
10
Use as distress signal when the mother ship is sighted

First aid kit, including injection needle
7
Needles connected to vials of vitamins, medicines, etc. will fit special aperture in NASA space suit

Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter
5
For communication with mother ship (but FM requires line-of-sight transmission and can only be used over short ranges)




Scoring:



For each item, mark the number of points that your score differs from the NASA ranking, then add up all the points. Disregard plus or minus differences. The lower the total, the better your score.



0 - 25 excellent

26 - 32 good

33 - 45 average

46 - 55 fair

56 - 70 poor -- suggests use of Earth-bound logic

71 - 112 very poor ? you?re one of the casualties of the space program!

 

[gotsmack]

_ Two 100 lb. Tanks of oxygen
_ Solar-powered FM receiver/transmitter
_ Magnetic compass
_ Stellar map of the moon?s constellation
_ Portable heating unit
_ Signal flares
_ Parachute silk
_ 50 feet of nylon rope
_ Life raft
_ 5 gallons of water
_ Two .45 caliber pistols
_ One case dehydrated milk
_ Box of matches
_ First aid kit containing injection needles
_ Food concentrate

Food is useless, you can just eat and drink your fill before you leave the shuttle.

If you bring water, just dump the milk in there and you have to carry less.

You can put all the crap in the parachute and drag it with you.

You are defiantely going to need the Air, compass, radio, and map.

The first aid kit is useless too, how are you going to get hurt and if you did how are you going to patch yourself up inside a suit?

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Vich

14 Two .45 caliber pistols - No oxygen to spark the gunpowder even if u needed to use the gun...

Gunpowder doesn't need any external oxygen to burn, since it contains its own.


And what's with the food and water? How can you eat or drink if you have a spacesuit on? And the needle? Sounds like a good way to pop a spacesuit.

 

[kirkaptain]

Sweet, I got a score of 17.

Think I would have lived!

Originally posted by: kirkaptain
15_ Box of matches (will not ignite)

5_ Food concentrate (probably could get by without it)

7_ 50 feet of nylon rope (by which to pull sled)

10_ Parachute silk

13_ Portable heating unit (if you are on the bright side of the sun and moving constantly this should not be a problem)

12_ Two .45 caliber pistols (I wonder if you could rocketjump with these puppies)

11_ One case dehydrated milk

2_ Two 100 lb. Tanks of oxygen (Buy yourself some time. Is that 100lbs on the moon or on the earth?)

1_ Stellar map of the moon?s constellation (Without this, you have no clue where to go)

6_ Life raft (depending on the sixe of the crew, you may need a sled to carry gear)

14_ Magnetic compass (this moon does not have a liquid core, thus no magnetic field)

3_ 5 gallons of water (the moon is a very dry place)

9_ Signal flares (the flares may have the oxidizer built-in, and not require atmospheric oxygen)

8_ First aid kit containing injection needles (what are you injecting?)

4_ Solar-powered FM receiver/transmitter (The mothership may be able to trangulate signal and send rescue rover. At very least, relay dying words to loved ones planetside.)


200 miles on the moon is not as far as it sounds: remember the reduced gravity on the moon and the amazing crap people can do when their lives are on the line. Also, if you are trained as an astronaut, you should be in incredible physical condition.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: gotsmack
Food is useless, you can just eat and drink your fill before you leave the shuttle.

If you bring water, just dump the milk in there and you have to carry less.

You can put all the crap in the parachute and drag it with you.

You are defiantely going to need the Air, compass, radio, and map.

The first aid kit is useless too, how are you going to get hurt and if you did how are you going to patch yourself up inside a suit?

Why the compass? This is the moon, not earth.

As for food, it will take a few days to get to the mothership...so you'll have to figure out a way 🙂

 

[gotsmack]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: gotsmack
Food is useless, you can just eat and drink your fill before you leave the shuttle.

If you bring water, just dump the milk in there and you have to carry less.

You can put all the crap in the parachute and drag it with you.

You are defiantely going to need the Air, compass, radio, and map.

The first aid kit is useless too, how are you going to get hurt and if you did how are you going to patch yourself up inside a suit?

Why the compass? This is the moon, not earth.

As for food, it will take a few days to get to the mothership...so you'll have to figure out a way 🙂

I just assumed the moon had a an EM field so you could use the compass. I guess if I worked for NASA I would know that. Don't really need the food, just drink the milk water.