Playboy, Virgin Galactic tout zero-grav nookie in spaaaaace! Quality journalism bastion Playboy has teamed up with boffins at Virgin Galactic to create the one thing missing in the universe - a Playboy Club in space. Enlisting the help of futurists as well as rocket scientists from the civilian space company of Richard Branson, Playboy has envisioned what it calls a "celestial mecca" …
"Would there be a problem with....fluids?"
Probably, except for a certain fluid which is excreted... shall we say... under pressure?
"...Although the idea of zero-G breasts sounds pretty cool..."
Sure would preclude the need for push-up bras, huh? Aaahhhh-wrrroooooooo.
If the atmosphere inside is to American standards is does. About 5psi if I remember correctly. Makes the engineering of the seals and hull easier.
If they go with the Russian model you are right.
I'm wondering what the place will smell like after a couple of shifts of bonking plutocrats have been cycled through it, and whether this will be seen as a plus or a minus to the whole experience.
The Americans used to make their astronauts sit in a rubber dinghy while a helicopter churned up a nice, deodorizing salt spray around them. The Russians were careful to bring their cosmonauts down in rural areas where no-one else would catch a whiff of them until they had a chance for the desert breeze to work its magic.
There's a reason why the shuttle used to sit for half an hour before anyone went near it, and anyone who thinks it has to do with hydrazine more than an opportunity to crack the hatches and air the place out before any of the press got near is fooling themselves.
I commute using the trains of the Long Island Rail Road, and the chemical toilets in them are unbearable after only eight hours. Imagine what it will be like in a place where the air cannot be changed, ever.
And I wouldn't want to be the poor sod changing the air filters in the PODs.
Potentially missed an attempt at sarcasm there, but the shuttle, ISS etc were all ~14.7psi, same as here on earth - it's 5psi in a space suit.
As for the shuttle or ISS smelling bad, the air might not be "changed", but it's sure as hell scrubbed. Hygiene is as important in space as it is here - if anything its more so.
Ever been on a plane, bad smells abound but they dissipate.
In the old days of smoking on planes, the air was circulated even more than it is today.
Dunno about space, but probably something they have thought about since there is enough 'farted in my space suit' scenes in modern sci-fi (albeit humour based sci-fi).
5psi was when they ran a much higher proportion (pure?) oxygen atmosphere. At higher oxygen concentrations, the pressure can be lower without you becoming anoxic.
100% oxygen turned out to be pretty awful if a fire started in the cockpit before launch. Grissom, White and Chaffee died in the Apollo 1 command module during a test on the launch pad, where the oxygen was pressurised to slightly *higher* than 1 atmosphere.
14psi and 20% oxygen is what the Russians use, so someone had to change in order for the ISS to handle both the Space Shuttle and Soyuz. Boring old 14psi air won over scary pure oxygen.
A partial pressure of ~3 PSI of oxygen burns equally well regardless of the partial pressure of nitrogen. A partial pressure of about 18 PSI oxygen (what you would get if you added pure oxygen to test the seals on Apollo 1) is toxic, while the fact that the door opens inward (to make it possible to open the door in the ocean if it is partially submerged) means that it is impossible to open while pressurized or in space. The fact that the door can't open also makes the capsule a deathtrap if it catches fire while pressurized.
"There's a reason why the shuttle used to sit for half an hour before anyone went near it, and anyone who thinks it has to do with hydrazine more than an opportunity to crack the hatches and air the place out before any of the press got near is fooling themselves..."
Well, a lot of really did have to do with draining remaning propellants, though I wouldn't doubt it also had to do with airing the cabin out. I recall interviews with Shuttle astronauts who commented on how "whiffy" the cabin got, especially after some of the longer missions.
Oh, and don't forget Gemini ViI, the famous Borman-Lovell endurance flight. Lovell, as I recall, described it as "two weeks in the men's room". As your sense of smell tends to get accustomed to certain odors after a while and the brain filters them out, it's easy not to notice just how rancid things are getting. After Gemini VII had returned to Earth, and the CM hauled aboard the carrier and the crew had a shower and a shave, Borman had forgotten he'd left a book he'd been reading on the flight under a seat aboard the spacecraft. He mentions that when he stuck his head inside the spacecraft to look around for his book, the smell almost knocked him out.
http://www.astronautix.com/flights/gemini7.htm
Spins centrifugally? centrifugally?
Why oh why oh why do people keep falling for the same mistake. There ain't no such thing as centrifugal force, never has been, never will be
Are you referring to the effect that combines straight line motion with a bit of string pulling you towards a centre of rotation (often mentioned as CENTRIPETAL force)?
...so somehow, you expect that the culture that is devolving from Playboy to Donahue to Jerry Springer to Survivor to Paris Hilton to the Kardashians will suddenly stop being a freak show in order to go to space?
Hysterical.
Me, I *want* Playboy to go to space for the sheer amusement value of seeing what happens when this gloriously dumb idea that comes from reading too much science fiction during a rough puberty "comes" to fruition. Should be a blast.
"The first mass driver known in print was actually called the "electric gun" and described in detail as a way to launch vehicles into outer space from the Earth's surface in the 1897 science fiction novel A Trip to Venus by John Munro and published in 1897 by Jarrold & Sons, London"
Heinlein's story was good, but not the first.
" think of the fact that if you give something a slight shove in zero-gravity, it tends to fly across the room and you can see how hanky-panky might take a bit of practice."
Volunteers no problem for that exquisite mission/pioneering venture, is a sure fire bet if ever there was one. :-)
And what of the Private Pirate XSSXXXX Sections/Fields/Red Hot Zones? By Recommendation and Invitation of SMART Members Only?
Anyone know whether this has actually happened yet? Of course it's possible to check crew rosters on Spacelab, Mir and ISS - although that doesn't help if it was two male astronauts decided to play hide-the-rocket, and the physical motions are much the same either way. But last I heard, no-one had definitely established whether they had actually been there, done that.
Sad thing is, even if anybody _had_ done it, they'd never admit to it for fear of being bounced out of the astronaut/cosmonaut corps.
Besides, as I recall the relative layout and equipment configurations of the Shuttle, Spacelab, Mir and ISS... seems like ISS would be the only one large enough to have odd little secluded spots where a couple can be alone and relax (as it were).
Speaking of which... does anyone recall if the Psychotically Jealous Long-Distance-Driving Space-Diaper-Wearing Woman Astronaut had ever served aboard a flight with her Cheating On The Woman He Was Cheating On His Wife With Space Stud Muffin Astronaut boyfriend?
"you can see how hanky-panky might take a bit of practice"
Seeing as how NASA uses a large "swimming pool" for zero-g astronaut training and in-pool (lake, ocean, etc.) hanky panky is already established art, so to speak, I'm sure the logistics have already been pretty well worked out. It'll be better, what with the elimination of masks, tanks and associated breathing apparatus, weights, buoyancy compensators, etc.
Considering VG have yet to even launch their first paying customer to the edge of space in what is basically sub-orbital ballistic rocket, Playboy might be better off looking for a slightly more ambitious partner.
Oh, and Jules Verne had the idea of shooting things into space before most (all?) others. His patent has probably lapsed though.
"...Jules Verne had the idea of shooting things into space before most (all?) others. His patent has probably lapsed though."
Also, it turns out that his method really wasn't the safest or most efficient. However, in the course of that failure, he did discover a quick new way to make raspberry jam.
Do you know what the difference is between the subject of this article, and a triple-breasted whore?
Making a triple-breasted whore could be done for a reasonable amount of money with our current level of technical knowledge.
Seriously: This is such "pie in the sky" (double entendre intended).
What is the legal jurisdiction up there? The USA has different laws about prostitution than does much of Europe, so is the club intended to be Bring Your Own or are the bunnies included (and do they provide boybunnies for girls, or those whose tastes merely run that way)?
And what's with the line about not having a casino? That would seem to be a big money opportunity for the place.
"But mind how you go, zero-gravity friskiness could be a bit tricky, since for every action, there will be an opposite reaction - think of the fact that if you give something a slight shove in zero-gravity, it tends to fly across the room and you can see how hanky-panky might take a bit of practice."
One word: HARNESSES. Ooooh, la la.
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