h a l f b a k e r yIt's not a thing. It will be a thing.
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Space is no longer the exclusive scope of a few government employees. Many commercial companies are vying for tourism dollars. Zero G parabolas, Suborbital rides, full trips 'round the world, and even to the moon are being actively pursued, and are fully within the realm of human capacity.
The time
has come for a private school specializing in the instruction of space-related topics. The university will include schools of micro- and zero-G biology, nanotechnology, physics, propulsion, flight, and so forth. There will now be a clear goal for those who really do want to grow up and travel to space.
Space camp
http://www.spacecamp.com/
Nasa have been giving people a chance to train for 25 yrs. [the great unknown, Jun 29 2007]
[link]
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You want a shiny jumpsuit and a tricorder as well? |
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"Those who really do want to grow up and travel to space" already have a clear goal. What they are lacking is a dedicated vocational / educational system to support them. |
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(-) I don't think educational institution specialized towards particular engineering tasks is the way to go. (Science, maybe; engineering, no.) Sorry. |
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I think [Voice] is proposing a science school (can't see the word 'engineering' in it anywhere), the subjects at which are focused on a final vocation in space. Give it a few decades and I think these will start cropping up. [+] |
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Don't we need to have a nuclear war first? |
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[jutta]: That doesn't make sense to me. What's wrong with grouping space related topics of engineering such as electronics, or mechanical, or space-related? |
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The criticism of the idea, in my opinion, should be that it'd a "let's all". Other than "space" being the topic, it could be "on a boat/ship" (naval engineering), "about a building" (civil engineering). |
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I'm not saying that the idea doesn't have merit - I'm just not feelin' it. |
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We have medical and veterinary schools. |
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// What's wrong with grouping space related topics of engineering such as electronics, or mechanical, or space-related? |
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It's fine if they're actually related, but if there's a large overlap between the foo and the space-foo (for foo in medicine, electronics, architecture, ...), and if there's comparatively little overlap between the space-foo and the space-bar (where foo != bar), it's inefficient. |
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Especially in a developing discipline that we're making up as we're going along, having a good general grounding in your discipline (both on and off planet) seems to me more useful than the interdisciplinary stuff - precisely because we don't yet know what the space-specific wrinkles are. It's okay to put the interdisciplinary stuff in later, after a traditional basis. |
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For a reality check, replace "space" with "military". True, military doctors probably know things that civilian ones don't, but if I have a choice between a doctor who has studied conventional medicine and added the military stuff as an afterthought, and a doctor who did so-so medicine, but also knows his war history, basic strategy, and a smattering of military law - I'd really rather have the first. |
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That's ok - except that if you were in the field and had just suffered a bullet wound... you'd probably be better off with a military field doctor... |
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On saying that, a military doctor is a specialist doctor that has then been trained in a warfare scenario. So, I concede (is it even my point to concede?), <looks over at [Voice]>, that the Starfleet idea runs the danger of producing a Jack-of-all-trades. |
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[Voice]:- Wouldn't the need to specialise in 'space-stuff' come some time after gaining a specific standard (or semi-standard) degree? |
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When the freakin Borg show up you'll wish you had a freakin Starfleet Academy. |
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Don't forget the course on reversing polarity. |
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I'm taking my keyboard back to the shop. It's got a space-bar, but I can't find the space-foo anywhere. |
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<bad lip-synching>
A-ha!! My space-foo is much stronger than your weak space-foo. Maybe we should..... FIGHT!! |
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I'm just waiting for the first space hotel, I figure they will be in dire need of a bartender. |
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At the space academy, they will teach you to boldly split infinitives where no-one has done it before. |
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Baked? Thought I'd already been to this school. They were coaching my generation for trips to the moon when I was in kindergarden in 1961. |
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Hmmmm. . . When Apollo was cranking up, there was a nearly desperate call for technicians and specialists of every stripe. Inevitably, large numbers of military technical people (Navy and air Force) found themselves in Houston or Cape Canaveral
(and not in Viet Nam) earning considerably more than similar jobs in private sector. Had a 'Starfleet Academy' existed at the time, it probably would have produced a hefty share of those workers and would have been able to respond to the Apolllo challenge with less panic over hiring. Might even have saved a few billion dollars in potential wage and benefits. . . |
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Zeno: Regarding space hotels, see previous works on foam space stations. Also, I am already in dire need of a good bartender. . . |
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