Simulated Mars Mission Turned Astronauts Lazy

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Wait, hold on. Why can't they have natural light? Can't the invest in space windows? I mean, they still get starlight shining on them, right? Or would that be disorienting?

I thought they'd have some sort of look out. And they aren't allowed to put on spacesuits to wander about outside? That'd be good exercise, right?

I don't understand how space missions work. I thought for sure there'd be exercise and windows, though.

They could just have windows, sure. If they wanted to die from radiation poisoning and/or cancer. Sure, people can space walk in suits, but their exposure is measured in minutes, not months.

Also, how is floating around in zero G good exercise?

Cos they did it in 2001.

Also, I did say Space Windows. Not glass windows. Make it so the windows are futuristic and not let in deadly radiation. Problem solved probably!

 

[Akytalusia]

I think sitting inside any room with no natural light and not actually doing anything would make anyone lazy and lethargic...

I'm looking at you, yes you...

you caught me.

OT: well, now they know and can prepare the next test i guess. these results seem to be about as expected.

 

[Strazdas]

I think sitting inside any room with no natural light and not actually doing anything would make anyone lazy and lethargic...

I'm looking at you, yes you...

yes, and please tell me how to voilonteer, i want to be the next guinea pig in such an experiment. its heaven. you cna sit on your ass whole day playing games and watching movies.

17 months of nothing in an enclosed space? That's almost enough to finish a total war campaign!

or a civ 2 game.....

The less you do the lazier you get, who would of thunked it. I usually support scientific research, but sometimes you just have to use common sense, besides I'm pretty sure there are millions of nerds around the word voluntarily already doing this experiment for years.

i would, but the food isnt going to buy itself, so i need work

 

[Alar]

Is this really a good example of what would happen, though? What are the chances that there would ONLY be one person going at a time? Or that they'd be locked out of each others modules? Or that they'd be unable to interact with the rest of the crew? If there's only ONE dude left, things are already fucked to hell, and there's no way (except in some science fiction movies) that he's going to survive on his own on Mars.

 

[Wolf Hagen]

Why do I suddenly have to think of the movie Dark Star, where exactly that became a problem as well. Expect that in the movie, they didn't have much more entertaiment, then there would have been in 1980. XD

"Let's have some music in here Boiler! Sure thing!"

Yep, months in a enclosed area, and they could not even get stuff from the shop around the corner. ;D

 

[adamsaccount]

Would be allright if you got wifi

 

[the darknees abyss]

so being space makes you lazy i need to become an astronaut i already got the lazy thing down.

 

[Stu35]

To all those saying that the excitement of exploring space, combined with the desire to keep themselves alive, would keep them active during those long months: I disagree.

For an example - Soldiers in Afghanistan who have to deal with IEDs (or bombs, if you prefer) nearly every day for 6 months manage to get bored by this to the point that they start making mistakes and getting killed - Literally, they get bored of looking for things that are trying to kill them, things they know are there and that they find all the time.

Now, obviously astronauts are going to be more switched on than the average squaddie, but you put anybody in any situation for an extended period without giving them a bit of a change, and eventually they will get bored of it and lose motivation.

 

[bdcjacko]

Was the picture taken in Frodo's spare room?

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

so being space makes you lazy i need to become an astronaut i already got the lazy thing down.

Yeah I`ll come with you, then I can finally play my gigantic games backlog.

But unfortunately lazyness is the result of the Mission, NOT the Qualification! :-/

 

[kael013]

The solution is simple.

Step 1: Add windows.
Step 2: Make the lighting the same all along the ship - and maybe put it on a 12-hour on, 12-hour dimmed cycle to help regulate those sleep disorders.
Step 3: Zero-g sports room (cause no one can think "zero-g sport" without thinking of something cool and totally not lethargy inducing.)
Step 4: Windows. Did I mention that?

 

[Cid Silverwing]

So it sounds like being deprived of solar radiation causes laziness?

Should have brought a UV lamp in that case.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

I like how they casually referred to reading as a waste of time, 'non-productive' activity.

Also how was he playing counter-strike? That's an exclusively multiplayer game. The latency you would get via messages sent from space would make it completely worthless, unless they were just playing on LAN. If not, then that isn't much of an experiment, what with their having an easy and constant way to interact with dozens of other people in real time. And no freaking wonder he would be interested in doing that rather than doing other things while locked in a tiny room.

 

[Vhite]

So this is what was wrong with my entire life.

Spoiler: *stands up and leaves the house*

 

[dmase]

I bet everyone at NASA is thinking... that's why we have a vetting process for our astronauts, to avoid that shit.

 

[Jadak]

I'm not sure how this is a problem, because if I were an Astronaut, I know I wouldn't be all lazy and lethargic at the end of the journey when YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE THE FIRST HUMANS EVER TO STEP FOOT ON A FOREIGN PLANET IN HISTORY.

I dunno about the rest of you, but I'd be pretty fucking excited.

You'd be excited for s while, sure. 17 months stuck in a fucking box tends to change that, regardless of the purpose. Might still perk up a bit around the end though.

 

[Phuctifyno]

Oh, and for every thing that can go wrong during the trip there, you still have the trip back to look forward to.

Nope. Manned mission to Mars is planned as a one way. You'd pretty much have to be ready die the whole time, knowing that that even if you make it there, you're not leaving until you do. Wonder if that's going to have an effect on the astronaut's survival skills?

 

[uzo]

They should have installed a computer that was programemd to go insane halfway into the trip and promptly tried to kill them all.

That would have motivated them.



Or killed them.

 

[havoc33]

I still can't believe that NASA is serious about doing this. Just makes watching scifi even more exciting, some of the shit is now actually plausible in the near future! My girlfriend (who is an adamant scifi hater) will have a hard time accepting this, lol

 

[Snownine]

By the time we are able to get to Mars we'd have probably invented the kind of cryosleep that allows you to spend the entire journey under anyway. So they'd not have to worry about boredom and such.

Cryosleep technology is much further off than manned travel to Mars. We are not even close to achieving cryosleep whereas we can put people on the moon in a couple decades if NASA had the kind of funding and focus it did in the 60's and early 70's. In fact if the space race between the USA and USSR had not all but died in 70's someone would likely have had a man on Mars in the 90's. With the joke budget and lack of enthusiasm that plagues space agencies today who knows when we will send humans to Mars, if ever.