RealNC:

Shatner would never be able to go to space on his own. He was escorted by trained astronauts who know how to handle operations, equipment and emergency situations. Even learning orbital mechanics is difficult, but it's not needed if you're just a passenger. Hell, even learning how to take a crap in space seems complicated...

don’t think he was up there long enough to need to curl one out was he? In space no one can hear you curl one out, according to Ellen Ripley

I agree that the recent travellers to space may have 'cheapened' the term astronaut, but time has moved on and what was once the activity of a brave select few is now accessible to people who are maybe not so brave or 'qualified' as astronauts once were. Wanting to redefine the term to maintain some kind of special snowflake status seems a bit pathetic.

schmidtbag:

Well by definition, you'd be correct that training is part of being an astronaut, though I guess the real question is: how much training does it take to become an astronaut. I figure some training is necessary, even for someone like Shatner. Space travel isn't as complicated for the passengers as it used to be, since the computers do all the hard work. I think where we agree is the term "astronaut" is being thrown around too loosely. So, I would argue that if you're not actually doing work while traveling in space (and by space I mean at least above the Karman Line), then you're just an astrotourist. You're not a sailor just because you're a passenger on a boat. You're not a racer just because you're a passenger in a sports car on a track. You're not an astronaut just because you've been to space.

vestibule:

Shatners endeavours raise a question with me. It does make you wonder what all that train the astronauts marine style to death was all about in the 60/70's. Maybe it was just machoism. WhooRahhh. Cannot wait for the interviews. Oh? and billy who's shirts do yo wear!

People who want to become (real) astronauts have to train extremely hard just to cope with the rigours of being in space! Because there´s no gravity, our muscles are barely used and because of that we lose a lot of muscle mass makin,g easy actions like moving your arms or walking much harder than normal. Then we need to do a lot of simple things in a different way because of the lack of gravity and easy stuff like eating or taking a dump become very hard and time consuming. And some are even dangerous of not done in the correct manner! Then real astronauts have to be extremely smart to know advanced stuff about space physics, advanced flight and so on, so they know what to do in space, specially if there´s a problem up there. And let´s not forget about the extreme conditions of just being in space like being every cold and all that. Being a real astronaut is extremely hard and only for a select few and very different from a person that´is strapped in the back of a rocket that goes up, stays there a few minutes and then goes back to earth. Like schmidtbag said, these guys making headlines aren´t really astronauts but astrotourists os space passengers... Of course science is going to solve some of those issues and make going to space much easier but until then being an astronaut is just for the best.

H83:

And let´s not forget about the extreme conditions of just being in space like being every cold and all that.

The thing about temperature in space is a bit misleading. It's not so much that it's cold, but rather, there is nothing to retain thermal energy; there is no temperature in space. Warm objects will just continue to radiate energy until they reach near absolute 0, because there is no atmosphere and the rest of the cosmos is too far away to add enough heat. That's why the surface of Venus is hotter than Mercury: Mercury's near-non-existent atmosphere allows it to dump heat very quickly, whereas Venus just retains the heat. Spacesuits are also liquid cooled, because a living human generates heat faster than it can be radiated from the suit, especially in a suit meant to be vacuum-tight. It's dangerous to start sweating in a spacesuit, so it's important to keep the astronauts cool. Otherwise, you're absolutely right about the rest of the extreme conditions. In particular, solar radiation, as well as the chance that a piece of sand flying around at thousands of km/h has a good chance of killing you with no warning.

Being a real astronaut is extremely hard and only for a select few and very different from a person that´is strapped in the back of a rocket that goes up, stays there a few minutes and then goes back to earth.

Haha extremely hard is an understatement - the amount of strength, intelligence, discipline, motor skills, mental stability, and fearfulness requirements are basically 1 in a million. All the stories of astronauts/cosmonauts from around the world make you realize how these are no ordinary people.

Of course science is going to solve some of those issues and make going to space much easier but until then being an astronaut is just for the best.

Honestly, with the way things have been with SpaceX, I think a lot of these extreme requirements will be reduced. Even the new spacesuits offer some impressive benefits. I'm not saying it'll reach a point where the average person can be an astronaut (I'm not sure that'll ever happen) but maybe instead of 1 in a million, the requirements will drop to more like 1 in 100,000.

schmidtbag:

The thing about temperature in space is a bit misleading. It's not so much that it's cold, but rather, there is nothing to retain thermal energy; there is no temperature in space. Warm objects will just continue to radiate energy until they reach near absolute 0, because there is no atmosphere and the rest of the cosmos is too far away to add enough heat. That's why the surface of Venus is hotter than Mercury: Mercury's near-non-existent atmosphere allows it to dump heat as quickly as it collects it, whereas Venus just retains the heat. Spacesuits are also liquid cooled, because a living human generates heat faster than it can be radiated from the suit, especially in a suit meant to be vacuum-tight. It's dangerous to start sweating in a spacesuit, so it's important to keep the astronauts cool. Otherwise, you're absolutely right about the rest of the extreme conditions. In particular, solar radiation, as well as the chance that a piece of sand flying around at thousands of km/h has a good chance of killing you with no warning.

You are so cool, I love reading your layman's terms post. quick question!....if Earth's orbit around the sun swapped with Venus orbit....could we live on Venus?...the new 3 rock from the sun? tough questions I know!.. but I need an answer now!...:p

Airbud:

You are so cool, I love reading your layman's terms post. quick question!....if Earth's orbit around the sun swapped with Venus orbit....could we live on Venus?...the new 3 rock from the sun? tough questions I know!.. but I need an answer now!...:p

Nope. Just read the requirements 😉

Airbud:

You are so cool, I love reading your layman's terms post. quick question!....if Earth's orbit around the sun swapped with Venus orbit....could we live on Venus?...the new 3 rock from the sun? tough questions I know!.. but I need an answer now!...:p

Haha I actually realized a small mistake in what I wrote (Mercury dumps it's heat quickly but not as quickly as it collects it, but the dark side of the planet is very cold). Anyway to answer your question, it depends on a lot of things. I think we're assuming here that Earth and Venus will have swapped positions for billions of years because obviously if we were to magically swap their positions today, you'd die on either planet pretty quickly. So getting that out of the way, Venus and Earth are very similar in size, density, and composition, but we wouldn't survive for one simple reason: a single day on Venus is very close to a whole year on Venus (in it's current orbit). Assuming it were to keep its current rotation but swap it's orbit with Earth's, a single day would be equivalent to 225 Earth days. That alone makes Venus inhospitable to us. Of course, the atmosphere isn't breathable either, but that doesn't prevent the possibility of colonization. Mars can have humans on its surface because a day there is coincidentally only a little over a half hour longer than Earth's. So, you don't have to worry about circadian rhythms or being cooked alive. But hypothetically, let's say that the solar system and life began with Venus and Earth swapped. And, let's say days would be a more "normal" (to us) length of time. I figure life could probably exist, but life as we know it (including us) would not. This is because of things like: 1. Venus is covered in volcanoes, which I don't think (I don't know for sure) is related to its proximity to the sun or runaway greenhouse effect. Kinda hard to survive when there's toxic gasses and lava everywhere lol. 2. Venus doesn't have a moon. The moon not only is a good shield for asteroids and meteors, but it controls the tides. A lot of life depends on tides, so it might not have got very far. 3. Venus doesn't have much of a tilt in its axis. I wouldn't say life depends on seasons, but again, we're talking about life as we know it, and a lot of life forms manage to survive because of their adaptations to colder or hotter climates. 4. There is no magnetic field. Without that, solar radiation would likely kill any complex life before it got a chance to evolve. 5. There are no tectonic plates. Those are good at recycling materials deep within the crust (which life needs to survive), and it forced life to diversify in the way that the "disassembly" of Pangea separated life forms via continents. When conditions are unchanging, life doesn't make much progress. There may be more reasons but this is what I can come up with on the spot. It gets complicated because being so much farther from the sun, Venus would be totally different compared to what it is today after 4 billions years, regardless of life forming on it. For example, oceans of water would likely exist, and Venus' atmosphere would probably be much thinner and less acidic. So, maybe some of the problems I mentioned would go away too. It's hard to say for sure, but what can be said with confidence is it would be a totally different world.

LEEc337:

Bet you it wasn't flat

Sure it was. Plenty proof of that. Even actual photo in post above. Get lost nah sayers.

schmidtbag:

Venus and Earth are very similar in size, density, and composition, but we wouldn't survive for one simple reason: a single day on Venus is very close to a whole year on Venus (in it's current orbit). Assuming it were to keep its current rotation but swap it's orbit with Earth's, a single day would be equivalent to 225 Earth days. That alone makes Venus inhospitable to us.

225 Earth days!....That's a slow rotation!....if Earth's rotation was that slow we could all walk west and it would stay morning time all year!....:D Hey man!, you better come inside before it gets dark! Nope!....I'm going to drive over there because it's going to be daylight for another week! 😛

Airbud:

225 Earth days!....That's a slow rotation!....if Earth's rotation was that slow we could all walk west and it would stay morning time all year!....:D Hey man!, you better come inside before it gets dark! Nope!....I'm going to drive over there because it's going to be daylight for another week! 😛

lol actually you'd be walking east, because Venus rotates the opposite direction. And if you wanted to live on such a planet, you'd want to be in dusk all the time, because otherwise you'd be blasted with heat, and that heat would create some pretty strong and hot winds. It'd be pretty miserable, to say the least lol. Just constantly moving with sand endlessly blowing in your face. It would be pretty interesting though, seeing an inferno on one side and then an ice-covered wasteland on the other.

schmidtbag:

lol actually you'd be walking east, because Venus rotates the opposite direction. And if you wanted to live on such a planet, you'd want to be in dusk all the time, because otherwise you'd be blasted with heat, and that heat would create some pretty strong and hot winds. It'd be pretty miserable, to say the least lol. Just constantly moving with sand endlessly blowing in your face. It would be pretty interesting though, seeing an inferno on one side and then an ice-covered wasteland on the other.

Grrrrrr!!!...We could still do it right?....:p love debating with you! Hey bud!....I heard we could go visit the sun we just have to go at night?...your thoughts? sorry, I had too!:D

I get that people have a dislike of William Shatner.....personally I don't … but how many 90 year old's can say they traveled at 2200mph and looked at the Earth from space

The Goose:

I get that people have a dislike of William Shatner.....personally I don't … but how many 90 year old's can say they traveled at 2200mph and looked at the Earth from space

Actually, I think everybody likes him around here?....were just jealous of all the alien women he got with on those other planets...;) Inquiring minds want to know what went on "behind that rock" with that "alien woman" when he went to planet Uranus? How many offspring does William Shatner really have in the universe? https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/2a430604869eadb7e5f92876ced40908e950a787/hub/2020/02/24/eb709c62-2408-4e54-9101-a5449b76d04b/1-trek-ships-feb2020-main-image.jpg?auto=webp&width=1092 fun fact:...Captain Kirk was single....he could party all he wanted to on those planets with them alien women... :D

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/791695571119374336/898692847140757576/245792634_3067650796838843_8296344542260717102_n.jpg

The Goose:

I get that people have a dislike of William Shatner.....personally I don't … but how many 90 year old's can say they traveled at 2200mph and looked at the Earth from space

Yeah I don't think anybody here dislikes him, it's just a bit of a stretch to call him an astronaut.

RealNC:

Hell, even learning how to take a crap in space seems complicated...

You had to spoil it. 😛

@schmidtbag& @Airbud hmm yeah a geolocked plannet is tough most of the plannet is either boiling or freezing ! But if we assume aaaaaall the problems you described are not present and there are ideal material composition for life to exist ( as we know it ) temperature can be ideal on a thin line between the 2 sides where it is constantly late evening . As i was writing this i realized venus is not geolocked it is spinning slowly .... So everything getting slow cooked gyro style ! So if all the problems you described where not there and if venus was locked on it's axis then life would have been possible on a thin stripe ! So pretty much for the 2021 internet this is #lifeonvenusisreal ... everyone knows that hashtag makes everything a fact automatically 😛

schmidtbag:

Yeah I don't think anybody here dislikes him, it's just a bit of a stretch to call him an astronaut.

He is a space tourist.. which in itself is also amazing, who do you know that can say they have been to space as a tourist?

KissSh0t:

He is a space tourist.. which in itself is also amazing, who do you know that can say they have been to space as a tourist?

In the 1900's the wright brothers experimented with flight, 120 years later we have space tourism. It's remarkable.

KissSh0t:

He is a space tourist.. which in itself is also amazing, who do you know that can say they have been to space as a tourist?

Agreed, though, it's more the technology that's impressive rather than he himself, in the sense that we've reached a point where an old man can be flown up into space, without being a burden or having to operate anything. https://img.ifunny.co/images/577d35cd07ccb86b42f6b3130f63b5d9d809e3b9138b69903d6fe8fba7049004_1.jpg