Re: Space Access Update #112 9/19/05

henry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Henry Spencer) wrote:

:In article <so3pl1990fo6fp37lh7e0udvv2bac0id59@xxxxxxx>,
:Fred J. McCall <fmccall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
:>:...Our current design accommodates
:>:eight passengers--plus pilot, co-pilot and attendant--...
:>
:>What does the attendant do (other than point out where to find the
:>barf bags)?
:
:The same thing the flight attendants do on an airliner. Hint: they're
:*NOT* there to serve drinks; that's just the airline making a virtue of
:necessity, getting some productive use out of people who are required to
:be there regardless.
:
:The airliner flight attendants' primary job -- the reason why the FAA
:requires a certain minimum number of them for an aircraft of a given
:capacity -- is to help get the passengers out in an emergency.

True in the rules, but how true in reality? Why isn't there a
physical lift requirement, like for firemen? I just don't see a 90
pound female flight attendant getting a 300 pound passenger out.

Now translate this to a spacecraft. So the flight attendant is there
to help you get out in an emergency? Unless you're going to have a
lot of very heavy equipment, you're toast in an emergency that
requires abandoning the vehicle. It'd be better to provide a priest
to administer Last Rites.

:>:The cargo version has only one pilot plus about 1500 kg...
:>
:>Why do you need a pilot on this one?
:
:For the same reason there are pilot(s) on cargo aircraft: it increases
:the probability that the cargo and the aircraft will get there intact.

But having a pilot doesn't eat up a significant portion of the cargo
capacity of a 747. It does on a typical spacecraft, both because the
equipment to keep the pilot alive weighs more than it does in an
airplane and because we're not talking about something with the cargo
capacity of your typical cargo aircraft.

The same argument can presumably be raised for ANY spacecraft if it
applies to this one, so is there a case for all satellite launches to
be done on manned vehicles?

--
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to
live in the real world." -- Mary Shafer, NASA Dryden
.

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