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Poll

What would YOU expect in ECT-101's first class cabin?

Personal video screens.
- 10 (5%)
Lay-flat seats.
- 11 (5.4%)
Mini wet-bar.
- 9 (4.5%)
Wi-Fi/Internet Connection.
- 22 (10.9%)
Great Food.
- 7 (3.5%)
Wait, this flight will last what, 30 minutes?
- 27 (13.4%)
Barf bags.
- 11 (5.4%)
COOKIES!
- 2 (1%)
WAFFLES!
- 12 (5.9%)
Emergency EVA suits.
- 18 (8.9%)
Space Toilets.
- 10 (5%)
Space Sleeping Bags.
- 1 (0.5%)
Space Pillows.
- 4 (2%)
Space Space!
- 6 (3%)
Tethers for Null-G "bumps".
- 7 (3.5%)
Duct Tape for AnthroPC's.
- 13 (6.4%)
Richard Branson sitting next to you.
- 8 (4%)
Winslow sitting next to you.
- 5 (2.5%)
Something COMPLETELY Different.
- 10 (5%)
Gravity Dampeners.
- 9 (4.5%)

Total Members Voted: 69


Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6   Go Down

Author Topic: WCDT 2106-2110 (January 23-27, 2012) - QC IN SPAAAAAACE!!!  (Read 49980 times)

jwhouk

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Early start to the thread due to Jeph returning from NZ and me probably unable to start the thread tomorrow afternoon.

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Milesb

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I found picking just one of those really  hard. =(
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gprimr1

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I wonder if they have a space elevator or if we'll see them riding on a rocket/space shuttle.
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jwhouk

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I really should have made it a multiple-choice poll, but clicked it before I could change it.
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"Character is what you are in the Dark." - D.L. Moody
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FunkyTuba

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count me in the half of Jeph's readers who think that this silly story line is going to TOTALLY ROCK ASS!~
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kajiura fan

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I wonder if the first couple of strips will involve just the trip up to the space station.

Fun times with zero gravity! Woo!
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Kugai

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I wonder if they have a space elevator or if we'll see them riding on a rocket/space shuttle.

Ring Transporter
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James The Kugai 

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I can make the poll multiple choice, but I don't know what will happen to the existing votes. Want me to go ahead? How many options would you like per voter?
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Skewbrow

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I voted for the mandatory view of Earth. As the station is on a low orbit you would only see a tiny fraction of the Earth's surface from a window. Of course, HannerDad may have a panoramic view from his living room, but even then you would need a fish-eye lense to fit all of Earth into a single pic. This image gives an idea of the scale.

But some toon physics will probably also be seen. Doesn't matter (much).
« Last Edit: 22 Jan 2012, 02:41 by Skewbrow »
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QC  - entertaining you with regular shots in the butt since 2003.

Method of Madness

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I changed it to 3 votes, with the option to change your vote for the people who'd already voted while it was single vote.  The votes were not reset.  Sound good?
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DrPhibes

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Very, Voted the 1st, 3rd and 4th option :X

Anyway, I think Padma will be at the airport. OFCOURSE SHE WILL BE AT THE AIRPORT!

It's gonna be a scene!
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cesariojpn

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I have to wonder if Hanners might be embellishing the truth abit.

Lemme throw this curve ball: HannerDad does live in a "space station." However, it's a special mockup of a "space station" in some warehouse in New Jersey. It would sorta explain why Hanners is OCD in cleaning; a "space station' would offer a clean environment to a serious OCD person, with heavy filtration systems, orderly organization, and so forth. 

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ZBixby

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I have to wonder if Hanners might be embellishing the truth abit.

Lemme throw this curve ball: HannerDad does live in a "space station." However, it's a special mockup of a "space station" in some warehouse in New Jersey. It would sorta explain why Hanners is OCD in cleaning; a "space station' would offer a clean environment to a serious OCD person, with heavy filtration systems, orderly organization, and so forth. 




Honestly this is pretty rational in thought, even in QCs alternate universe it would still be quite expensive to send 2 people who have no experience or training into space. The special mockup would make a whole bunch of sense, however I'm sure if they are going to space than I'm sure Jeph will have a good explanation as to how it will work.
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TinPenguin

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What we haven't been told is that by "short notice", Hanners means they'll only have to do 12 months of intensive training first, for his birthday NEXT year...  :-D
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TinPenguin

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Couldn't they just hitch a ride on the space owls?

Or take a leaf out of Doctor Dolittle's book and fly there on the back of a giant moth.
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DSL

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Owls are only good for light strike missions on federal agents who are afraid of coffee shop owners. They don't have the heavy-lift capacity.

We had some fun in an earlier thread talking about space elevators, I think.
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Mr_Rose

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Experience is an issue for everyone who hasn't been to space before and the only way to get it is to go so it's kind of a wash. Training, though, is an interesting issue; most astronaut training is in spacecraft operations so you can skip a hell of a lot of it if you expect people to just be passengers and not push buttons. Still, though, they will need to know what to expect from low or microgravity and especially how to move and more importantly stop in freefall.
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Is it cold in here?

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Marigold will want to invite Momo, who would invite herself except for the social protocol database.

In which case, it will be very difficult to stop Marten from bring his own AnthroPC.

I don't want to think about that too much.
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It would be very difficult if Marten wanted to bring Pintsize.
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They call me Mr. Madness.

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Does anybody really know what time it is?
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cesariojpn

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I have to wonder if Hanners might be embellishing the truth abit.

Lemme throw this curve ball: HannerDad does live in a "space station." However, it's a special mockup of a "space station" in some warehouse in New Jersey. It would sorta explain why Hanners is OCD in cleaning; a "space station' would offer a clean environment to a serious OCD person, with heavy filtration systems, orderly organization, and so forth. 




Honestly this is pretty rational in thought, even in QCs alternate universe it would still be quite expensive to send 2 people who have no experience or training into space. The special mockup would make a whole bunch of sense, however I'm sure if they are going to space than I'm sure Jeph will have a good explanation as to how it will work.

I base my speculation on the fact that we have several analogues here on earth already.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARS-500
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2
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Omega Entity

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I don't think cost would be an issue, actually. From what's to be understood, Hanner's dad is wealthy as all getout, if he can afford to have his own space station.

On the suggestion of it being in a warehouse somewhere, Hanners would have to be unaware of it. She points the station out overhead to Sven on their date here: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1768
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Is it cold in here?

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Didn't Jeph say something about Hannelore being in space and being crazy instead of going to college? I can't find it in his Tumblr.
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Kugai

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He owns a Raptor


The Station is actually the Galactica.
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James The Kugai 

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DSL

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So would HannerDad be Adama, Lee, Tigh, Doc Cottle or "No more Mr.Nice Gaius" Baltar?
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Stoutfellow

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That's "Doctor Nice Gaius".
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jwhouk

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I changed it to 3 votes, with the option to change your vote for the people who'd already voted while it was single vote.  The votes were not reset.  Sound good?

Sounds good.
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They do sound fun!  Also, I love when Jeph draws someone mid-drop.  I'm not quite sure why, it just gets to me.
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WAYF

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I picked the never-seeing-Hannerdad angle. Cause so far this storyline is sorely missing a pitfall. And in QC, there's always about two pitfalls.
In the Tai's Party arc, Dora went on a date (before showing up to the party anyway), and then Tai was too shy (or perhaps wise) to be as forward as she might have been.
When Steve started going out with Cosette, they got interrupted at inopportune moments, twice. On the same night.
Doing battle with the VespAvenger, Marten tried and rather comically failed to do anything useful, despite his efforts.
Sven did manage to take Hannelore on a date without anything untoward happening... unless you count managing to say the exact wrong thing to her, twice.
When Dora and Marten first got together, Dora spent much of the next day worrying about how she had hurt Faye.
Marigold trying to deal with her feelings for Angus took a very long time, with many a faux-pas and awkward situation along the way.


What I'm trying to say here is that I think deliberately making things not that easy is a large part of Jeph's writing style, and I'm kind of nervous about what the pitfalls will be here. Especially if it leads to disappointment regarding the whole "Spaaaaaaaace!!" aspect of the arc, which I wouldn't put past him. :psy:

EDIT- Oh, and I can guess from the comic that just appeared that this week will not actually be about going to space: it'll be about everyone talking about how lucky Marten and Marigold are for having the opportunity to go to space. :P
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celticgeek

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The book Packing For Mars has some material on sex in zero gravity conditions.
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Kugai

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Hmmmmm

If this keeps up, they'll need a Federation Shuttle to take everyone up.  :D





@Jeph, I don't think any of the current and previous Astronauts being able to answer your question in either the positive or negative as NASA, ESA and the Russian Space Agency actively discourage such 'Experimentation' in that direction.
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James The Kugai 

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Really? Spoilsports. Though I'm sure there's actually a good reason for it.  :-P

I'm kinda surprised Tai just believes Marten's excuse. I guess in the QC-verse space travel is much easier than it is for us. I mean, obviously since Hannerdad lives there, but I thought he was just an exception for being a filthy-rich genius.
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akronnick

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I wonder how many of the Apollo Command Module Pilots experimented with zero-g self gratification while orbiting the far side of the Moon all by themselves, completely cut off from all of humanity...


It's really the only way to be sure you won't be interrupted!
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ilikefishfood

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Well the 'trajectory' (pun intended) of this conversation sent me scrambling to find out all I could about having sex in space.  

If you're curious too, these are the best two articles I could come up with *cough* HERE and HERE.
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0kamisama

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I'm guessing HannerDad might be a cross between Christopher Lloyd and Richard Branson.

No, not 'Back to the Future' Christopher Lloyd, more along the lines of 'Suburban Commando' ("I WAS FROZEN TODAY!") Christopher Lloyd. Doc Brown had some light hearted moments, and had a soft spots for friends and loved ones deep down. HannerDad has shown to be more focused on his work more than much else in his life.
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gopher

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Really? Spoilsports. Though I'm sure there's actually a good reason for it.  :-P

Zero-G sperm. It would get everywhere.
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akronnick

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Two words: Flesh. Light.
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Akronnick, I can think of no more appropriate steed for a Knight Of The Dickbroom than a foul-mouthed, perpetually shouting, lust-crazed bird with a scrotum hanging from its chin and a distinctive cry of "Gobble gobble gobble".   --Tergon

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Based on Tai's reaction, maybe space travel is readily available to civilians, just not common.

I'm curious about zero-g sexy shenanigans now. I was before but even more so now.

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So would HannerDad be Adama, Lee, Tigh, Doc Cottle or "No more Mr.Nice Gaius" Baltar?

Of the characters, Baltar.  I mean Hannerdad is a scientist, the others are military men.
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ZBixby

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Is it just me or is Marten's shirt gradually turning less blue and more light greyish? Maybe a good example of how old it is and how much it has been washed?
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DSL

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So would HannerDad be Adama, Lee, Tigh, Doc Cottle or "No more Mr.Nice Gaius" Baltar?

Of the characters, Baltar.  I mean Hannerdad is a scientist, the others are military men.

And Doc Cottle wouldn't abandon a daughter, I think.

Imagining the kind of dad Baltar would be would make me respect Hanners considerably and maybe have a little sympathy for Beatrice. Unless she's a Six.
QCSix?
 "Are you alive? Not that I give a sh!t."
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DSL

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Well the 'trajectory' (pun intended) of this conversation sent me scrambling to find out all I could about having sex in space.  

If you're curious too, these are the best two articles I could come up with *cough* HERE and HERE.

There's this as well.
Also, I highly recommend astronaut Mike Mullane's book "Riding Rockets." His idea of The Right Stuff is much different from that of Tom Wolfe. Mullane's book and Mike Collins's "Carrying the Fire" are, for my money, the best of the astronaut memoirs. (Collins was one of the guys all by his lonesome on the far side of the moon. He addresses the topic at, er, hand in another book, "Liftoff!")
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jwhouk

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Is it just me or is Marten's shirt gradually turning less blue and more light greyish? Maybe a good example of how old it is and how much it has been washed?

Well, it is approximately six to eight years old, depending on how long you believe has elapsed since strip #1.
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gopher

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As for preparation/training Virgin Galactic say they will be doing 3 days of training for anyone on their flights.

http://www.virgingalactic.com/overview/training/
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Our space travellers are tweeting about their packing.

In which we learn:

Marten has only one pair of shoes
Marigold has only one pair of socks (j/k)
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I love the title of today's comic.

I bet there are some astronauts who can confirm it. I mean, sure, NASA claims that no one has ever had sex in space, but even if they are telling the truth, surely someone has made out in space. I mean, you're in incredibly close quarters for weeks at a time -- you're either gonna make out or kill each other. And, so far, no one has been murdered in space (that we know of).
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Interlude

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Tai probably knows that Hannelore's dad lives in space, so you can't really judge how common space travel is for the common citizen based on her reaction.

I'm excited about this story arc. Even if there are "pitfalls," I think it will have a lot of fun moments! And it's good to see Marten not being too mopey. Plus more Hannelore. It's been a while since we've really focused on characters other than Marten and Padma. Yay!
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Precipice

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Well the 'trajectory' (pun intended) of this conversation sent me scrambling to find out all I could about having sex in space.  

If you're curious too, these are the best two articles I could come up with *cough* HERE and HERE.

There's this as well.

And this filk song.

(EDIT:) And this one.
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Carl-E

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I'm guessing HannerDad might be a cross between Christopher Lloyd and Richard Branson.

No, not 'Back to the Future' Christopher Lloyd, more along the lines of 'Suburban Commando' ("I WAS FROZEN TODAY!") Christopher Lloyd. Doc Brown had some light hearted moments, and had a soft spots for friends and loved ones deep down. HannerDad has shown to be more focused on his work more than much else in his life.

For some reason I'm thinking Dr. Lizardo from Buckaroo Banzai...
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TinPenguin

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Our space travellers are tweeting about their packing.

In which we learn:

Marten has only one pair of shoes
Marigold has only one pair of socks (j/k)

It's always hilarious reading the character tweets, but slightly odd because it is so easy to forget they aren't real and it's all just Jeph. Either Jeph is amazing at creating realistic characters and interaction, or he's a raving schizo.
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