Mar07
Training for suborbital spaceflight – needed or not?
on March 7, 2013 at 6:42 amPosted In: DIY space, Space participation
Kristian von Bengtson of Copenhagen Suborbitals is skeptical of the need for specialize training for people going on suborbital space flights: Why Training for a Suborbital Spaceflight is Just another Great Story at the Local Chesterfield Club – Wired Science/Wired.com.
I’ll note that there have usually been three reasons given for suborbital spaceflight training such as that provided at NASTAR Center:
- To insure that those with potential health issues, e.g. advanced age and cardiovascular problems, can do the flight safely
- To allow suborbital spaceflight ticket holders to practice the zero-g phase with parabolic flights so they can maximize their enjoyment during the five minutes at the apogee of their flight.
- To include training as part of the whole experience of the spaceflight, which is very expensive at this early stage.
These all seem perfectly reasonable to me and I expect training to remain a part of suborbital adventure spaceflights even if its true that most people would survive a suborbital space flight without it.
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If I was shelling out $100k for the flight, spending an additional $5k in order to ensure #2 would be a no brainer!
I can’t imagine doing the flight, this big deal, without a ramp up. Training should be a great deal of fun and part of the anticipation of an expensive adventure. All the preps leading up to the final thing would be tremendously useful to squeeze every last bit of joy from the peak experience. I wouldn’t want to be going “wow! zero-g” when I should be going “AAAAHHHHHHH – THE EARTH! SPACE!”
So it looks like we’re really talking about two different senses of “training”:
1. A part of the overall suborbital spaceflight product intended to expand and enhance the customer experience.
2. A functionally necessary qualification for participation in suborbital spaceflight.
No. 1 seems obviously valuable and prudent, not only for “tourists,” but also for researchers and others who want to participate in spaceflight for reasons other than personal pleasure; No. 2, aside from some minimal screening for relevant medical conditions and a simple briefing on inflight safety measures, seems far less likely to be worthwhile. Basically, it’s hard to see why spaceflight passengers ought to need any more “training” than air transport passengers do.