What Drugs Do Astronauts Take? 132
astroengine writes "Science fiction is stuffed full of examples of pill-popping space explorers and aliens enjoying psychedelic highs. After all, space is big; it can get boring/scary/crazy up there. It's little wonder, then, that our current space explorers consume a cocktail of uppers, downers, tranquilizers and alcohol to get the job done. Robert Lamb on tranquilizers in the space station: 'Sure, it hardly makes for a civilized evening aboard ISS, but it beats someone blowing the hatch because they think they saw something crawling on one of the solar panels.'"
ah duct tape.... (Score:5, Interesting)
That ever useful tool. However would we have gone to the stars without it?
Yes, according to a 2007 report from the Associated Press, astronauts keep a few tranqs on hand in case anyone goes all suicidal or psychotic in space. NASA recommends binding the individual's wrists and ankles with duct tape (ever the space traveler's friend!), strapping them down with a bungee cord and, if necessary, sticking them with a tranquilizer.
Has any sci-fi show other than Firefly ever mentioned duct tape?
Blood of Christ? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What did they see crawling? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Hmm... (Score:3, Interesting)
There is almost always more to the truth than what we tell our kids, because of our own moral hangups and personal inadequacies. This is why, once they become teenagers and get their first trickled-down distorted taste of what the real world is actually going to be like, they rebel and hate you. It's the least they owe to the people who have lied to them their entire lives.
Drugs are like cars, or power tools, or guns. They're incredibly useful tools, but if you don't respect them they'll kill you.
And you should never mix them with cars, or power tools, or guns.
Unless you're an astronaut.
Re:ah duct tape.... (Score:4, Interesting)
FWIW, when I was in the [USN] Submarine Service, we were prepared to do the same thing if a crew member went off the rails. (Though the doc had a couple of sets of soft restraints we'd use instead of tape.)
That being said, we did use 'EB Green' (a tape that makes the useless crap falsely sold to John Q public as 'duct tape' look like tissue paper) for a wide variety of things.
Re:ah duct tape.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Currently the only reason my car still goes forward is duct tape holding a crucial sensor in place .... Due to it being a hot place, every few weeks attach a bit more so it's tight and nice again...
Oh and that works better than using the original attachment screws which fell out due to vibration ...
Best of all: This car is being used for snow racing ...
Re:New technical problems on the ISS . . . (Score:2, Interesting)
this actually makes me want to design a gravity independent water pipe specifically for space to ... um. ...determine the absorption and release of a variety of chemicals and their effect on human consciousness in space. perhaps we'll call it the Puff Independent Gravity Smoke System or PIGSS in Space.
Re:Psilocybin Mushrooms (Score:3, Interesting)
No, you weren't shrooming. That's the actual movie.