# Space 1999 - bad science? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209 "2009-10-26T19:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/21 "2009-10-27T13:38:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > So I tried that. then I saw a scene where one crewman\* goes space-crazy and assaults a port with his helmet, coming close to breaking it, and they are all saved only by his fellows restraining him. > > …and at that point I turned the show off and never watched it again. > I mean, I couldn’t take a motorcycle helmet, bash it against one of the ports on the Great Tank at the Boston aquarium and have a reasonable hope of breaking the glass. You’d figure that a viewport between atmospheric pressure and vacuum on the moon would be at least as sturdy. Wouldn’t the port only have to be strong enough to resist…one atmosphere? 14.7 psi? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/22 "2009-10-27T13:42:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Wouldn’t the port only have to be strong enough to resist…one atmosphere? 14.7 psi? If I had a port that was the only thing standing between me and explosive decompression you can be certain that I’d build it strong enough to withstand anything likely to fall against or hit it. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/23 "2009-10-27T14:10:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If I had a port that was the only thing standing between me and explosive decompression you can be certain that I’d build it strong enough to withstand anything likely to fall against or hit it. And you’d do this on a Gov’t funded budget? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/24 "2009-10-27T15:22:48Z")
> [@](#): > > And you’d do this on a Gov’t funded budget? Yeah, and even with the costs of transportation to the moon (although I’d think thayt glass is one of those things you can use local materials for). Safety first, folks. Especially when that was a BIG freakin’ window i n a big freakin’ room. Either make a rugged window in a case like that, or a small, well-supported and hard-to-crack window, or (better yet) no window at all. A big picture window is already a show0-off window that has no business being in (if this is indeed the case) a porrly-funded government project. Actually, the accommodations, as in most TV sci-fi, looked palatial. Monery doesn’t seem to have been an object. In which case, \* build a safe window\*. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/25 "2009-10-27T15:27:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > So I tried that. then I saw a scene where one crewman\* goes space-crazy and assaults a port with his helmet, coming close to breaking it, and they are all saved only by his fellows restraining him. > > …and at that point I turned the show off and never watched it again. > p. If a somewhat weaker than it should (or even just might) be port/window sets you off that much, I don’t know how in the world you could possibly enjoy 99 percent of the rest of the mainstream sci fi out there. If I wuz a port injurneer with a tight mass and money budget, I can forsee forgoing the crazy guy beats the shit out it with a helmet test. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/26 "2009-10-27T15:33:22Z")
> [@](#): > > If a somewhat weaker than it should (or even just might) be port/window sets you off that much, I don’t know how in the world you could possibly enjoy 99 percent of the rest of the mainstream sci fi out there. It set me off because it was thoroughly unnecessary stupidity, showing that they put zero thought into the damned series. There was no excuse for that huge and easily damaged window to be there except to be broken. There was no point to breaking it except to show that there was vacuum out there. If you wanted to show that the crew was under stress and that there was a danger from vacuum there were lots of other ways to do it besides such a contrived and ultimately stupid set-up. If they couldn’t be bothered to come up with a better way to dramatize the situation than the already-cliche Crazy Spaceman Threatens Us All (See _Conquest of Space_, and others), then I couldn’t be bothered to watch. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/27 "2009-10-27T15:35:45Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Wouldn’t the port only have to be strong enough to resist…one atmosphere? 14.7 psi? Obligatory _Futurama_ reference. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/28 "2009-10-27T15:37:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If they couldn’t be bothered to come up with a better way to dramatize the situation than the already-cliche Crazy Spaceman Threatens Us All (See _Conquest of Space_, and others), then I couldn’t be bothered to watch. Careful there Cal, you may be exceeding your own pressure design specs there 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/29 "2009-10-27T15:38:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I mean, I couldn’t take a motorcycle helmet, bash it against one of the ports on the Great Tank at the Boston aquarium and have a reasonable hope of breaking the glass. You’d figure that a viewport between atmospheric pressure and vacuum on the moon would be at least as sturdy. What if it’s not a depiction of a weak viewport, but of vast improvements in helmet strength late-twentieth-century science developed in response to Ralph Nader’s safety initiatives? Maybe the helmets are _just that good._ ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/30 "2009-10-27T15:43:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It set me off because it was thoroughly unnecessary stupidity, showing that they put zero thought into the damned series. There was no excuse for that huge and easily damaged window to be there except to be broken. Do the _Star Trek_ eps where the ship gets taken over by like 3 people bother you? Or where Klingons stumble onto classified info just idly displaying on a monitor in the engineering room? Or where there’s another holodeck incident? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/31 "2009-10-27T15:47:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Do the Star Trek eps where the ship gets taken over by like 3 people bother you? Or where Klingons stumble onto classified info just idly displaying on a monitor in the engineering room? Or where there’s another holodeck incident? Do the Star Trek eps where the ship gets taken over by like 3 people bother you? Or where Klingons stumble onto classified info just idly displaying on a monitor in the engineering room? Or where there’s another holodeck incident? All the time. I think it’s why I stopped watching Next Gen. No – that was because they kept remaking plots from the original series. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/32 "2009-10-27T15:57:20Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > What if it’s not a depiction of a weak viewport, but of vast improvements in helmet strength late-twentieth-century science developed in response to Ralph Nader’s safety initiatives? Maybe the helmets are _just that good._ Funny. But think about it. When was this series made? How many common folks knew about shit like lexan? To the common man, windows have always been a weak link. I dont recall this specific episode, but if it was a big window on the base it still served a possible purpose. People would probably WANT at least one big assed window to look out through once in awhile, even if it was just that damn ugly moon surface. Hell, maybe the reason the guy went crazy is because there werent enough of em in the first place 🙂 Human “wants” cause many an engineering compromise. Doesnt make em “wrong”. Certainly doesnt make em dipshit stupid IMO. Maybe the window was in the cafeteria, where the biggest real danger to the window were exploding mashed potatoes in the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/33 "2009-10-27T16:09:20Z")
But what if a guy pushing a cart full of trays wasn’t looking where he was going, or was horsing around, and accidentally crashed into the window? Shit like that happens all the time. Even in the 70s the windows on skyscrapers were tough enough that you couldn’t smash one open with your head, no matter how hard you tried. Plus, there are micrometeors on the Moon all the time. Your window has got to be tough enough to withstand bullets or it’s a deathtrap. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/34 "2009-10-27T16:10:09Z")
There were windows all over the base. I did watch the series about a year ago so remember quit a bit. Many of the electronic panels and monitors were painted in. The set was very low tech in reality. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/35 "2009-10-27T16:14:03Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Even in the 70s the windows on skyscrapers were tough enough that you couldn’t smash one open with your head, no matter how hard you tried. Darwin awards. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/36 "2009-10-27T16:18:36Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Even in the 70s the windows on skyscrapers were tough enough that you couldn’t smash one open with your head, no matter how hard you tried. [Well, if you get your shoulder into it…](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/window.asp) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/37 "2009-10-27T16:22:12Z")
This “Helmet Bashing the Window In” scene, I want to point out, was in the _Pilot Episode_ – the one where you set up not only the basic situation and introduce your characters, but also where you set the basic tone for the series. You pull out all the stops, pay extra for special effects, and take care to set the mood and feel in the pilot. To have this idiocy in the pilot was what really annoyed me. And this was a decade after Apollo. People knew about tough plastics and the Vacuum of Space – it’s not as if you had to spell it out for them. Fer cryin’ out loud, the original **Star Trek** , which had arguably more of a right to do so (it was pre-Apollo!) never stooped to cracking spaceports to emphasize the danger of vacuum. Star Trek did, however, show lots of everyday crew activities and bits of business in the background to give the idea of a working spaceship – read David Gerrold’s **The World of Star Trek** , or pay close attention to the earlier episodes. when they were hard up for a story, and resorted to a handful of aliens ytaking over the ship, or yet another damned problem with the Holodeck (In the interest of the crew’s sanity and the ship’s safety., I’d have torched it, myself, were I captain) I could cut them some slack, saying they were under pressure to get the episodes out. At least they weren’t doing it for the pilot, or even the first episode of the season. I think we’re drifting into Cafe Society territory here. The mere existence of that oversized dangerous window is Bad Science, or at least Bad Engineering, but the reasons for it being there are artistic (or inartistic). ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/38 "2009-10-27T16:39:52Z")
So the episode where they land on a planet and turn into neanderthals isn’t serious science? They walk into an area and they change into neanderthals. They walk out of the area and they turn back into their prior selves.🙂 I suppose next the killer energy being released during a seance wasn’t possible. Like I said earlier. > [@](#): > > The whole show was full of bad science, but most wasn’t really science as much as the perceived science of an imaginative hippie on drugs ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/39 "2009-10-27T16:45:45Z")
I remember that window scene…“Commander I have got to get out of here,… **NOW** ”! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209/40 "2009-10-27T16:47:40Z")
> [@](#): > > So the episode where they land on a planet and turn into neanderthals isn’t serious science? Ummmm …is this directed at me? If so, I don’t get it. If not, never mind, move along. Nothing to see here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-1999-bad-science/515209.md?page=3)