Think about how FEW humans get the chance to go into space, and what a tremendous honor it is, or should be.
I know that no matter who is chosen, there would never be universal consensus that that person is a gifted enough artist to deserve such an honor. But c’mon. Lance Bass?
Here’s an idea. How about Keith Richards?
Hear me out. First of all, the man is indestructable. He won’t need any training, nothing as wimpy as g-forces can hurt him. He just needs to be told “don’t touch anything.” He’ll be able to do a space walk without a suit for Christ’s sake. Think of the money saved!
And as far as being worthy, the man came up with the riff for “Satisfaction”. Case closed, my friends. If that riff never fell out of that man head, it is hard to imagine what the world of rock would be like today. I’ll bet the best selling music would be manufactured “rock” sung by pretty-boy pubescent boys hand-chosen by how quickly they bend over a casting c… Uh, never mind.
OK, maybe Keith isn’t your cup of tea. How about David Bowie? He already played a space man in “The Man Who Fell To Earth”, that should knock a few months training off his schedule. And due to wise investments and money handling, he is literally worth about half a billion dollars. If he likes it in space, maybe he’ll shell out some of his own bucks behind space exploration. He can start his own Mars colony, where it will be legal for him to be married to both Iman and Mick Jagger at the same time.
I know some people want Lance Bass to go into space, on the off chance he might “N’cinerate” on the way down. What do you people think, they couldn’t just replace him in an afternoon? That would solve nothing. Worst case scenario for the corporation that spawned him is that they have to pull another clone out of the nutrient vats.
OH MY SIDE! HAHAHAHHAHAHAH Jokes about boy bands…HAHAHAH You hate boy bands…I get it…
N Cinerate! HAHAHAH…get it? Because it sounds like N Sync? OH HAHAHHAAAAA
Clones! hilarious!
Lance Bass is paying for this trip with his own money. It’s something he’s always wanted to do. If I had the money to do whatever I wanted, you can be god damn sure I’d do it.
Besides, last time they shot a civilian into space, we lost a damn good teacher. If we’re going to risk an artist, I’m glad it’s one of the more expendable ones.
I can’t think of an artist (if that’s what he can be called) that is more expendable, maybe the Russians can do us a favor and leave him at the space-station, or blow up the ship. Serves him right for all the NSYNC crap music, I’ve had to endure.
Seriously, what pisses y’all off so much about this guy that you’d call him expendable and wish for his death? Are you angry because he bought his way into space or are you angry that he’s in a band you don’t like? This thread belongs in the Pit.
Well, personally, I don’t think that anyone should be able to buy their way into space (at least not yet). I believe that only people who have a reason to be there, other than whim, should get to go.
Having said that, I think that, as the person who has done more for the public image of the space program than anyone since, say, Neil Armstrong, Tom Hanks definitely deserves a free ride on the space shuttle. If he wants one.
It’s called a “joke”. Believe it or not, I don’t actually wish him dead.
If that last part offends you all so much, ignore it. I was trying to spark a discussion of what artists you think might deserve the honor of being an astronaut, which I should have made more explicit.
Well, I was laughing and making my own jokes the whole time until I got to Mgibson’s post. He kind of jerked me back to reality.
This guy is one lucky son of a gun. If I had the cash, you know I’d have beaten him there. To be fair, we really can’t be angry at him for living a dream that most of us have.
Hah, who am I kidding? That’s all the more reason to be angry at him! hahaha
I’m certainly not the #1 party pooper here on the boards. There were just so many of those “jokes” that I couldn’t help but notice the overwhelming negativity.
I don’t think any artist deserves the honor of being an astronaut. If NASA ever decides to send a civilian into space again I hope they send another teacher.
The space program is fairly quite costly so why not have tourist help out with the budget? NASA didn’t seem to have a problem with sending up a civilian on the Challenger. What reason did she have to be there?
I really don’t undestand why Hanks deserves a free ride just for making a movie and producing a mini-series on HBO but to each his own. I might be mistaken but I thought Lance was going up through the Russian space program.
Considering the dinky music Lance Bass & Co. make, his hitching a ride with the dinky Russian space program seems like a perfect fit. Spam in a can, anyone?
Let the punk buy his way into space, think of the jokes we can make if he one day files for bankruptcy when the money runs out.
If he does die trying this, will he make it into the Guiness Book of World Records for “most expensive case of death by misadventure”?
(1) Unless something has changed in the last couple months, Bass is going up to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz rocket. In other words, the U.S. space program wouldn’t take his money, but Russia would. Considering the $20 million price tag, I would say that’s NASA’s loss, no?
(2) He’s not exactly the first civilian to take the trip. Mark Shuttleworth was the first to go successfully, followed by Dennis Tito.
(3) What’s wrong with civilians in space, as long as they’re aware of the risks and go through the training required? If he’s got the money and endures the training, I say go for it. There are worse ways for American pop stars to spend their money… many of them go up their nose (Keith Richards, anyone?)
Bear in mind, I’m no fan of N’Sync or Lance Bass, but I don’t see a problem with him fulfilling this particular dream, except for the fact that I’m jealous as Hell.
Unfortunately for him, I just did a little research and found that he’s having a little trouble getting the money to Russia for some reason… N’SYNC singer given space deadline
I don’t want to turn this into a pit thread but,
The fact that hes going into space really annoys me. Sure we all wish for the day when anyone can go into space, by why the hell are they starting with a member of a manufactured boy band? This is a slap in the face to peoples dreams. Its saying to only way your getting into space is if people know who you are and if you have a lot of money. Fer christ sake do you want your grand kids to read in their school text book that the second civilian in space was a pop star no one even remembers? Do you want them to read that you can just buy your way into the space program? Its just stupid! They should be sending average people that have been trained into space. They should just pick random qualified people and give them a chance to fly up in a shuttle. Not people with 40 million a year incomes. At least then you could see that anyone can live their dream to leave the atomosphere. Not just rich kids. Ok I respect that this is Lance’s dream but it shows that the space program has no integrity. And since most of us will never have 20 million to go into space it just says (to me at least) that without a lot of money a trip to space is impossible. I understand that its an expensive process. But I still don’t like it.
Really? Why not? A artist would be able to produce a book or a poem or a piece of music that would provide a perspective on the experience for us earthbound that the accounts of the more scienctifically minded astronautes might lack.
Sending a real artist (no offence to Mr. Bass, who I think is clearly more of an entertainer-well he doesn’t entertain me, but I have no doubthe’s very talented if you like that sort of thing) would have a lot of benefits for the rest of us. Much like sending a teacher. There are probably many people we could give the experience to who would in turn enrich the whole world. That’s why it’s so depressing it’s being given to the guy with the bucks.
Arthur C. Clarke, Ron Howard, and Francis Ford Coppola were all able to provide us with a perspective on experiencing space without actually going out there themselves. Which artist is worthy of going into space?
I’m not really convinced sending any civilian who isn’t engaged in research or part of the crew will enrich humanity. The only reason I think NASA should send a teacher is because their last attempt failed miserably and it would be nice to acomplish what they set out to do.
By the way, Lance isn’t being “given” the opportunity to go into space he has purchased the chance. It isn’t as if he’s getting something for simply existing.
Quite frankly, I’m not depressed by it, but encouraged. The Russians selling space trips means that they’re kicking off the new century with a clear commitment to capitalism. Hooray!
