The pods in 2001 make no sense
- Thread starter Docbrown777
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So, how visionary were the pods on Discovery?
On the ISS today, we have no such pods nor plans to have one. ISS is instead serviced by the SSRMS robot arm, which moves around the station by plugging itself into various ports on its modules, or moving along the spine of the station with a mobile base on rails. Astronauts use the arm to get around as well, attaching to the end of it while an astronaut inside the station moves the arm to where the guy outside can work.
[Currently the only station-based "auxilliary" vessel even planned is a Russian idea to have a space "tug" that would have docked with their next-generation space capsule in lower Earth orbit and essentially towed it up to the station. This would reduce the need for the capsule to carry big orbital maneuvering engines and thus increase the mass that can be carried into orbit. This concept has yet to make it off the drawing boards.]
Assuming the pods on Discovery weren't meant to do planetary investigation work as Clarke wrote (which doesn't make that much sense anyway given their size), had he written the movie's story today he'd probably have used arms to do the work as well. As it stands, the NX-01 Enterprise was supposed to have big robot arms as well, though they weren't seen.
OTOH, the ISS will be testing out a robotic astronaut in the next year or two, which actually resembles a humanoid robot with a head, arms, hands and the whole lot. It is meant to do remote operations with an astronaut (or even someone on Earth) controling it with the usual joysticks or even the classic virtual reality gloves & helmet setup. The plot point of Poole being killed by the pod could easily be modernized by having him go out to investgate the AE35 antenna, getting there with the arm, and being killed by it or a robot on its end.
Mark
On the ISS today, we have no such pods nor plans to have one. ISS is instead serviced by the SSRMS robot arm, which moves around the station by plugging itself into various ports on its modules, or moving along the spine of the station with a mobile base on rails. Astronauts use the arm to get around as well, attaching to the end of it while an astronaut inside the station moves the arm to where the guy outside can work.
[Currently the only station-based "auxilliary" vessel even planned is a Russian idea to have a space "tug" that would have docked with their next-generation space capsule in lower Earth orbit and essentially towed it up to the station. This would reduce the need for the capsule to carry big orbital maneuvering engines and thus increase the mass that can be carried into orbit. This concept has yet to make it off the drawing boards.]
Assuming the pods on Discovery weren't meant to do planetary investigation work as Clarke wrote (which doesn't make that much sense anyway given their size), had he written the movie's story today he'd probably have used arms to do the work as well. As it stands, the NX-01 Enterprise was supposed to have big robot arms as well, though they weren't seen.
OTOH, the ISS will be testing out a robotic astronaut in the next year or two, which actually resembles a humanoid robot with a head, arms, hands and the whole lot. It is meant to do remote operations with an astronaut (or even someone on Earth) controling it with the usual joysticks or even the classic virtual reality gloves & helmet setup. The plot point of Poole being killed by the pod could easily be modernized by having him go out to investgate the AE35 antenna, getting there with the arm, and being killed by it or a robot on its end.
Mark
As you should all be well aware of after such long-tenured memberships here, when you suspect someone is trolling you - or anyone else for that matter - the correct course of action is to notify the moderators. You do NOT make the charges in public like this.
Actually, I didn't suspect anything until the subject came up. And I'm still not sure. There are other posters on here who really are that uninformed.
"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."
"I'm sorry, Dave. I can't do that until the drying cycle is complete, or the clothes will have wrinkles."
"I'm sorry, Dave. I can't do that until the drying cycle is complete, or the clothes will have wrinkles."
You mean the movie? The scene where the wreckage of the fighter is pushed off the deck of the Tiger Claw and falls over the edge?
That's not so bad. The ship's artificial gravity field probably extended a bit farther out.
Remember they were most likely designed to be used in closer proximity to Jupiter (where you have MUCH higher radiation levels, etc. As to why they used a Pod to get to the antena...I didn't see any jet packs built into the 2001 EVA suit; so it was probably faster to use a pod to 'fly' out there, then to crawl across the hull. (Again, just supposition).
"Discovery's extravehicular capsules or 'space pods' were spheres about nine feet in diameter, and the operator sat behind a bay window which gave him a splendid view. The main rocket drive produced an acceleration of one-fifth of a gravity--just sufficient to hover on the Moon--while small attitude-control nozzels allowed for steering. From an area immediately beneath the bay window sprouted two sets of articulated metal arms or 'waldoes,' one for heavy duty, the other for delicate manipulation. There was also an extensible turret carrying a variety of power tools, such as screwdrivers, jack-hammers, saws, and drills."
So, it looks like they weren't *really* designed for microgravity; they were designed for Lunar gravity. They were probably just pulled as "off the shelf" technology for the Discovery mission. That would also explain why they don't really have docking ports: it's hard enough to dock something by making sure your attitude as correct and your Delta-V is correct. I can't imagine trying to do all that while simultaneously fighting gravity. In fact, all the other ships we saw didn't have docks with airlocks. It's also hard to slide in and out of some kind of docking tunnel when you are in gravity. I can see why the moon pods (er, "space" pods) weren't designed for docking ports. Those are for weightlessnes. In fact, the Aries and the Moon Bus seemed to need some kind of garage--just like the space pods needed.
So, it looks like they weren't *really* designed for microgravity; they were designed for Lunar gravity. They were probably just pulled as "off the shelf" technology for the Discovery mission. That would also explain why they don't really have docking ports: it's hard enough to dock something by making sure your attitude as correct and your Delta-V is correct. I can't imagine trying to do all that while simultaneously fighting gravity. In fact, all the other ships we saw didn't have docks with airlocks. It's also hard to slide in and out of some kind of docking tunnel when you are in gravity. I can see why the moon pods (er, "space" pods) weren't designed for docking ports. Those are for weightlessnes. In fact, the Aries and the Moon Bus seemed to need some kind of garage--just like the space pods needed.
I'm not uniformed stop with the insults.
Oh, I doubt they were ever intended for the Moon - I'm sure that was just a comparative description of the their delta-V. Those things couldn't possibley have carried enough fuel for any prolonged use dirtside on the Moon. I'm sure they were always intended as orbital and deep space utility vehicles. An advancement on the 1950s bottle-suit design.
When Stargazer Models put out their cargo version of the Orion, they included one for satellite deployment:
http://www.inpayne.com/models/stargazer-orion2a.html
When Stargazer Models put out their cargo version of the Orion, they included one for satellite deployment:
http://www.inpayne.com/models/stargazer-orion2a.html
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