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Von Braun Class Station

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Re: Von Braun Class Station

#71

Post by friendlybus »

ahelwer wrote: post #3

Maybe we should stop naming things after a man who was not only a nazi, but a uniform-wearing member of the SS? A future-looking project should leave such things in the past.

There's a certain lack of credibility in this complaint when the space race and a great source of global unity was found in the moon landing off the back of the Saturn V. The Americans had the choice to erase werner von braun from significance and instead chose to benefit on a grand scale from his slave-built knowledge.

You're right Von Braun is part of the past now. He's apart of the Usa's past. It's difficult to hear complaints about his nazi past, long after all the hard choices about what it means were already made.

VB's work is inexplicibly stamped into space flight and trying to get rid of that influence now, is like having your cake and eating it too.

Re: Von Braun Class Station

#72

Post by ahelwer »

friendlybus wrote: post #71
ahelwer wrote: post #3

Maybe we should stop naming things after a man who was not only a nazi, but a uniform-wearing member of the SS? A future-looking project should leave such things in the past.

There's a certain lack of credibility in this complaint when the space race and a great source of global unity was found in the moon landing off the back of the Saturn V. The Americans had the choice to erase werner von braun from significance and instead chose to benefit on a grand scale from his slave-built knowledge. You're right Von Braun is part of the past now. He's apart of the Usa's past. It's difficult to he…

Many other fields have this same problem with terrible people making foundational contributions. The usual compromise is to rename phenomena that were named after them, not name any new things after them, and let their name drift into history. The history of the field is there for anyone who wants it, but it is just that - history. They are not venerated going forward.

If you want to make the case that this field should be forced to bear von Braun's name as a stain, I guess that's a somewhat interesting idea but I think it would have the effect of improving von Braun's legacy rather than forcing spaceflight to reckon with its past.

Re: Von Braun Class Station

#73

Post by matz1 »

ahelwer wrote: post #70
matz1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but it is honoring a nazi even when it is honoring nazi, doesn't necessarily mean honoring its action. even when it is honoring nazi action, doesn't necessarily mean honoring its bad action Even nazi can have its good side.

Actually no, nazi action does not have a good side. Nazism is bad, through-and-through. Any benefits it purports to have for the people it doesn't kill is predicated on the murder & oppression of the people it does kill. You are a nazi apologist and should think long & hard about why you believe these things.

disagree, everything has good side and bad side. Even Hitler has his good side.

Likewise, you should think long & hard about why you believe what you believed.

Re: Von Braun Class Station

#74

Post by friendlybus »

ahelwer wrote: post #72
friendlybus wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a certain lack of credibility in this complaint when the space race and a great source of global unity was found in the moon landing off the back of the Saturn V. The Americans had the choice to erase werner von braun from significance and instead chose to benefit on a grand scale from his slave-built knowledge. You're right Von Braun is part of the past now. He's apart of the Usa's past. It's difficult to he…

Many other fields have this same problem with terrible people making foundational contributions. The usual compromise is to rename phenomena that were named after them, not name any new things after them, and let their name drift into history. The history of the field is there for anyone who wants it, but it is just that - history. They are not venerated going forward. If you want to make the case that this field sho…

I would let the things he did sit with is name and prevent future things being named after him.

White-washing your past after you make billions off the back of slaves he killed and his work, is just a little too much sting to bear. I don't think you should be 'forced to bear his name as a stain'. It's just reality for what your space agencies did and hiding it isn't a valuable addition.

Re: Von Braun Class Station

#75

Post by emteycz »

perennate wrote: post #32
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of better names are available: "Originally proposed by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1903, the idea was expanded by Herman Potočnik in 1929."

Why quote that when the Wikipedia article that it's from is titled "rotating wheel space station"? Rotating wheel is more descriptive than Von Braun or Tsiolkovsky or Potočnik.

There are many kinds of rotating wheel space stations with differences in layout, size, complexity, etc.

Re: Von Braun Class Station

#76

Post by Gravityloss »

If you had a 200 meter diameter station going around once per minute, the acceleration would be 1 m/s (1/10 gee). Sounds buildable.

It is not known what level of gravity attenuates the health effects to what degree.

This kind of a structure is going to be flimsy. An odd number of spokes like five would lessen the chance of harmonic vibrations.

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