Balloon ride.

Photo source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luftschiff_Haenlein.jpg

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FLYING BOY!

I hear a 6 year old boy is in a run away helium or hot air balloon. The boy is named “Falcon”, WOW! I hope he is okay and comes out of this okay!!!

This kind of balloon, could it be used to take supplies into orbit?
NASA pays a lot of money to lift stuff in the air.
This might be cheaper, but not for people!

I sure hope someone can get him out of the craft before it crashes.

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The Future We Make

When we go further out into space, what kind of dogs will we take with us?

Useful dogs, I hope. We don’t need to take pretty show dogs – unless the astronauts are going to get VERY lonely.

A dog’s superior hearing and sniffing abilities should be of some use. But maybe a dog’s best use has always been as a friend and ambassador.

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Coyote Moon

Did the moon yelp when the space craft hit into it? I know I’d yelp if a rocket crashed into my south pole!

I hope LCROSS finds water on the moon, if not, then better luck on Mars!

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You are here.

We are on a planet circling where it says “Sun”. Just one fleck of dust in the vaccuum of space.

The big question isn’t where we are, it is where we will be.

I guess I feel that way about dog breeding too. Why are so many people trying to preserve types of dogs said to be good at a task that most people don’t use them for?

We need to bred dogs for modern uses, to be good pets, to help the handicapped, to be good sniffer dogs, and yes, to start breeding and training dogs that can go to the moon and mars with us.

Even old sailing ships often had a ship’s cat, and a Captain’s dog. If we can have seadogs, we can have spacedogs. We have astronauts, we can have astrodogs.

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Will a Dog Walk on the Moon?

Comment below.

There probably isn’t a reason to take a dog to the moon – except maybe to apologize for early space dogs, like Laika, who were used and died,

but I’d bet good money that more people would watch another space walk to see a dog walk on the moon, than what would want to watch more people walk on the moon.

What do you think?

Should they take a: type, breed, hybrid, mixed breed, mutt, cur, or first dog type?

Should the dog come from a rescue, pound, or be bought as a puppy and raised to be a space dog?

If the dog went up WITH the astronauts, it would be well treated.

If NASA selected a dog that likes to go places, they could find a dog that could handle stress well.

If the dog was calm and brave, and was well conditioned, just like an astronaut, then the dog might not be too stressed.

IF, there are any intelligent space beings up there, taking a dog up with us could show that we are a species that can get along well with other species.

And that we are not Space Hogs, who want to take space over. It could show that we are willing to share space with other species?

Is taking a dog into space with us a good symbol for humanity?

Or would it be better to leave the dogs at home when we travel?

What kind of dog would make the best astronaut?

A small dog, a medium sized, or a large dog?

Should the dog look like Laika?

A Staffy X Beagle, for calmness?

A poodle or Maltese crossbred so it doesn’t shed little hairs in the space capsule? Maybe an American Hairless Terrier?

Any mix, so long as it is NOT inbred?

Go by temperament, health, and trainability – not breed?

Maybe they could have a test, like throw the dog’s toy into a swimming pool, and only those dog’s who will dive underwater to fetch it, get to go into space. Little dogs don’t have to dive as deep as big dogs – maybe twice their body lenght, that would be fair.

Why diving as a test? I saw on TV that astronauts train under water, the astrodog would have to train under water so, it makes sense that the dog should like to dive underwater.

There would probably be several important factors in choosing the astrodog.
For example: it would be not be good if the dog dove well, but he was was gun shy (frightened of loud noise).

Maybe a deaf dog would be better? Maybe not.

What should the dog be named?

An all American name like “Eagle”?

Or from TV, like “Astro”, the Jetson’s dog?

I vote for “Uhura” if it’s a girl dog.

And either “Kirk” or “Spock” if it’s a boy dog.

Many heads think better than one. What do YOU think?

Please keep comments short and just on space dogs.

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Laika Space Hero

This is a space dog, who went up in Sputnik.

This is her littlle space capsule.

A dog made it into space before a person.

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And a female made it into space before a male.

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This is Laika, a space dog.

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This is the postal stamp to honor her.

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StarShip’s Dog?

Remember about Sea dogs sensing when sharks are in the water?

Dogs have remarkable hearing, they can even hear the wind blowing across trip wires. Could this super hearing of dogs be useful in space? Could a dog hear leaks? Hear tiny meteors? Hear when something isn’t working right, and lead an astronaut to the problem and point it out?

The dogs wouldn’t know what was wrong, it would just be like a dumb kid with great hearing saying “Gee your car’s left rear tire is making a thumping noise today”.

Could the dog’s sense of smell help with medical problems? Dogs can smell the difference in human’s scents. Could a dog alert people to bacteria build up, or altered mental states?

When we finally get to Mars, and a small group of people colonize it, could a dog help sniff which ore samples are safe to bring in from the airlock, and which ones are leaking a faint scent?

Could a good sniffer dog, that is trained to sniff a scent, and then look for more of that scent, be able to be re-trained to search for whatever is needed in the lab samples?

If nothing else, in an emergency, a dog could be a taster for home grown Martain food.

Could we set up tests that will help us determine which dogs would be the least problem and the most benefit in space, and then place those tests into public domain?

The idea would help breeds form talent clubs for their dogs, something fun for the public, and the dogs, that would identify which dogs would be best.

Why do breeders WASTE time and effort breeding useless dogs to win ribbons, when they could be breeding for so much more fun and useful things?

Like Michael Vick said about dog fighting – it was “pointless”.

Talent shows could have real use.

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