Tintin Forums

This is regarding the destination moon series.In the end after launch every member become unconscious or go to sleep.Why is it so?Is this just a comical twist or just due to scientific reason?

I don't know but its hardly for comical reasons, its not funny. It does seem realistic though, so it may be scientific.

Well the take off and landing was all fictional at the time and Herge had no reference of comparison.

He was probably told that the pressure of take off and landing would cause a person to pass out, a scientist could well have told him this and it adds a nice bit of suspense in my opinion.

We know now that this is not true, indeed a man can land on the moon standing up!

Rik

There is a scientific term for this; GLOC - Gravity Induced Loss of Consciousness.

This would have been caused by the G-forces experienced on take-off. The normal force of gravity we feel on earth is 1G. At 2Gs you would feel the force of gravity doubled (i.e. you would feel double your normal weight). Anything more than 4 or 5 Gs would cause an untrained person to black out. I think the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo astronauts experienced something like 9Gs - whereas the Space Shuttle astronauts are exposed to a more bearable 3Gs.

At high G levels the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body. If it reached a level where the heart can no longer pump blood to the brain you would black out.

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We know now that this is not true, indeed a man can land on the moon standing up!

In regard to landing on the moon, the Apollo missions were a bit different to Calculus’ method. The LEM used in the Apollo missions needed only small thrusts from tiny boosters to find it's way down to the surface. On Tintin’s expedition the rocket (which fired it’s nuclear motor all the way and must have been travelling much faster than the Saturn rockets) turned around before it reached the moon then used the boosters to decelerate, which in reality probably would have thrown it back out into space!

The take off from the moon was also very different, the Apollo LEM needed only a small boost to throw it back into orbit which must have felt quite pleasant. Calculus’ rocket took off from the moon with the thrusters firing full pelt although I’m sure they would have felt hardly any G-forces as the moon’s gravity is so weak.

Astronauts, and indeed even fighter-jet pilots, wear G-suits - sometimes “Anti-G Suits” - where a network of pipes cover the surface, and are pressurised, constricting the body. This stops blood from moving away from the brain, thus preventing G-LOC. The redoubtable Calculus seems to have neglected giving his crew such suits, so they were likely to black out.

There is a description of a Canadian pilot’s suit here, which protects up to 7.5G. An astronaut’s suit would be made to withstand more.

You can easily withstand brief bursts of G-force if you are in reasonable health, even if you aren’t a trained astronaut or pilot; there are roller-coasters and thrill rides which pull quite severe G-force. The “Incredible Hulk” at Universal Islands of Adventure in Florida pulls 4G, and the Aerosmith Rock‘n’Roller Coaster at the Disney Studio Parks in Florida and Paris pull 5G (at 0-58 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds…

Wow! There are a lot of clever people here!

I could never figure out why gradually slowing down to land was so rough on them, with the rocket shaking and rattling and the couches visibly squeezed much more than
even takeoff.

At high G levels the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body. If it reached a level where the heart can no longer pump blood to the brain you would black out.
True! It's a blood pressure issue mostly. A very mild example of my own experience was when I rode the Gravitron for the first time. I had a headache for two days afterward! And it seemed to me that the smaller a person is, the worse the after-effects. I'm 4 feet 10 inches tall (about 147cm--due to growth hormone deficiency, I've been this size since I was about nine),and my much taller friends never have the same problem I do.
Cool to learn about it though!

Courtney

Of course we don't know how many G the rocket was pulling when it takes off, could have been a very fast ascent. In fact it would have to be as a Saturn V rocket fired in stages and giving a continuous boost whereas the Rocket (why was it never named? Seems bad luck to me) would just have to belt it from the launch.

Rik

Danagasta A very mild example of my own experience was when I rode the Gravitron for the first time. I had a headache for two days afterward!

I had a go on a similar machine years ago, it spun around extremely fast and the floor was lowered leaving you hanging there, pinned to the side - it was great fun as a kid but now I get a headache just thinking about it!

I think those machines give something like the equivalent of 3 or 4 Gs in centrifugal force, probably not safe to experience for more than a couple of minutes!