And lo on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:01:29 -0000, Tim Cook  
<z99### [at] bellsouthnet> did spake, saying:

> Phil Cook wrote:
>> Hmm the most likely reason to perform EVA would be to get to the  
>> engines or dish so we'll put the pods at the front of the ship so they  
>> have to rotate 180 degrees then move around the cockpit to get there.
>> Hard points to attach the EVA pod to the ship so I don't need to float  
>> so far? Nah. The ability to dock the EVA pod to the emergency door? Nah.
>
>
> Except that wasn't the most likely reason to perform EVA.  The EVAs were  
> to be performed at the destination to examine the environment.  The  
> AE-35 unit malfunctioning was something that had a low probability of  
> happening (so low, in fact, that it DIDN'T happen; HAL forced the issue).

So you have one facing forward and one backwards, 'Hey the EVA pod room's  
damaged and we can't get in, we need to use one of the EVA pods to fix the  
damage... ah"

>> An easy to access emergency computer override system? Nah the 9000  
>> series is perfect which is why they had a Computer Malfunction alert on  
>> the hibernation pods.
>
> Overriding the computer was the absolute last thing anybody was  
> interested in doing; Dave lobotomized HAL and had an incredibly  
> difficult time keeping up with doing all the stuff that HAL handled  
> automatically by himself, in the book.

In the film they ponder how to cut off HAL's higher functions while  
leaving the automatic systems running, that's the type of cut-off I was  
thinking of.

>> Ducking through doors - just make them taller.  Ladders
>> to climb up/down things that only allow one person at a time.
>
> Why don't they make submarines, F-15s, heck, even trains large enough  
> that you can just waltz around freely?  Space is at a premium in just  
> about any vehicle.  You use as little as possible.

No, it's down to weight and manoeuvrability neither of which apply to a  
spacecraft. In terms of fiction take a look at the Warhammer 40k ships
http://www.wargames.co.uk/Pending/Archive/May03/odds&sods/bfgcover.jpg

>> Put the engines well out of the way along this spindly connection so  
>> they're difficult to get to and easily severed from the rest of the  
>> ship. Etc., etc.
>
> Actually that one is fairly common in SF; you're using nuclear-driven  
> engines that spit out a lot of radiation and are experimental so you  
> want it as far away from your crew as possible just in case it goes boom  
> in more directions than the one you want.

So instead of dying in a big explosion you're simply stranded instead -  
neat.

>> Well you do also go to a jump from radio burst on the Moon to a 18  
>> month later ship heading to Jupiter, which may make you go 'huh, what  
>> happened then?'
>
> According to the book, the ship was already being built; the TMA-1  
> incident a) sped up the schedule and b) augmented the mission with  
> additional parameters.

"According to the book" and its sequels a lot more gets explained then in  
the film.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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