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Lost on the Moon

Ok, I just did this exercise in a class yesterday and I thought it was pretty interesting. So of course I had to combine it with cigars. Here it goes:

Your spaceship has just crash-landed on the moon. You were scheduled to rendezvous with a mother ship 200 miles away on the lighted surfaces of the moon, but the rough landing has ruined your ship and destroyed all the equipment on board except for the fifteen items listed below. Your crew's survival depends on reaching the mother ship, so you must choose the most critical items available for the trip. Your task is to rank the fifteen items in terms of their importance for survival. Place number 1 by the most important, number 2 by the second most important, and so on through number 15

Box of matches
Food concentrate
Fifty feet of nylon rope
Parachute silk
Solar-powered portable heating unit
Two .45-caliber pistols
One case of dehydrated milk
Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
Stellar map (of the moon's constellations)
Self-inflating life raft
Magnetic compass
Five gallons of water
Signal flares
First-aid kit containing injection needles
Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter

Here is the game: Participants should post their rankings. At the end of the game, I will provide the rankings that NASA came up with. Participants will then take the difference between their ranking and NASA's and sum up the absolute value of the differences. The higher the score, the worse you did.

The winner will get a 5-pack from me. This contest will run until midnight this Friday (04/02). Please no cheating and if any BOTLs have played this before, I kindly request that you refrain from participating.
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Comments

  • badge54fdbadge54fd Posts: 241
    PM Sent
  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    badge54fd:
    PM Sent
    Replied, sir.
  • alienmisprintalienmisprint Posts: 3,964 ✭✭✭
    1. Self-Inflating life raft
    2. Two 100-pound tanks of Oxygen
    3. Fifty feet of nylon rope
    4. Signal Flares
    5.Five Gallons of Water
    6. Stellar Map
    7. Food Concentrate
    8.one case of dehydrated milk
    9. book of matches
    10. parachute silk
    11. solar powered fm reciever-transmitter
    12. magnetic compass
    13. first aid kit
    14. solar powered portable heating unit
    15. two .45 caliber pistols


    I gotta say, this took alot of thought. I've been training and planning for scenarios exactly like the one described, but on Earth. This list would have been in a very, very different order had it been pretty much anywhere on Earth. When you post up the actual answers, are you going to post the reasoning behind it as well? I'd love to see what NASA's answers are, but I'd also like to see the explanations as to why each is in the position its in, lol.
  • Alex WilliamsAlex Williams Posts: 1,515
    15. Box matches: no oxygen on the moon=no fire
    4. Food Concentrate: gotta eat!
    6. Fifty feet of Nylon rope: carrying stuff and lifelines
    8. Parachute silk: carrying stuff
    13. Solar-powered portable heating unit: your suits are plenty warm and dont let any more warmth in
    10.Two .45 caliber pistols: maybe a way of makin you move? dont really know what use they would be
    12.One case of dehydrated milk: dont wanna waste water to hydrate?
    1.Two 100 pound tanks of oxygen: gotta breath!
    3.Stellar map (of moon's constellation): only way to navigate
    9.Self-inflating life raft: carrying stuff
    14. Magnetic compass: no magnetic poles on the moon like on earth
    2. Five gallons of water: gotta drink!
    11. Signal Flares: only way to notify mothership but someone might not be watching
    7. First-aid kit: in case your suit gets messed up
    5. Solar-powered FM Walkie Talkie: only can communicate if in sight of ship

    i polled my family and this was the average answer.
  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    alienmisprint:
    1. Self-Inflating life raft
    2. Two 100-pound tanks of Oxygen
    3. Fifty feet of nylon rope
    4. Signal Flares
    5.Five Gallons of Water
    6. Stellar Map
    7. Food Concentrate
    8.one case of dehydrated milk
    9. book of matches
    10. parachute silk
    11. solar powered fm reciever-transmitter
    12. magnetic compass
    13. first aid kit
    14. solar powered portable heating unit
    15. two .45 caliber pistols


    I gotta say, this took alot of thought. I've been training and planning for scenarios exactly like the one described, but on Earth. This list would have been in a very, very different order had it been pretty much anywhere on Earth. When you post up the actual answers, are you going to post the reasoning behind it as well? I'd love to see what NASA's answers are, but I'd also like to see the explanations as to why each is in the position its in, lol.
    You train for this stuff? That's pretty cool. You in the military?

    When I post, I'll provide NASA's rationale as well. It was definitely interesting reading about their rationale for their rankings.
  • mrpillowmrpillow Posts: 464
    1. Five gallons of water
    2.Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
    3.Five gallons of water
    4.Solar-powered portable heating unit
    5.Food concentrate
    6.Stellar map (of the moon's constellations)
    7.Signal flares
    8.First-aid kit containing injection needles
    9.Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter
    10.Self-inflating life raft
    11.One case of dehydrated milk
    12.Fifty feet of nylon rope
    13.Parachute silk
    14.Magnetic compass
    15.Two .45-caliber pistols
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    I don't need any of that stuff, just give me duct tape and consider yourself saved.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    Krieg:
    I don't need any of that stuff, just give me duct tape and consider yourself saved.
    It was trick question and Krieg got it right. Haha.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    sightunseen:
    Krieg:
    I don't need any of that stuff, just give me duct tape and consider yourself saved.
    It was trick question and Krieg got it right. Haha.
    LOL, sorry, I didn't mean to mess up your game!

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • xmacroxmacro Posts: 3,402
    sightunseen:
    Krieg:
    I don't need any of that stuff, just give me duct tape and consider yourself saved.
    It was trick question and Krieg got it right. Haha.
    wait . . . I don't get it. How is duct tape the right answer?
  • kingjk729kingjk729 Posts: 2,579 ✭✭✭
    1. Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
    2. 5 gallons of water
    3. Food concentrate
    4. Stellar map
    5. Nylon rope
    6. Parachute
    7. Life raft
    8. Solar powered FM receiver-transmitter
    9. First aid kit
    10. Dehydrated milk
    11. Solar powered heating unit
    12. Magnetic compass
    13. Signal flares
    14. Box o matches
    15. Two .45 guns

    This is just me ....... Thought about a few items quite a bit .... And IMHO the last three are useless in outerspace ..... not enough oxygen for combustion
  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    xmacro:
    sightunseen:
    Krieg:
    I don't need any of that stuff, just give me duct tape and consider yourself saved.
    It was trick question and Krieg got it right. Haha.
    wait . . . I don't get it. How is duct tape the right answer?
    Haha, I was just joking. I'll post the real answers this weekend. I'm surprised no one has made any references to The Beard, because that's what I would pick in any survival situation.
  • xmacroxmacro Posts: 3,402
    1. Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
    2. 5 gallons of water
    3. Stellar map
    4. Food concentrate
    5. Solar powered FM receiver-transmitter
    6. Nylon rope
    7. First aid kit
    6. Parachute
    9. Life raft
    10. Dehydrated milk
    11. Two .45 guns
    12. Signal flares
    13. Solar powered heating unit
    14. Magnetic compass
    15. Box o matches
  • mrpillowmrpillow Posts: 464
    kingjk729:
    Thought about a few items quite a bit .... And IMHO the last three are useless in outerspace ..... not enough oxygen for combustion
    Flares, much like the gun powder in a bullet, contain their own oxidizers and will work fine in an oxygen free environment.
  • FourtotheflushFourtotheflush Posts: 2,555
    Your ship is ruined and you are on the moon = you are dead. End Game.
  • betasynnbetasynn Posts: 1,249
    1.Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
    This is essential for most of the other items. You cannot use matches, pistols, the self inflating life raft, or the flare without oxygen. Additionally, you cannot be alive without this, and it can be used as a method of transportation (see below.)
    2. Solar-Powered FM Receiver It's doubtful you'll travel 200 miles on foot on the moon in enough time to not die due to either being in the cold side of the moon, starvation, dehydration, or suffocation. The FM Re 2. Stellar Map
    Unless you've memorized the entirety of a stellar map from the moon (and you haven't) you wont gain anything by mobilizing without this object.
    3. Parachute Silk
    You can use this as a sail with the oxygen. I would want to use the oxygen to use this sail to gain momentum, like a rocket sorta deal.
    4. Fifty feet of nylon rope
    Rope is essential. You can tie it to your sail, use it to lug things along, or tie each other together to keep one another rooted, etc etc. My grandfather always says you can never have enough line!
    5. Five Gallons of Water
    Essential if there will be a lot of work involved (and there will be.) Also, it needs to be used for the milk as well.
    6. Case of Dehydrated Milk
    This would be important because it'll give strength to everyone and act as a sort of food substitute. There wont be a chance to eat real food because they are in space, and you can't just toss your helmet off for a quick bite.
    7. Self-Inflating Life Raft Even if it doesn't work, it can be used as a tarp to drag all the items mentioned above across the moon. Plus, it's probably a bright color and thus useful for being spotted. 8. Solar Powered Heating Unit Might make you more comfortable MAYBE as you lay dying of dehydration or starvation, but if the cold side comes around, I can't imagine that a portable heating unit that is designed to interface with a suit would help much.
    9. First-Aid Kit
    If there is some way to use this stuff, it might be helpful, but realistically, if somebody is badly wounded, they will need more then first aid, and this is a time-sensitive life/death situation.
    10. Food Concentrate
    While delicious, you can go a long time without food. And concentrate isn't even delicious. If you are out long enough to NEED food, you're already dead.


    These last four items I'd leave in the order they are in, because they are all equally useless. The box of matches wont ignite without air, the pistols wont fire without air to allow the caps to ignite, the magnetic compass would be useless on the moon because of the difference in magnetic poles to the earth, and just like the matches, the signal flares wouldn't ignite.


    Gun, compass, matches, flares.

  • mrpillowmrpillow Posts: 464
    betasynn:
    1.Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
    This is essential for most of the other items. You cannot use matches, pistols, the self inflating life raft, or the flare without oxygen. Additionally, you cannot be alive without this, and it can be used as a method of transportation (see below.)

    These last four items I'd leave in the order they are in, because they are all equally useless. The box of matches wont ignite without air, the pistols wont fire without air to allow the caps to ignite, the magnetic compass would be useless on the moon because of the difference in magnetic poles to the earth, and just like the matches, the signal flares wouldn't ignite.


    Gun, compass, matches, flares.

    Once again, the gun and flares would function on the moon. Also, using liquid oxygen as a source of combustible gas is a wonderful way to blow yourself up in a heartbeat ;)

    Also I think it's safe to assume a self inflating life raft doesnt need an outside source of gas to inflate XD
  • JdoraisJdorais Posts: 652
    15 Box of matches
    4 Food concentrate
    6 Fifty feet of nylon rope
    11 Parachute silk
    7 Solar-powered portable heating unit
    14 Two .45-caliber pistols
    5 One case of dehydrated milk
    2 Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
    8 Stellar map (of the moon's constellations)
    1 Self-inflating life raft
    13 Magnetic compass
    3 Five gallons of water
    12 Signal flares
    9 First-aid kit containing injection needles
    10 Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter
  • doromathdoromath Posts: 576
    Hmmmm.

    Seeing as how NASA failed to consult the HitchHiker's Guide and provided no towel on this mission I don't see any hope or possibility for successfully reaching the mothership. Based on that fact all items in the list are equally useless :P

    Seriously though I will be interrested to see the offical answer and reasoning behind this.
  • betasynnbetasynn Posts: 1,249
    I meant more, you could release it through the nozel or hose or whatever is attached in a controlled and thus direct-able current.
  • bigharpoonbigharpoon Posts: 2,963 ✭✭✭
    1. Tanks of oxygen (breathing is good)
    2. Stellar map (navigating your trek)
    3. Solar FM receiver-transmitter (communication to party ASAP)
    4. Parachute silk (visual signal)
    5. Solar heater (melt water)
    6. Water (drink)
    7. Food concentrate (energy)
    8. Raft (carry stuff past crash site)
    9. Nylon rope (haul raft)
    10. First aid kit (possible you could use needles)
    11. Signal flares (not sure how you would use these)
    12. Pistols (or these)
    13. Dehydrated milk (or this)
    14. Matches (or these)
    15. Magnetic compass (and this seems utterly useless)
  • urbinourbino Posts: 4,517
    I would have some questions. First, about this solar heater. Are we talking about something that can store solar energy and return it as heat, later, or just something that generates heat directly from solar energy? The latter would be useless, but the former would be incredibly useful . . . if it puts out enough heat that it would make any difference in the extreme cold on the dark side of the moon.

    Second, do spacecraft use FM for communications?

    Assuming the answers to the above are "yes," I'd say:

    1. oxygen
    2. water
    3. FM transceiver
    4. stellar map
    5. signal flares
    6. heater
    7. rope
    8. first-aid kit
    9. silk
    10. food concentrate
    11. dehydrated milk (not sure why this is listed as a separate foodstuff, but probably either this or the concentrate is way less necessary than the other)
    12. raft
    13. guns
    14. matches
    15. compass
  • doromath:
    Hmmmm.

    Seeing as how NASA failed to consult the HitchHiker's Guide and provided no towel on this mission I don't see any hope or possibility for successfully reaching the mothership. Based on that fact all items in the list are equally useless :P

    Seriously though I will be interrested to see the offical answer and reasoning behind this.
    gotta go with doro here, no towel your screwed should just stayed home.lol I remeber the old text adventure game towel was one of the first things you needed
  • Them NASA people are pretty smart tho, I bet there is at least one towel included with each spacesuit, so assuming that ill go with:

    1 Oxygen ----- DUH
    2 Water ----- DER
    3 Stellar Map --- only means of finding way home
    4 Food Concentrate -- would be #3 but knowing the way comes 1st
    5 FM radio --- Comms with with home/ rocking out to forget about impending doom
    6 Rope --- See Boondock Saints
    7 First Aid Kit --- Somebody will prolly get hurt or sick
    8 Parachute ---- shelter/sos marker
    9 raft --- shelter-makeshift sled w/ turbo boost
    10 pistols-- turbo boost
    11 flares -- most happy rescue endings include these
    12 milk --- that stuff taste like crap
    13 heater -- plenty of that on the light side
    14 compass -- useless
    15 matches == unless ccom matches gifted by the Beard, completely useless
  • smith001smith001 Posts: 8
    Hi,

    This is Sandy here from Canada. As I have seen your comments & I must say that you had shared a lot of good information regarding the topic.

    Thanks
    Sandy



    Food Intolerance Systoms




  • Alex WilliamsAlex Williams Posts: 1,515
    mustluvcigars:
    6 Rope --- See Boondock Saints
    hahahahaha i LOVE that movie! "name one thing you're gonna need this stupid **** rope for."
  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    Alex Williams:
    mustluvcigars:
    6 Rope --- See Boondock Saints
    hahahahaha i LOVE that movie! "name one thing you're gonna need this stupid **** rope for."
    +1. When you say it you gotta have that Irish accent.
  • betasynnbetasynn Posts: 1,249
    So he, where are the answers?
  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    betasynn:
    So he, where are the answers?
    Contest ends Friday midnight, I'll have the answers up shortly after (easy for me since I'm on the west coast).
  • cholmes8310cholmes8310 Posts: 1,585
    Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
    Five gallons of water
    Solar-powered portable heating unit
    Food concentrate
    Stellar map (of the moon's constellations)
    Signal flares
    Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter
    Fifty feet of nylon rope
    Parachute silk
    One case of dehydrated milk
    First-aid kit containing injection needles
    Magnetic compass
    Self-inflating life raft
    Box of matches
    Two .45-caliber pistols
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