anyone think its a little weird that we can dock units for resupply at the space station but we cant clog a pipe in the ocean spilling oil in the gulf?

5/18/2010 9:28:45 AM

totally different design concepts ITT

5/18/2010 9:29:40 AM

we have more experience with one than with the other. plus they train the hell out of those astromunawts.

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 9:29 AM. Reason : y]

5/18/2010 9:29:43 AM

i understand it takes Months of planning that has already been done for the space station and this oil pipe was kind of a "OH SHIT" thing that no one had planned for, but just the idea that we can move into space and do all this shit while oil is just spewing here on our planet

maybe something to do with its easier to deal with no pressure in space vs extreme pressure in the ocean? i dunno

5/18/2010 9:32:07 AM

they forgot the treadmill!

5/18/2010 9:32:14 AM

well, there's more preparation for things going wrong in space than underwater, apparently.

5/18/2010 9:34:23 AM

abundance of ice and pressure is way tougher than lack of both.

The biggest reason the measures in the gulf kept failing was because they wanted to ensure they could still pump the oil to a ship for "containment" (read "sale"). To simply clog it up and prevent the leak would be easy, but that wasn't the priority. Some risk management dude was running numbers that said even if it cost $15 Billion or something to clean it all up there was more than enough oil in there to pay for it and then some, including sunk costs of drilling, equipment, and people compensation. Sad, really.

5/18/2010 9:38:27 AM

If we can put one man on the moon. Why can't we put them all there?!

5/18/2010 9:39:21 AM

I know quite a few people I'd like to put on the moon. Or at the bottom of the ocean. Both work well for me.

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 9:52 AM. Reason : *]

5/18/2010 9:51:52 AM

^^^that makes sense, stupid oil companies

5/18/2010 10:02:29 AM

So lets run some quick numbers:

Latest estimate is 3.4 million gallons/day leaking out
28 days of leaking
42 gallons/barrel
....
2266666 barrels so far (estimated)

Oil has been taking a beating, so we'll be conservative and use the futures index - which says around $70 per crude barrel.
....

~$160M floating around in the ocean.

5/18/2010 10:33:44 AM

Thanks asshole. Now you've turned this thread into a "YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YUR TALKIN BOUT YOUR MATH IS WAY HIGH/LOW"

5/18/2010 10:37:24 AM

^wwwebsurfer^

They can always drill a new well. If their concern was grabbing oil to sell it, they could plug the hole up and drill a new well, and then they don't lose any. They're gonna drill a new well anyways eventually. The long-term plan isn't parking a boat out there.

I'd guess they tried this other stuff first because it presented the best chance of working the fastest with the least risk of failure.

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 10:45 AM. Reason : took to long to type]

5/18/2010 10:45:04 AM