Human space travel is not possible!

[Tony Williams]

Now this guy takes skepticism to a different level :ro

http://heiwaco.tripod.com/moontravel.htm

[Brian1945]

Well there were a few eminent people in the 19th century who confidently proclaimed the travel at 30 miles per hour in a train would be instantly fatal to the passengers and crew.

[Croydon13013]

Well there were a few eminent people in the 19th century who confidently proclaimed the travel at 30 miles per hour in a train would be instantly fatal to the passengers and crew.

Do we have a reference for that? Is it really true. I know that it is all over the interweb, widely repeated and believed. I've also seen the claim that Victorians thought that a woman's uterus would be sucked out at 30mph!

But early trains didn't go any faster than a coach and horses. The Surrey Iron Railway (which passed very close to where I live now) opened in 1802 and was horse drawn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrey_Iron_Railway). Speeds gradually picked up from there. Was there ever a genuine opinion that the next step forward would be fatal?

Croydon had a vacuum railway in 1845 (and it wasn't the first in the UK), propelled by pumping the air out of a pipe and sucking the train along (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_an ... ic_railway). It could reach speeds of 65mph when the seals weren't damaged (leather, tallow and wax, rats loved them). There's loads of gumph about it and why it failed, there's no record of anyone opposing it or suggesting it would be dangerous.

So would it have been "eminent" people suggesting the danger of fast trains or just a few loonies like the one who thinks that space travel is impossible?

It might have been big name scientists, but if so, my google-fu is failing me.

[Croydon13013]

Now this guy takes skepticism to a different level :ro

http://heiwaco.tripod.com/moontravel.htm

It's not scepticism, it's just denial of reality.

A sceptic would consider the evidence critically. Mr Bjorkman is just ignoring everything he doesn't understand. The old "argument from incredulity". I note that his website also denies the reality of the World Trade Center incident in 2001 and says things such as "Atomic Bombs do not work!"

There's one page amongst all the woo that advertises the services of his company as consultants for shipping firms. He claims to do investigations for underwriters and then links to his page on the MS Estonia sinking of 1994. He starts off by repeating that no moon landings have taken place and that 9/11 was faked before getting to the lengthy nitty-gritty of his insane conspiracy theory. I doubt that he gets much work.

[Zep]

Well there were a few eminent people in the 19th century who confidently proclaimed the travel at 30 miles per hour in a train would be instantly fatal to the passengers and crew.

Do we have a reference for that? Is it really true. I know that it is all over the interweb, widely repeated and believed. I've also seen the claim that Victorians thought that a woman's uterus would be sucked out at 30mph!

But early trains didn't go any faster than a coach and horses. The Surrey Iron Railway (which passed very close to where I live now) opened in 1802 and was horse drawn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrey_Iron_Railway). Speeds gradually picked up from there. Was there ever a genuine opinion that the next step forward would be fatal?

Croydon had a vacuum railway in 1845 (and it wasn't the first in the UK), propelled by pumping the air out of a pipe and sucking the train along (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_an ... ic_railway). It could reach speeds of 65mph when the seals weren't damaged (leather, tallow and wax, rats loved them). There's loads of gumph about it and why it failed, there's no record of anyone opposing it or suggesting it would be dangerous.

So would it have been "eminent" people suggesting the danger of fast trains or just a few loonies like the one who thinks that space travel is impossible?

It might have been big name scientists, but if so, my google-fu is failing me.

If I recall correctly, their argument was that human breath was expelled at about 30mph. So anyone facing forward in an open train travelling at 30mph or greater would have been unable to breathe out against the onrushing air and would thus asphyxiate.

https://www.av8n.com/physics/ex-cathedra.htm

[Tony Williams]

Sounds a bit bizarre, since wind speeds greater than 30 mph are common in storms, so it would have been very easy to put to the test.

[Zep]

Sounds a bit bizarre, since wind speeds greater than 30 mph are common in storms, so it would have been very easy to put to the test.

It IS bizarre that such views would hold any stead. Many more logical people pointed out contrary facts much the same as you did, and I think the idea of "30mph can kill" has come down to us as an example of drastically faulty (and laughable) thinking. Really, this is akin to some of the arguments you hear from modern-day creationists and other science deniers, CTers, etc.