Who are the space cadets and why are they entering the forbidden realm of Non-Outer Space? This new reality television show is the greatest practical joke ever televised. Read on for more information.
So where was everybody when they didn’t send people into Non-Outer Space? The new British reality show, dubbed “the most audacious practical joke in television history”, simulates orbit, simulates space and, in fact, simulates reality itself! This program, which aired for the first time on December 7, convinced a group of amateur astronauts that they were spending two weeks in intensive training with two highly trained astronauts at the Space Tourism Agency of Russia. In reality, the contestants were on British soil in on a movie set that had been used for the making of several films, including Space Cowboys.
The organizers of this show have spent months in the re-creation of this bogus Russian space-training center. To add to the realism, they even imported 48 packs of Russian toilet paper and more than 100 Russian sink-plug fittings. (Who would be able to read what the labels say anyway? How many wannabe astronauts speak, write or read Russian?) Nevertheless, such action can only foster the illusion that one is indeed in Russia!
The whole show will be filmed 24 hours a day for an entire two weeks. Once the two weeks of training are up, the nine handpicked contestants will be whittled down to a lucky four for the final journey into Non-Outer Space. One of the final contestants will be one of three actors included in the group to ensure that things run smoothly. Because the space cadets have no reason to doubt what they have been told, it is likely they will believe it, at least for a little while.
After the launch, which will be created with the help of some noisy sound and motion effects, there will actually be a view of Non-Outer Space courtesy of graphics and cat litter, which will be thrown at the mock craft to simulate meteor showers! If the non-suspecting start to suspect, what happens then? Well, it will all come crumbling down (not that it was ever up, mind you).
One expert in the psychology of deception, Paul Seager, claims that most of us are simply not very good at detecting lies. He says that our “truth bias prevents us from making a judgement on each piece of information we try to process on a daily basis. Consequently, it’s easier to accept something as the truth unless we have good reason to do otherwise.”
Still, one can only wonder. How could they be fooled? Would you be?