For the first question, yes, because in the story it says that Uncle Bud made his machine work.  So now, they are popping up in a bunch of space, not knowing where they are.  For the second part of the question, I think that Jack would handle this situation with a different grip.  I believe that he would say that he didn't know how to operate the machine and then I think he would stall A LOT longer that Uncle Bud.  I think that the uman beans would be a whole lot safer righ now if Uncle Bud weren't handling the situation and Jack was.  Uncle Bud hardly stalled at all.  He even TRUSTED Xxafuun!  Probably because Xxafuun was being soothing.