NASA picks the Delta 4 Heavy to launch Orion into orbit on its first test flight
NASA has chosen the Delta 4 Heavy rocket to launch the Orion capsule into orbit for its first test flight in 2014.
So, tell me again why NASA needs to spend $18 to $62 billion for a new rocket, when it already can hire Lockheed Martin to do the same thing? Though the Delta 4 Heavy can only get about 28 tons into low Earth orbit, and only about 10 tons into geosynchronous orbit — far less than the planned heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket — Boeing Lockheed has a variety of proposed upgrades to Delta 4 Heavy that could bring these numbers way up. Building these upgrades would surely be far cheaper than starting from scratch to build SLS.
Corrected above as per comments below.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
NASA has chosen the Delta 4 Heavy rocket to launch the Orion capsule into orbit for its first test flight in 2014.
So, tell me again why NASA needs to spend $18 to $62 billion for a new rocket, when it already can hire Lockheed Martin to do the same thing? Though the Delta 4 Heavy can only get about 28 tons into low Earth orbit, and only about 10 tons into geosynchronous orbit — far less than the planned heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket — Boeing Lockheed has a variety of proposed upgrades to Delta 4 Heavy that could bring these numbers way up. Building these upgrades would surely be far cheaper than starting from scratch to build SLS.
Corrected above as per comments below.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
not to be a butt, But the Delta IV Heavy has one more upgrade that may have not launched as far as “we” know. after watching a launch of this said rocket i will say to you , it is a Very powerful vehicle and is capable of delivering payloads to the Moon or beyond., and has. get real with your reporting. otherwise, i still love you.
Actually, the Delta IV is a Boeing Booster, while the Atlas V is Lockheed.
Both are, of course, under the United launch Alliance banner.
You are absolutely correct. Thank you for correcting my error. I let the fact that Lockheed, which is building Orion, has also been pushing to do this launch, to cloud my brain.
>. tell me again why NASA needs to spend $18 to $62 billion for a new rocket, when it already can hire Lockheed Martin to do the same thing?..
So lockheed and every other credable launcher developer design group isn’t disolved in the next few years.
I must reluctantly agree with you. Private space development isn’t geared toward heavy lift, because there isn’t much of a market for it in the private sector. If SPS projects and proposed orbital hotels take off, that may change. Until then, the various design houses are going to need government subsidies.
Right now theres virtually no market for lift at all – virtually the entire industry is about to shut down, and its not like you could start it up again in less then a decade. So if it goes down now, the US won;t be launching anything for a long time.
Completely False.
Orbital Sciences
SpaceX
United Launch Alliance
All of which have launch vehicles which will operate for the foreseable future serving defense, commercial, space science, and ISS launch needs, and who have recent LV development experience, with the latter two companies having upgrade proposals for heavier lift versions of three vehicles, the D4, the A5, and the F9.
There’s more to the world than the space shuttle, Starks.
Not only the Delta 4, but heavier lift vehicles can be derived from the Atlas 5 and Falcon 9 launch families as well, so NASA would have three vehicles to choose from if it needed to launch a larger payload than what can currently be launched. Upgrading one of those vehicles has the added benefit that such work can be delayed until such time as it is more timely needed, thus freeing budget away from rocket development toward other objectives like exploration systems development.
First I was talking about retaining the industry, not a couple products. If theres nothing being developed – the development teamsd get laid off, the organizations closed down. We lost serveral huge areospace firms that way – the small remaining space industries are in worse shape then they were. So trying to convince stockholders (pension fund folks mainly) that its worth keeping alive, could be impossible.
ULA has been talking about discontinuing product lines, or laying off the development folks. Their supliers (pretty much the bulk of the suply chain) is closing down, or on the edge of.
SpaceX has SEREIOUS quality problems, and management thats getting defensive – and they are highly dependant on gov contracts. The wave of commercial busness he expected, didn’t happen. SpaceX isn’t doing badly, but noyt as good as Musk was expecting – and a couple accidents with customer payloads could dry that up. Musk cut a lot of corners, adn spending 1/40th what your commercial competitors do to make the same product, when your a start up with no experence and no trying to contact experence — both real bad signs for a startup.
Orbitals never goten past kindof ok, but not primnetime material.
As for “There’s more to the world than the space shuttle”, space shutles was almost 3/4th of all maned flights, and half all cargo tonage, lifted in human history. Droping that out, and all the missions it was to support, means a real dry market for the industry that built the stuff it carried, or was repaired with.