Construction completed on first Orion capsule
NASA has released the first photo of the completed first Orion capsule, now finished and scheduled to do a test flight in December.
As interesting as that first test flight will be, launching the capsule to about 3,600 miles before it dives back into the atmosphere to test its heat shield, I can’t get that excited about it. I sincerely believe this program will go the way of Ares, the Orbital Space Plane, Constellation, and a host of other big NASA projects that were too expensive and took too long to build. It will get cancelled before it actually flies any humans anywhere.
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 released the first photo of the completed first Orion capsule, now finished and scheduled to do a test flight in December.
As interesting as that first test flight will be, launching the capsule to about 3,600 miles before it dives back into the atmosphere to test its heat shield, I can’t get that excited about it. I sincerely believe this program will go the way of Ares, the Orbital Space Plane, Constellation, and a host of other big NASA projects that were too expensive and took too long to build. It will get cancelled before it actually flies any humans anywhere.
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
I suspect NASA will lauch Orion to celebrate Rammadan and its trajectory will be due east towards Mecca.
Heh.
I don’t get the big deal with Orion. Why is NASA so excited about this craft?
To me all it looks like is a large Apollo and will do the same job. Basically all its going to be is a re-entry vehicle. I can not see a 5 or 7 man crew living inside this thing for the months long trip to Mars and even the week long trip to the moon and back.
I don’t understand what the big deal is with the service module either. Is it for more living space or is it just the place they attach the thrusters and extra life support to.
If thats all its for this is nothing more than the same plan as Space X has for its Dragon type passenger capsule.
Will it just separate from the main rocket and turn around like the Apollo did and re-attach to a larger living module for deep space missions.
And if so why do we need the massive SLS lift vehicle. Couldn’t we just launch it in several phases on rockets we already have?
If all this thing is to do is re-entry then why all the cost and innovation?