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See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
I see this capsule and the only thing that comes to mind is the Robot Chicken sketch with the farting astronaut...
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SomeoneUKno
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
Look, I'm not going to be excited until they release spaceships and space vehicles that match up with the lego ones I used to make when I was a kid:
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SomeoneUKno
03/30/09

@SomeoneUKno: ... Wow. I really fail.

[www.oldlego.com]
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
03/30/09

@SomeoneUKno: Always there to lend a helping comment, GitEmSteveDave swung into action:

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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
Needs more RedBull and/or Brawndo stickers. Also I doubt it's going to fly to well with that trailer chained to it....
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rer89
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
Unless they are planning on sending midgets to Mars, that thing is not going anywhere. Heck, how is a crew supposed stay alive in that for months.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
03/30/09

@rer89: Think small and take short breaths.
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StupidSimple
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
This looks like a earth landing capsule to me. The one that drops in the ocean and then waits until a ship comes to recover the crew. Doesn't look like something that would land on Mars.
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Con Seannery
03/30/09

@stupidsimple: It would probably dock with a craft to go to Mars in orbit that had a lander and all that jazz on it.
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KhaiJB
03/30/09

@Con Seannery '09: Where's the screen?: we need a bigger 2x4
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Hickeroar
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
Pathetic. They expect several people to spend 6 months in that capsule together? They're kidding themselves.
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Con Seannery
03/30/09

@Hickeroar: You mean for long duration Moon missions? The capsule docks with the command module and the ALTAIR lander goes to the surface. If you mean the ride to Mars, this is going to have to be docked with a much larger craft to make that journey. That's a bit more than 6 months. A good bit.
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commentotron
03/30/09

@Con Seannery '09: Where's the screen?: Yeah, it's gonna be a long haul because we're taking 1960s tech, re-implementing it with carbon fiber and better computers. But it's still throw away rockets.

I'm in the camp of the uninspired. People who don't follow the space business and go "WTF?"
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KhaiJB
03/30/09

@commentotron: read the specs. the Capsule is reusable as is the main part of the launcher - a Shuttle Booster.
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MacMasterShane
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
i still can't beleive after years of reusable space vehicles are we going back to capsules. this whole thing just seems like a massive step backwards to me.

No more satellite retrieval? no more manipulator arm? nasa's not playing the delivery boy game anymore i guess.
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KhaiJB
03/30/09

@MacMasterShane: a reusable capsule. launched with a reusable launcher.
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cyberwiz01
03/30/09

In reply to See the New Orion Spacecraft Up Close and Personal
I realize this is the most cost-effective way of getting into space right now, but part of me feels like this is such a regression in space-technology. I was hoping to see things like the X-33 and the like being built as the next generation of space vehicle. Still cool though.
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Con Seannery
03/30/09

@cyberwiz01: You realize that a winged spacecraft on return from the Moon wouldn't be winged for very long after it got to the atmosphere, right? It enters WAY too fast. The capsule is one of the BEST designs you can use for reentry at high speeds, and it sits on top of the rocket so you have a chance of escaping if it's about to blow itself to Hell and you figure this out in time.
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commentotron
03/30/09

@Con Seannery '09: Where's the screen?: You assume that a mission returning from the moon would not enter orbit but would do a direct re-entry.

If the winged craft entered LEO first, which would require fuel of course, then re-entry would be no different form what the shuttle does.
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ripfire
03/30/09

@commentotron: There wouldn't be enough fuel to reverse the momentum. Slowing down midway is just inefficient.
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