Orion Test Flight

[kham]

1011 EST apogee 3604.2sm; 3132nm

Starting down the hill now, coordinates for splashdown 1.3nm E of prediction. Thats near-bullseye

8.2G max decel, that seems a bit high, perhaps from coming down from a higher orbit; thats roughly twice what the loading on a Soyuz is.

[kham]

CM sep at 1028, actual spacecraft flying free on its own

[kham]

S2 completing de-orbit burn for disposal in Pacific north of Hawaii

Entry interface T-16 scheduled for 1116EST

[kham]

Splashdown @ 1129EST

All systems functioned as intended

[BSink42]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... DYK_qW6qHE

[nachtjaeger]

Glad it worked as intended. But, seriously? This critter is just Apollo redux. Still conventional nozzles and not an altitude-compensating nozzle, let alone an Aerospike or Linear Aerospike? NASA seems to be plowing the same ground they plowed in the '60s.

Why are we still building step rockets? No good reason the bastard offspring of the 747 Shuttle Transporter and the XB-70 couldn't piggyback a reusable launch vehicle to high altitude. Heck, Virgin Galactic's White Knight 2 carrier aircraft is supposed to carry 37,000# (17,000 kg) to 50,000 feet (15,000 meters). Not to be outdone, Stratolaunch Systems is combining the hulls and wings of two 747-400s into a similar twin-boom design with six 747 engines. The "Roc" will have the largest wingspan of any aircraft to date, and is expected to carry the Pegasus II Orbital Launch Vehicle- plan is 6,000 kg to LEO and 2,000 kg to GTO.

Build another Roc airframe for NASA, give it more & better engines and high energy fuel, and you could easily launch a reuseable crew vehicle (space plane) or a disposable cargo rocket. But nooo- we can never have nice things any more.

[Boggy Man]

The entire mission can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_5Gna6CCrs

[Mynock]

Build another Roc airframe for NASA, give it more & better engines and high energy fuel, and you could easily launch a reuseable crew vehicle (space plane) or a disposable cargo rocket. But nooo- we can never have nice things any more.

Launching things from the ground is the problem. Build something in orbit, give it a nuke pile for plenty of power and ion engines for super fuel effieciency, and leave it there. Then use something like the Dragon capsules to resupply it once a year. If we actually want to go somewhere we need a ship, not a shuttle.

[Duncan Edwards]

Build another Roc airframe for NASA, give it more & better engines and high energy fuel, and you could easily launch a reuseable crew vehicle (space plane) or a disposable cargo rocket. But nooo- we can never have nice things any more.

Launching things from the ground is the problem. Build something in orbit, give it a nuke pile for plenty of power and ion engines for super fuel effieciency, and leave it there. Then use something like the Dragon capsules to resupply it once a year. If we actually want to go somewhere we need a ship, not a shuttle.

As in so many other things gentlemen if you got the money you can do these things. Since our national policy is more concerned with eliminating poverty, evil, and all other worldly issues, and we know this will happen if we just continue to throw enough money, excuse me, debt, at the problems, there will be no bucks for Buck Rogers. Space has no real constituency therefore no politician is going to make more than token effort at it. There is currently no funded mission for Orion and it's SLS booster and no real prospects for it. These decisions are vast and important for the future of humanity so the sooner they are taken out of the politicians hands the better. This is where we can thank our lucky stars and say a prayer for the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bigelow, SNC, and others. In spite of this very successful flight of Orion I do very much believe that it will be collecting dust in a museum as these others lead the way.

[Mynock]

Yup. Private industry gets shit done. Tell your nearest Exxon-Mobil representative that the rover on Mars just struck oil. Bet you'll have a colony there in less than a year.