Orion Launch Today
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
At last a Trump policy I can agree with.
If they want to go back to the moon they need to resurrect the Altair lunar module project - which was integral to the Constellation programme.
Wow, that's some ladder... wouldn't yanks want an "Elevator" for that sort of distance? :-)If they want to go back to the moon they need to resurrect the Altair lunar module project - which was integral to the Constellation programme.
Seriously- I presume there is something other than landing fuel in that big fat bit at the bottom like accommodation and a lab?
scubadude said:
Eric Mc said:
At last a Trump policy I can agree with.
If they want to go back to the moon they need to resurrect the Altair lunar module project - which was integral to the Constellation programme.
Wow, that's some ladder... wouldn't yanks want an "Elevator" for that sort of distance? :-)If they want to go back to the moon they need to resurrect the Altair lunar module project - which was integral to the Constellation programme.
Seriously- I presume there is something other than landing fuel in that big fat bit at the bottom like accommodation and a lab?
I guess the moon is inviting for people who want to feel lighter.
Eric Mc said:
There has been a lot of engineering work done on advanced lunar landers and larger rovers. You would think that the only thing required now would be to just go ahead and build them.
That's not the NASA way though - if the Altair project is restarted it'll be redesigned from scratch, after all, it's only taxpayer dollars :/ ( unless of course they just say to SpaceX/Blue Origin "sell us a lunar lander" )
MartG said:
That's not the NASA way though - if the Altair project is restarted it'll be redesigned from scratch, after all, it's only taxpayer dollars :/ ( unless of course they just say to SpaceX/Blue Origin "sell us a lunar lander" )
Yes this ^ :-(Although I imagine for a fee SpaceX could stick a Dragon capsule on the moon right now (might be empty to get it there but)... Blue Origin no, they haven't done orbital launches yet.
I bet a Delta IV heavy could get it around the moon with a tortoise 
That's what the Russians did with their Zonds 4,5 and 6 in 1968-69. They used a Proton rocket to send stripped down Soyuz craft around the moon as a precursor to sending a man around the moon. Indeed, I reckon a single person Dragon craft could loop around the moon on the back of a Delta IV heavy launch.
The problem is that neither the Dragon nor the Delta IV heavy has been "man rated" yet.
That's what the Russians did with their Zonds 4,5 and 6 in 1968-69. They used a Proton rocket to send stripped down Soyuz craft around the moon as a precursor to sending a man around the moon. Indeed, I reckon a single person Dragon craft could loop around the moon on the back of a Delta IV heavy launch.
The problem is that neither the Dragon nor the Delta IV heavy has been "man rated" yet.
MartG said:
That's not the NASA way though - if the Altair project is restarted it'll be redesigned from scratch, after all, it's only taxpayer dollars :/ ( unless of course they just say to SpaceX/Blue Origin "sell us a lunar lander" )
Perhaps the fact that America will be run by a businessman not a politician might make a difference.
Sobering thought...
Taking Bush's January 2004 request which kicked off the Constellation programme as the starting point, by the time Orion actually flies a manned mission in 2021 it will have taken the same time to develop as the entire US manned space programme took from starting Mercury in 1958 to the last Apollo flight ( ASTP ) in 1974 - and that's if it doesn't slip or get cancelled
Taking Bush's January 2004 request which kicked off the Constellation programme as the starting point, by the time Orion actually flies a manned mission in 2021 it will have taken the same time to develop as the entire US manned space programme took from starting Mercury in 1958 to the last Apollo flight ( ASTP ) in 1974 - and that's if it doesn't slip or get cancelled
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