Space Launch System - Orion
Discussion
Here's some nice footage of the flight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RbbSGrO_tY&fe...
I know the capsule was just boilerplate, but it seems a wasted opportunity not to test the parachute system while they were at it.
The violence of the flight is way more realistic than chucking one out the back of an aircraft a dozen times.
They can string it out over more months this way I suppose. /cynic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RbbSGrO_tY&fe...
I know the capsule was just boilerplate, but it seems a wasted opportunity not to test the parachute system while they were at it.
The violence of the flight is way more realistic than chucking one out the back of an aircraft a dozen times.
They can string it out over more months this way I suppose. /cynic
Eric Mc said:
The equivalent of the Little Joe tests carried out in the Mercury and Apollo programmes.
That is why most of this space stuff in the 'Science' thread has little to do with Science its just a re-hash of what has gone before. It is just testing new systems. We could build a more efficient steam engine today using new materials and more effective energy exchange etc but it would still be a steam engine. 
Onboard video from the launcher, starting at the point Orion separates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4VlMi_ZV-I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4VlMi_ZV-I
:surprise pikachu:
SLS first launch delayed until late 2021 minimum. I assume Boeing get hueg bonuses still.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/nasas-larg...
SLS first launch delayed until late 2021 minimum. I assume Boeing get hueg bonuses still.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/nasas-larg...
RobDickinson said:
:surprise pikachu:
SLS first launch delayed until late 2021 minimum. I assume Boeing get hueg bonuses still.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/nasas-larg...
Well they need the cash to pay for the 737Max fiasco... SLS first launch delayed until late 2021 minimum. I assume Boeing get hueg bonuses still.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/nasas-larg...
Eric Mc said:
It's been on my "must do" list for a while. My problem is that I might be a very old man before that day arrives.
I think you'd need to spend an extended period of time there to catch it - no way will the first launch proceed to plan, I'd expect several weeks of on-pad delaysThat's the problem with any launch, but particularly a new rocket.
I was very lucky to see an Atlas V launch at its final scheduled time, but it had been delayed several times over many months before then. In fact I'd put back my trip to Florida by a week, as the launch date had been rescheduled again. Once I was there, I had a spare day if it needed a 24 hr scrub, but that would have been it.
Still, even if you don't get to see a launch, a visit to the Kennedy Space Center is worth it alone. There's loads of other stuff to do in Florida too. There's a nice warplanes museum nearby too.
I was very lucky to see an Atlas V launch at its final scheduled time, but it had been delayed several times over many months before then. In fact I'd put back my trip to Florida by a week, as the launch date had been rescheduled again. Once I was there, I had a spare day if it needed a 24 hr scrub, but that would have been it.
Still, even if you don't get to see a launch, a visit to the Kennedy Space Center is worth it alone. There's loads of other stuff to do in Florida too. There's a nice warplanes museum nearby too.
SLS engine section rotated to horizontal ready for mating with the rest of the stack
https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multi...
https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multi...
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