Space Launch System - Orion

[Beati Dogu]

Yes, gone are they days when they'd get the local Navy yard to weld together a bunch of scrap boiler plate.

That proved too cheap to do.

[MartG]

Umbilical retract test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inw9xojGXdE

[Beati Dogu]

They should have left the original sound on instead of the crappy music.

It's way cooler to hear it banging and clattering around as it disconnects and retracts. Such as:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXn-XrNJ_tk

[Beati Dogu]

Mounded in a ring around the Orion stage adapter are the 10 cube satellites that will also be launched on the first SLS flight.

There were supposed to be 3 more, but they won’t be ready in time. The Orion capsule will be mounted on top of them soon.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/12/adapter-stru...

[Beati Dogu]

The Orion capsule has arrived at the Vehicle Assembly Building. I'll be lifted on top of the SLS stack shortly.

[Flooble]

Might still beat Starship to orbit!

[MartG]

Flooble said:

Might still beat Starship to orbit!

[Beati Dogu]

If this thing actually works, that Orion will be up there for the better part of a month (25.5 days).


When Starship eventually flies, they'll have probably fitted its 30+ engines a week or two before. The SLS booster had its engines installed in October 2019 - And there's only 4 of them.

[RobDickinson]

Congress just told NASA to spend at least $579 million on development and fitting of engines to the explorer upper stage.


if that seems like a lot consider the engines are RL-10's that first flew in 1962...

[Flooble]

RobDickinson said:

Congress just told NASA to spend at least $579 million on development and fitting of engines to the explorer upper stage.


if that seems like a lot consider the engines are RL-10's that first flew in 1962...

Well, it'll be a rocking Christmas Party then.

[Ian974]

Er, what? Did they just decide the problem with this rocket is that it wasn't quite expensive enough?

[Flooble]

Ian974 said:

Er, what? Did they just decide the problem with this rocket is that it wasn't quite expensive enough?

Guess you missed the senator who demanded that Nasa contract for the construction of a test stage to be mounted at Stennis for testing. After they had completed all the tests ...

[Beati Dogu]

Yes, Senator Roger Wicker wants a complete new SLS booster that can been used for repeated test firings. NASA and Boeing said they didn't need to test the SLS booster more than once to get the data they need, but US politicians like him love their boondoggle, pork barrel projects.

[MartG]

[RobDickinson]

All stacked, ready to go!

in 6-9 months...

[MartG]

RobDickinson said:

All stacked, ready to go!

in 6-9 months...

But will it beat Boing's Starliner into space ?

[RobDickinson]

Uh both starliner and orion have already been.. :P

Will it beat starship into space?

[MartG]

Stacking timelapse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VYXHhrav9U

[MartG]

This looks to me like NASA is under pressure to keep ULA in business, whether it makes financial sense or not :/

https://www.spacescout.info/2021/10/long-term-futu...

[Flooble]

Remind me who their new administrator is, and who was behind SLS?