WTG NASA - Orion Launch this Morning

[KarenMichelle Lane]

WTG NASA - Orion Launch this Morning for 1st flight test...

Orion Flight Test

Dec. 5, 2014 -- A Delta IV Heavy rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying NASA's Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST. During the two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission, engineers will evaluate the systems critical to crew safety, the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system.

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Below is the Trial by Fire Mission Video..

 

Learn more... http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html

Video for Friday Morning Test Activities can be found at NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

[Ohjiro Watanabe]

Not sure I would want to be on the top of that big boy

[Ted McGregor]

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Ohjiro Watanabe wrote:

Not sure I would want to be on the top of that big boy

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Oh, I so would and how I envy the astronaut(s) who will be on top on one of such rocket when NASA heads for Mars in the 30ies. :robotsurprised:

Looking forward to these exciting times ahead of us with launches like these.

 

ETA : Go, go , go , NASA ! :robotvery-happy:

[Inara Pey]

Orion will finally open the doors to the solar system; perhaps later than might have been the case after 42 years in LEO, but EFT-1 looks to be previewing a time in which we can finally say, "The Human Adventure is Just Beginning" when it comes to humans in space.

 

[Maelstrom Janus]

Looks a bit 'retro'...like an old apollo return module with a solar panel array...is this really the 'next gen' ?? Bit cramped for a trip to mars too Id have said......

[Inara Pey]

Orion is superficially like Apollo, but far more advanced, and the crew module is only one part of the system - the part to get crews up into space, and back to Earth.

Once operational, in the 2020s, Orion will fly with the Service Module (to be built by ESA), on missions with up to a 21-day duration, and which can include the addition of a a habitat module, if required.

For longer duration mission, say to Mars, one or two Orion vehicles (depending on the number of crew on the mission) will be docked with a habitat / flight module which will have its final assembly in space with 2-3 heavy-lift launches from Earth. The crews will then fly to the vehicle & dock with it for the flight to Mars & use a separate lander / habitat flown with the vehicle for their stay on Mars before using the larger vehicle to return to Earth orbit. The Orion MPCV will then be used for the actual return of the crew to Earth.

This image is a concept of one of the Mars vehicle designs under consideration - the "Copernicus" class of nuclear-powered vehicles (which, ironically, also owe their heritage and looks to the Von Braun era of NASA's history, like Apollo). An Orion vehicle (which can carry up to 6 crew) can just be seen mated at the far right of the craft, ready to ferry the crew back to Earth at the end of the mission.

 

NASA hasn't quite determined *how* they'll perform a Mars mission; there are several options on the table (e.g. chemical or nuclear propulsion), but now they have Orion, their choice in overall mission options has been somewhat better defined (or more constrained in direction, depending on your point-of-view).

If you're interested in more, I cover aspects of space exploration in my blog, and have recently written about Orion & the future - and will be writing more in things very soon, including this inaugural flight.

[beethros Karas]

Cant find the video that shows what will happend if the wire.... break and hit the earth!

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Ohjiro Watanabe wrote:

Not sure I would want to be on the top of that big boy

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I've often joked that I don't want to die a slow fading death, but would rather be hit by a meteoroid. Here's a chance to be a meteroid! I'd take a ride in the top of that big girl any day. I love the outdoors, but not at Mach 1.

;-).

[Dillon Levenque]

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Madelaine McMasters wrote:

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Ohjiro Watanabe wrote:

Not sure I would want to be on the top of that big boy

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I've often joked that I don't want to die a slow fading death, but would rather be hit by a meteoroid.

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Worry not, Maddy.

It's out there, feeling the miniscule tugs of gravity (and possibly some other yet undefined parapsychological force) that alter its course from time to time. Your friends, who you've taken such great pains to set afire—many times, in some cases—are all, in our spare time, concentrating on that little irregularly shaped, slowly rotating, chunk of mixed metals.

When the time is right, it will descend in all its evanescent beauty through the atmosphere and find you. Think of it as our gift.

:-)

edited to nudge a comma a bit to the left

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Dillon Levenque wrote:

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Madelaine McMasters wrote:

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Ohjiro Watanabe wrote:

Not sure I would want to be on the top of that big boy

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I've often joked that I don't want to die a slow fading death, but would rather be hit by a meteoroid.

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Worry not, Maddy.

It's out there, feeling the miniscule tugs of gravity (and possibly some other yet undefined parapsychological force) that alter its course from time to time. Your friends, who you've taken such great pains to set afire—many times, in some cases—are all, in our spare time, concentrating on that little irregularly shaped, slowly rotating, chunk of mixed metals.

When the time is right it, will descend in all its evanescent beauty through the atmosphere and find you. Think of it as our gift.

:-)

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You sure know how to give a girl the warm fuzzys, Ms. Levenque.

[Ted McGregor]

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Inara Pey wrote:

If you're interested in more, I cover aspects of 

space exploration

in my blog, and have recently written about 

Orion & the future

- and will be writing more in things very soon, including this inaugural flight.

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Phil !! Bookmark that and have a look !

 

( Oh .. and a belated 'Happy Rezday!' to you, Inara :robotwink:)

 

[Maelstrom Janus]

Going to be a bit miserable living on mars ....hope they take a full set of surgeons..I imagine even removal of a wisdom tooth becomes a major nuisance unless youve taken a dentist......Hope they dont have the same problem Dark Star had with the supply of toilet paper....

[Perrie Juran]

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Maelstrom Janus wrote:

Going to be a bit miserable living on mars ....hope they take a full set of surgeons..I imagine even removal of a wisdom tooth becomes a major nuisance unless youve taken a dentist......Hope they dont have the same problem Dark Star had with the supply of toilet paper....

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Don't click with out a strong stomach:  Self Appendectomy

[Madelaine McMasters]

I've cut my left knee open twice, once when li'l and again in college. The first time, Dad gave me three stitches, a guided tour of the cut and some candy. The second time I assisted the ER surgeon to save time, as there were no extra hands available when I arrived. He didn't want me to watch because patients often get shocky, with plunging BP. But my insistent "I wanna see!" convinced him to give me a try. I was fine and helpful, even if he did have to slow down to explain all the bits he was stitching back together. The only disappointment was that, at the end of it all, I got no candy. That's a good reason to stay out of the ER!

[Maryanne Solo]

The only thing I know about space travel is they called some of them Gemini :-)

I LOVE Nasa (web) TV. And I dont even watch normal TV.

That the whole launch went off without a hitch which is exactly what I expected.

This is precisely the flawless operation a non US person expects from Nasa.

WTG USA.  

[alezz Luik]

All the waist ex time in the spaceshuttle just to get back to the old Apolo technologycally

[KarenMichelle Lane]

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alezz Luik wrote:

 

All the waisted time in the space shuttle just to get back to the old Apollo technology.

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Really, are you that clueless?

The Apollo spacecraft were designed with one goal in mind. Last just long enough to get to the moon and back with a short jaunt on the surface.

The Orion Capsules are spacecraft actually designed to be in space for years with supporting systems designed to last this long as well. They are also the down payment on the vehicle assemblies that will be built and launched from space to make the trip to the Asteroid Belt and to Mars.

That "useless" shuttle technology as oversold as it was, allowed us to learn how to build big objects in space. It allowed for all but impossible repair missions to the Hubble Space Telescope. This is a skill we'll need again when assembling the NASA craft that will make the journey to the Asteroid Belt and to Mars. Due to private sector pioneers like SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace, the need for a Shuttle type of craft is lessened as heavy lift rockets like the Falcon 9 Heavy can loft the segments of the interplanetary craft to be assembled into space easily. Bigelow Aerospace can provide the space station segments for the crew to live in and work from while performing the assembly.

Orion capsules will be attached to that ship as the earth return vehicles and God forbid as emergency shelters and a staging area if the larger craft fails dramatically and needs in-flight repair.

A Technological Society builds on it's past successes, failures and lessons. There is no one best way to accomplish anything!

You can cry all you want about why this and why that decision was made and certainly national politics and organizational [both corporate and miulitary] jocking occurred in spades but the fact of the matter is that we live in incredible times. 

God Speed NASA, SpaceX, Bigelow Aerospace, Orbital Sciences, JPL et al.!