Karl Townsend wrote:
...

Has anyone seen hard information on the design of Orion? They certainly
must be well past the concept phase.


Looks like a slightly enlarged Apollo. 16 ft verses 11 diameter.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/


I just spent an hour going through all this web site. NASA has definitely
decided to go back to basics. The shuttle had been likened to launching a
semi truck - lots of extra weight there. This "upgraded Apollo" concept
means much less weight to lift. I didn't see the buzzword "reusable"
anywhere. I wonder if they plan on just one launch per vehicle.

Karl



Looks like learning may have happened.

Spacecraft ain't airplanes.

Looking as the economics of refurbishing the shuttle, and the
consequences of not quite getting it right, it may be that a
one-time use is actually cheaper that a "reusable".

I wonder if I'll live to see a manned mission to Mars?

Or for that matter, a return to the moon?

--

Richard

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