NASA's Orion Capsule Reaches Orbit

PaisteUser sends word that NASA's Orion capsule successfully reached orbit this morning after a flawless launch atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket. Video of the launch is available on YouTube, and the Orion Mission blog has frequent updates as mission milestones are reached. Mission managers said the rocket and capsule performed perfectly during the initial phases of the test. "It was just a blast to see how well the rocket did," said Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion program manager. After Orion makes its first circuit around the planet, the rocket's upper stage will kick it into a second, highly eccentric orbit that loops as far as 3,600 miles from Earth. Then Orion will come screaming back into Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 20,000 mph — 80 percent of the velocity that a spacecraft returning from the moon would experience. This particular Orion is missing a lot of the components that would be needed for a crewed flight, and it won't be carrying humans. Instead, it's outfitted with more than 1,200 sensors to monitor how its communication and control systems deal with heightened radiation levels, how its heat shield handles re-entry temperatures that are expected to rise as high as 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and how its parachutes slow the craft down for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Comments

Waste of money and resources

[Lawrence_Bird]

Unfortunately, "because we can" is the primary justification for this project and eventual Mars mission. If one wants to prove they can establish a long term outpost off earth, the moon is far more practical. But there is no compelling reason to doing so on either.

Re:Waste of money and resources

[Immerman]

Actually, not so much. The moon has to deal with a month-long days and extreme temperature fluctuations - admittedly both could be avoided by building on the peaks of eternal light, but that puts you a long way from the only suspected water reserves. And does nothing to help with the clinging, razer-sharp dust that will wreak havoc with every gasket and flexible joint in use, while making exploration extremely difficult (that first step is a doozy).

Mars in contrast has much milder temperatures, an almost perfectly Earth-normal day, nice smooth dust, plenty of water, and all the CO2 and nitrogen you could want delivered right to your doorstep - awesomely useful materials readily convertible to air, food, and all manner of cellulose-based construction materials. And it's only about 7% further away as measured in delta-V*. There's also 57% less solar-based radiation, but since both locations have plenty of dirt you could hide under that probably comes down in the moon's favor - solar panels will be similarly less effective.

* delta-V (km/s) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...
Earth -> LEO: ~9.65 (average)
LEO -> Moon: 5.93
LEO -> Mars transfer orbit: 4.3
Mars Transfer orbit -> Low Mars orbit: 2.7
And since Mars has an atmosphere deorbitting is essentially free.

So
Earth -> Moon: 15.58
Earth -> Mars: 16.65
Difference: 6.9%