

NASA astronauts to fly Orion spacecraft into deep space - erickhill
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9217027/NASA_astronauts_to_fly_Orion_spacecraft_into_deep_space

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hugh3
Another article with prettier pictures:

<http://dvice.com/archives/2011/05/nasa-unveils-ne.php>

I suppose that at the very least this new design solves the "looks too much
like Apollo" problem of the old Orion.

Other weirdness: given that it's supposedly designed for "deep space", why
does the design spec only call for it to support astronauts for "up to 21
days"? Heck, even Gemini 7 lasted nearly 14 days, and that was with two people
in a capsule smaller than a fat guy's pants.

Also, do we have a rocket to launch this thing yet? Wasn't Ares cancelled?
What do we stick it on?

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burgerbrain
Anyone keen on a longbet that SpaceX still beats them there?

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hugh3
This sounds like bad news for SpaceX. Apparently NASA has decided (no doubt
under pressure from the senators for whatever-states-these-things-get-built-
in) to go back to building its own manned capsules. For a while it looked like
they were going to subcontract the basic put-dude-in-orbit missions to SpaceX,
but I guess not.

NASA has a way of making things sound much lamer than they should be. Hey,
y'know what's a good name for a spaceship? Dragon! Y'know what's a bad name
for a spaceship? Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle!

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zeemonkee
The sad thing is that most likely, nothing will come of it. They'll be the
usual "in 10-20 years" bullshit (i.e. some time way beyond the current
Congressional sitting/Presidential term of office) and the whole thing will
get quietly cancelled.

