I still have some doubts about the Orion capsule. Granted, it is based on a proven technology. But I think we've learned since that we can move on from Apollo-era technology and make a more capable vehicle. Orion will be safe, sure, but it won't be as capable even as the Shuttle ended up being, much less what it was originally intended to be.
A new, clean-sheet heavy-lift booster will be a godsend. Hopefully it really WILL be a clean-sheet design, rather than being cobbled together from adapted Shuttle components as Constellation was — and in particular, hopefully it won't be based upon those infernal Morton-Thiokol solids.
My question is, are they just gonna shake up the bits in Constellation and dump them back out? or are they gonna do it RIGHT and go to Burt or Buzz or somebody who (a) isn't politically hamstrung and (b) knows WTF they're DOING and say "make me a brand new rocket"?
Because if they're just going back to the usual suspects, we don't need that crap. Turbopumps and other crap are massively complex and have no place in a modern spacecraft. KISS.
I think we can get to Mars, safely, by 2030. I do agree we have to go via the Moon. But it ain't gonna be by feeding the same boondoggle that got us a mankilling bucket of bolts in the first place.
Disclaimer: I was System Admin/Data Validation on UARS, STS-48 (Discovery); my da before me was Range/Range-Rate on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo through 13. I was a damn poor rat when Challenger went up. I saw the blank stares of the AE's as they watched their careers disappear in a ball of smoke. Obviously I have some pretty strong feelings about what Spiro T. Agnew committed....
I have one friend who is a lead in the primary robotic arm that the shuttle uses. He seemed to think this is a good thing, because NASA should be focusing more on the applications and problem solutions once IN space. Not on the hassles of getting there.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I still have some doubts about the Orion capsule. Granted, it is based on a proven technology. But I think we've learned since that we can move on from Apollo-era technology and make a more capable vehicle. Orion will be safe, sure, but it won't be as capable even as the Shuttle ended up being, much less what it was originally intended to be.
A new, clean-sheet heavy-lift booster will be a godsend. Hopefully it really WILL be a clean-sheet design, rather than being cobbled together from adapted Shuttle components as Constellation was — and in particular, hopefully it won't be based upon those infernal Morton-Thiokol solids.
no subject
Because if they're just going back to the usual suspects, we don't need that crap. Turbopumps and other crap are massively complex and have no place in a modern spacecraft. KISS.
I think we can get to Mars, safely, by 2030. I do agree we have to go via the Moon. But it ain't gonna be by feeding the same boondoggle that got us a mankilling bucket of bolts in the first place.
Disclaimer: I was System Admin/Data Validation on UARS, STS-48 (Discovery); my da before me was Range/Range-Rate on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo through 13. I was a damn poor rat when Challenger went up. I saw the blank stares of the AE's as they watched their careers disappear in a ball of smoke. Obviously I have some pretty strong feelings about what Spiro T. Agnew committed....
no subject