Orion!

[Mindlight]

The 6 billion it would cost to get to Mars could be spent somewhere else right here on Earth to help
people in need.
This Mars pipe dream is all fantasy and a big waste of money.!

A culture is defined by its highest aspirations. Exceptional advances will ultimately help the poorest and most disadvantaged also. A great many good innovations have come out of space travel. Also have others have said the energy, mineral and even water resources of our solar system could benefit us all. Militarily space cannot be ignored as command and control systems are space dependent and in the near future private space firms will develop a space capability that may be profitable also. Do we hand space to pirates and adventurers or do maintain some kind of semblance of law and order out there. If America does not get to Mars then other nations are already planning the same. The prestige that came from the Apollo missions arguably set up American supremacy for 3 decades. A Mars success may do the same. I am excited about the Orion programme but I fear that the pace is way too slow and with a little more finance and political will much more could be accomplished so much faster. America has the advantage and it is letting the accountants strangle it!

 

[52ndStreet]

You and others with this insane notion that a trip to Mars is worth it, fail to realize the dangers that this
mission has. Number 1 the astronauts would have to stay for 3 months until an orbital window opens
for the return journey back to earth, which is not even guaranteed, given that once they all land on Mars they
would not be able to lift off for the trip back to Earth, given the gravity on Mars and return fuel constraints.
Number two the journey to Mars would take 9 months! going and coming back the Earth!!.

So you and others are willing to risk the lives of 3 to 5 astronauts all on account of national pride and
scientific innovation?. NASA currently does not have a return to Earth trip space craft.!
And many missions to Mars skipped off the Martian orbit into deep space and are lost forever!!.
The mission could fail on the way there and when they try to get back to Earth.!!
Is this all still worth 6 to 15 billion in your opinion?.
I would think not.

 

[Roadrunner]

all this talk about Mars mission is all hogwash and a waste of good money.!

Yes, it could all be spent on welfare.

 

[Roadrunner]

First of all the telemetry to get to Mars is so large that it allows to much room for error. 2nd it would take
to long to get their, about a year. 3rd once you land on the Martian surface you would be to heavy to escape
the Martian gravity for lift off for the trip back to Earth. In essence you have all the ingredients for a suicide
mission, which is what any trip to Mars would be when you analize all the paramaters of such a mission.!

You told the Wright Brothers they wouldn't get that thing off the ground too, didn't you?
Fess up!

 

[mamooth]

Baby steps. Landing on Mars, extremely tough. We go to Phobos first, the inner moon of Mars. No atmosphere and miniscule gravity, so getting back off is no problem. Use that as practice to perfect the long-distance journey, and start setting up Phobos Base as a stepping stone to Mars.

 

[ScienceRocks]

If we're going to get back our number one title, we have to want it. Spending on science, tech and education is how we do it.

You anti-science people are as bad it gets and hate this country.

 

[Mindlight]

You and others with this insane notion that a trip to Mars is worth it, fail to realize the dangers that this
mission has. Number 1 the astronauts would have to stay for 3 months until an orbital window opens
for the return journey back to earth, which is not even guaranteed, given that once they all land on Mars they
would not be able to lift off for the trip back to Earth, given the gravity on Mars and return fuel constraints.
Number two the journey to Mars would take 9 months! going and coming back the Earth!!.

So you and others are willing to risk the lives of 3 to 5 astronauts all on account of national pride and
scientific innovation?. NASA currently does not have a return to Earth trip space craft.!
And many missions to Mars skipped off the Martian orbit into deep space and are lost forever!!.
The mission could fail on the way there and when they try to get back to Earth.!!
Is this all still worth 6 to 15 billion in your opinion?.
I would think not.

The return to Earth craft could be fuelled by creating fuel on the planet itself from water ice. Better radiation shielding some kind of rotation of the space craft on the transit flights could resolve loss of gravity issue. Any astronaut would be prepared to stake their lives on being included in the team but bringing them back is important. None of the problems you mentioned are insoluable. A society should not be built on its worst case scenarios and in accordance with its lowest common denominator

 

[Mindlight]

all this talk about Mars mission is all hogwash and a waste of good money.!

Yes, it could all be spent on welfare.

Welfare is a necessary symptom of failure. America can spare a couple of hundred billion from its multiple trillion dollar welfare budget to do something worthwhile.

Even poor families save up for the occasional treat and the hope of that that can make hard times worthwhile.

The difference between a culture of aspiration and vision and one of poverty and failure is profound though.

 

[Politico]

Not only that Oldrocks, but the resources of space are limitless. Only someone truly clueless would start with the premise that the earth is the only place with resources. There's more fresh water on Europa than on earth! Lastly, exploring space is something humanity needs to do just like walking out of Africa.

We can't risk going to Europa. We were told to stay away from there.

The mission itself went well. It went up, orbited, came back down, and the Navy is now hauling it into the well deck of their ship.

There is a standard propulsion part that attaches to the Orion capsule. And depending on the mission, there could be a bigger propulsion part attached. The capsule itself is quite a bit larger and roomier than the Apollo capsules.

Bigger or not, at the end of the day it is same old tired design.

 

[westwall]

Here's the video of the launch.

Embedded media from this media site is no longer available

 

[52ndStreet]

You and others with this insane notion that a trip to Mars is worth it, fail to realize the dangers that this
mission has. Number 1 the astronauts would have to stay for 3 months until an orbital window opens
for the return journey back to earth, which is not even guaranteed, given that once they all land on Mars they
would not be able to lift off for the trip back to Earth, given the gravity on Mars and return fuel constraints.
Number two the journey to Mars would take 9 months! going and coming back the Earth!!.

So you and others are willing to risk the lives of 3 to 5 astronauts all on account of national pride and
scientific innovation?. NASA currently does not have a return to Earth trip space craft.!
And many missions to Mars skipped off the Martian orbit into deep space and are lost forever!!.
The mission could fail on the way there and when they try to get back to Earth.!!
Is this all still worth 6 to 15 billion in your opinion?.
I would think not.

The return to Earth craft could be fuelled by creating fuel on the planet itself from water ice. Better radiation shielding some kind of rotation of the space craft on the transit flights could resolve loss of gravity issue. Any astronaut would be prepared to stake their lives on being included in the team but bringing them back is important. None of the problems you mentioned are insoluable. A society should not be built on its worst case scenarios and in accordance with its lowest common denominator

What about the astronauts first night on Mars?. With an average temperature of -189 degress below zero.
Mind you they have to endure 3 months of -189 degress. How will they eat ,shower , and use the bathroom
in -189 degree temperature for three months?

You people are not looking the real issues of this Mars mission. You are all like children, just wanting some
insane prize without looking at the real cost and issues involved.

With all the risk, and costs involved, a trip to Mars is not worth it nor would it be logical.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

any mission to Mars wouldbe a suicide mission because once you land on Mars the gravity would be as such not to allow you to lift offtkae all this

The Martian gravity is significantly lower than Earth's gravity. The mission guys would be absolutely certain to calculate the necessary thrust to achieve escape velocity.

The suggestion that going there would be a one way trip (on the basis of gravity) is simply 52nsGutter's unapologetic ignorance.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

You and others with this insane notion that a trip to Mars is worth it, fail to realize the dangers that this
mission has. Number 1 the astronauts would have to stay for 3 months until an orbital window opens
for the return journey back to earth, which is not even guaranteed, given that once they all land on Mars they
would not be able to lift off for the trip back to Earth, given the gravity on Mars and return fuel constraints.
Number two the journey to Mars would take 9 months! going and coming back the Earth!!.

So you and others are willing to risk the lives of 3 to 5 astronauts all on account of national pride and
scientific innovation?. NASA currently does not have a return to Earth trip space craft.!
And many missions to Mars skipped off the Martian orbit into deep space and are lost forever!!.
The mission could fail on the way there and when they try to get back to Earth.!!
Is this all still worth 6 to 15 billion in your opinion?.
I would think not.

The return to Earth craft could be fuelled by creating fuel on the planet itself from water ice. Better radiation shielding some kind of rotation of the space craft on the transit flights could resolve loss of gravity issue. Any astronaut would be prepared to stake their lives on being included in the team but bringing them back is important. None of the problems you mentioned are insoluable. A society should not be built on its worst case scenarios and in accordance with its lowest common denominator

What about the astronauts first night on Mars?. With an average temperature of -189 degress below zero.
Mind you they have to endure 3 months of -189 degress. How will they eat ,shower , and use the bathroom
in -189 degree temperature for three months?

You people are not looking the real issues of this Mars mission. You are all like children, just wanting some
insane prize without looking at the real cost and issues involved.

With all the risk, and costs involved, a trip to Mars is not worth it nor would it be logical.

They would not be camping out under the stars, you appallingly ignorant lummox.

 

[westwall]

The first mission to Mars has been suggested as a one way mission. The idea being it would be a crew that would begin building a more permanent facility that could support life for extended periods of time. Thus the emphasis would be on building materials and supplies.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

The first mission to Mars has been suggested as a one way mission. The idea being it would be a crew that would begin building a more permanent facility that could support life for extended periods of time. Thus the emphasis would be on building materials and supplies.

Good post. But if that concept is followed for such a mission, it would be a matter of choice. It would NOT be because there would be no way to fashion a return-trip mission.

TAKING the necessary fuel to Mars for the lift off and maybe for the return flight to Earth would indeed pose a problem. The shit's heavy. But that's vastly different than the sub-moron claim made by 52ndGutter that it would be impossible or that it would have to be a suicide mission.

 

[westwall]

The first mission to Mars has been suggested as a one way mission. The idea being it would be a crew that would begin building a more permanent facility that could support life for extended periods of time. Thus the emphasis would be on building materials and supplies.

Good post. But if that concept is followed for such a mission, it would be a matter of choice. It would NOT be because there would be no way to fashion a return-trip mission.

TAKING the necessary fuel to Mars for the lift off and maybe for the return flight to Earth would indeed pose a problem. The shit's heavy. But that's vastly different than the sub-moron claim made by 52ndGutter that it would be impossible or that it would have to be a suicide mission.

That's correct. It would be a totally voluntary mission, and yes, 52nd's comments are very ill informed.

 

[Desperado]

Feels like a giant step backward flying capsules again. The really sad part is that it will be another seven years before American Astronauts will be launched into space in it.

 

[52ndStreet]

My comments are based on scientific studies that have be done on a possible mission to Mars. They have all stated that the risk and cost of such a mission to Mars
makes the mission impractical or just to risky. There would be no real time communication, in case something goes wrong, because of the vast distance between Earth and
Mars. The astronauts would be on their own, if there is a problem with telemetry they would be off course by millions of miles in a matter of minutes.
And right now NASA has not developed a return vehicle for the journey.!
The mission to Mars would just be to dangerous and risky as it stands now.Accept this as scientific fact.!!

 

[Desperado]

My comments are based on scientific studies that have be done on a possible mission to Mars. They have all stated that the risk and cost of such a mission to Mars
makes the mission impractical or just to risky. There would be no real time communication, in case something goes wrong, because of the vast distance between Earth and
Mars. The astronauts would be on their own, if there is a problem with telemetry they would be off course by millions of miles in a matter of minutes.
And right now NASA has not developed a return vehicle for the journey.!
The mission to Mars would just be to dangerous and risky as it stands now.Accept this as scientific fact.!!

Exploration is always risky.....
The early sea faring explorers looking for the new world faced some of the same problems. Nothing is 100% risk free

 

[IlarMeilyr]

It was risky going to the moon, too. In fact, I seem to recall sumpin' about Apollo 13 going "bam!" en route TO the moon. Made getting back home a bit fucking dicey.

Yes. I'm sure I recall that. And I recall Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II and Roger B. Chaffee dying in a launch pad fire prior to what would have been an Apollo I test flight.

Who knew? Space exploration can be dangerous. Sure glad 52ndGutter is here to report these previously unknown details, facts and concerns.