Orion: From Factory to Flight

[gary]

A seven minute, forty-second promotional video on the development of the
Orion spacecraft, including showing the testing of the launch abort system that
applies 500,000 pounds of thrust and goes from 0 to 450 mph (724km/h) in 2 seconds!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUh6i...feature=relmfu

[Logieberra (Logan)]

Thanks for sharing Gary. A great vid.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Fantastic video Gary I can't wait for its first operational mission.

[Max Vondel (Peter)]

Great inspirational stuff
Thanks............

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Man / Woman made machines.. awsome , ours .
Makes me proud .
Brian.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

I'm sorry to sound negative, but aren't we passed the stage of Apollo style capsules and splashdowns in the ocean?

I would have expected the Shuttle missions to teach us how to build craft that land on runways and are totally re-usable.
There seems to be a hell of a lot of blow-away parts on this (as was with Apollo).
The way private enterprise is advancing it has more to offer than NASA.

I can't get excited by this step backwards to the days of the 1960's and 70's.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

I'm sorry to sound negative, but aren't we passed the stage of Apollo style capsules and splashdowns in the ocean?

I would have expected the Shuttle missions to teach us how to build craft that land on runways and are totally re-usable.

Ken it's all down to cost. The shuttles never got to be an economic proposition. Making them reusable meant they had to be more sturdy than a use once craft, which meant they had to be heavier, which made them more expensive to launch and had to be thoroughly checked out before reuse.

A use once craft just gets recycled when it returns. The ocean is a lot softer than a runway and you don't have to take landing gear into orbit.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

Ken it's all down to cost. The shuttles never got to be an economic proposition. Making them reusable meant they had to be more sturdy than a use once craft, which meant they had to be heavier, which made them more expensive to launch and had to be thoroughly checked out before reuse.

A use once craft just gets recycled when it returns. The ocean is a lot softer than a runway and you don't have to take landing gear into orbit.

All good and valid points Andrew.
Thanks.
It still seems like a backward step in this day and age though.
But I definitely see your point