Motokid600 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 There is one thing that confuses me. Other then the moon and an asteroid mission... What good is the Orion cmd module for a Mars mission? The Orion obviously doesn't need to go to Mars. The Mars vehicle consists of a tug, a habitat ( which acts as the cmd module ) and the lander. Where does Orion play in? Yes it can bring the crew to the Mars vehicle, but... We have Boeing and SpaceX for our shuttle needs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethon Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 . I challenge anyone to find better footage.I accept your challenge Sir or Madam! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peadar1987 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) There is one thing that confuses me. Other then the moon and an asteroid mission... What good is the Orion cmd module for a Mars mission? The Orion obviously doesn't need to go to Mars. The Mars vehicle consists of a tug, a habitat ( which acts as the cmd module ) and the lander. Where does Orion play in? Yes it can bring the crew to the Mars vehicle, but... We have Boeing and SpaceX for our shuttle needs...Reentry from a Mars-Earth transfer orbit would be the main one. We don't have anything else that can do that right now.Edit: That saves you the need to park your return vehicle in earth orbit, you can just let the habitat burn up in the atmosphere and make your own reentry in the Orion.If we're planning on making many return trips to Mars, it might work out cheaper to reuse the habitat and transfer vehicle, park it in earth orbit after each mission, refuel, and do crew transfer piecemeal with existing LEO spacecraft. If we're only going there a few times, it's probably cheaper just to have a disposable hab module. Edited December 10, 2014 by peadar1987 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motokid600 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Reentry from a Mars-Earth transfer orbit would be the main one. We don't have anything else that can do that right now.Hmm.. at that point all you'd need to bring is the capsule... But even so would a return home be a direct reentry? I always figured they'd burn back into LEO and have the crew get picked up. Meaning the Orion would not be needed for a Mars mission at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 That'd be a waste of a huge amount of Delta-v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motokid600 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) I accept your challenge Sir or Madam! You definitely won in the sound department lol. Real nice. I love raw videosThat'd be a waste of a huge amount of Delta-v.Yea it would. Question... Are the Orion heatshields meant to hold up from interplanetary speeds? Edited December 10, 2014 by Motokid600 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaSilisko Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 There is one thing that confuses me. Other then the moon and an asteroid mission... What good is the Orion cmd module for a Mars mission? The Orion obviously doesn't need to go to Mars. The Mars vehicle consists of a tug, a habitat ( which acts as the cmd module ) and the lander. Where does Orion play in? Yes it can bring the crew to the Mars vehicle, but... We have Boeing and SpaceX for our shuttle needs...Ah, that's the multi-billion dollar question... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Yea it would. Question... Are the Orion heatshields meant to hold up from interplanetary speeds?Yes. tenchars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peadar1987 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Hmm.. at that point all you'd need to bring is the capsule... But even so would a return home be a direct reentry? I always figured they'd burn back into LEO and have the crew get picked up. Meaning the Orion would not be needed for a Mars mission at all.As Kryten said, that would use unnecessary delta-V. It's more mass-efficient to beef up the heat shield for a direct reentry than to carry the extra fuel for a capture burn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaSilisko Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Yes.Technically. It's only rated for return from the moon still, I believe. After they analyze the data from EFT-1 they'll have a better idea of the limits, but a direct entry at martian return speeds would be... tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dkmdlb Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 What good is the Orion cmd module for a Mars mission? The Orion obviously doesn't need to go to Mars.The plan is to build the transfer vehicle/hab in LEO, and then fly the astronauts up in an Orion, and dock it to the front of the transfer vehicle/hab and fly the whole thing to Mars. Once they get there, the astronauts will get back in Orion, and use it to shuttle them over to the lander (which will already be parked in low Martian orbit), and then fly back to the transfer vehicle/hab.When the astronauts return to the transfer vehicle/hab from the surface a few months later and transfer back to earth, the astronauts will get in Orion for re-entry, and let the transfer vehicle/hab fly past the earth into heliocentric orbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motokid600 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I see. I figured the lander would be switched with the Orion in that scenario. I'm all for it... NASA just needs more money to get the ball rolling faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meve12 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I do take it seriouslySeeing as you've mentioned the IXS in a joking manner before, I'm not entirely sure that's the case.Or maybe that's just my hind brain suspecting a Poe's Law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibb31 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I see. I figured the lander would be switched with the Orion in that scenario. I'm all for it... NASA just needs more money to get the ball rolling faster.You need at least two landers. One for cargo, habitation, and some sort of rover, the other for the MAV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickenbacker Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Technically. It's only rated for return from the moon still, I believe. After they analyze the data from EFT-1 they'll have a better idea of the limits, but a direct entry at martian return speeds would be... tricky.It is now, but they have stated that the modular nature of Orion makes it possible to replace the heatshield with an upgraded, thicker and more resilient version that would be able to take reentry at interplanetary velocities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickenbacker Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 There is one thing that confuses me. Other then the moon and an asteroid mission... What good is the Orion cmd module for a Mars mission? The Orion obviously doesn't need to go to Mars. The Mars vehicle consists of a tug, a habitat ( which acts as the cmd module ) and the lander. Where does Orion play in? Yes it can bring the crew to the Mars vehicle, but... We have Boeing and SpaceX for our shuttle needs...Well, technically you could save some weight by leaving the Orion in LEO, but since the Orion is also your reeentry vehicle, that would mean braking into LEO and rendezvousing with the capsule when you get back. Much easier to just bring it along in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotius Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Too bad ATV-derived Service Module doesn't provide additional living space for Orion's crew (due to, y'know - no passable connection between two parts ) ATV's interior was quite spacious, which would be nice for long-duration missions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Too bad ATV-derived Service Module doesn't provide additional living space for Orion's crew (due to, y'know - no passable connection between two parts ) ATV's interior was quite spacious, which would be nice for long-duration missions.I think they're developing the SM from just the propulsion segment of the ATV. If they included the pressurized section as well, the resulting vehicle would be huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotius Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Yeah - entire ATV weighted 20 tons. Still, it's kinda hard to imagine being stuck in the capsule with 2 other guys for month or more. Mars mission with Orion? Pffftt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dkmdlb Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 A crew wouldn't be cooped up inside Orion during the transfer on a Mars mission. NASA's billing of Orion as the spaceship that will take astronauts to Mars irritates me because it's misleading. Orion would go to Mars, but nobody would be riding inside. The crew would be riding inside a nice big Hab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadshot462 Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 NASA is using Orion as a marketing tool to get more support and funding for actual Mars mission hardware. To most of us, a capsule trip to Mars sounds like a bad idea but to most who are not familiar with spaceflight, it's pretty exciting and may bring in new fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethon Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Swim with the divers during Orions' recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airlock Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Just an update. The launch is scheduled for Friday, December 19th at 1:22 PM EST.X MARKS THE SPOT: FALCON 9 ATTEMPTS OCEAN PLATFORM LANDINGhttp://www.spacex.com/news/2014/12/16/x-marks-spot-falcon-9-attempts-ocean-platform-landing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camacha Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Very exciting. This is where all that effort might start paying off - if you discount those neat video clips of the Grasshopper landing on end that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4rt14n Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Looks like a giant dartboard. Hopefully they dont dive in headfirst.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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