Official Orion Launch Thread - 12-4-14

[Tommygun]

Just watched it on youtube. Dear god don't look at the comments...

Youtube comments need to be banned as a human rights violation.

[rodion_herrera]

Who cares if it is poor coverage.

I'm not an American, but I believe that one of the things that drives or determines your space program's budget is PUBLIC SUPPORT. It's been more than 40 years since the Apollo missions, surely the technology to have better video/TV coverage would be there, if only to let the public experience such a historic event in the best quality possible (and I do believe the technology is around, like I said in my earlier post, because they used such technology to stream the Abbottabad Bin Ladin raid to the white house in real time), to instill their support and positive opinion towards future manned space exploration missions. It's a sad thing to say, but yes, eyecandy for public consumption is a necessity to get the funds rolling in.

[Motokid600]

I do agree there needs to be extensive coverage for public interest. Cameras. Cameras everywhere.

Side note. They just said in the briefing that they won't get the capsule back to the KSC until Christmas. So why did they chose to land in the Pacific? Why not make that apogee burn a little later and land in the Gulf or right off the shore of Florida in the Atlantic?

[ANWRocketMan]

If you mean your rocket is wobbly, try this: make your root part the main booster tank.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/98033-Realism-Overhaul-Discussion-Thread?p=1553798&viewfull=1#post1553798

Nope. Not what I meant. What tends to happen it seems is as the engines at the bottom gimball the directional force rotates as it should, but it also tends to move the cockpit out of the airstream to a large enough degree that it starts wasting fuel or becomes aerodynamically unstable.

[Kryten]

Side note. They just said in the briefing that they won't get the capsule back to the KSC until Christmas. So why did they chose to land in the Pacific? Why not make that apogee burn a little later and land in the Gulf or right off the shore of Florida in the Atlantic?

Pacific is the plan for operational flights; bigger margin of error.

[Motokid600]

Makes sense I suppose. Shame it takes so long to truck it across the country.

[Sandworm]

I do agree there needs to be extensive coverage for public interest. Cameras. Cameras everywhere.

State secrets. So much of rocket tech lies behind classified doors that publicly-viewable cameras are a problem. They cannot be turned on until everything is buttoned up. It's not the spacecraft itself so much as things like antennae, which by their shape give away their purpose and frequencies. Remember that this rocket's real job is launching giant spy sats (ie all those NRO launches).

Edited December 5, 2014 by Sandworm

[Motokid600]

I remember this clip from Space Brothers... Skip to 6 minutes in. Let's hope this NEVER happens in the future.

That was made back when the Orion was gonna land on the ground.. Kinda scary. But I love this anime. Highly recommended. It basically takes place in a world where the constellation program was never cancelled.

[Newt]

Rodion, I see your point. I guess it boils down to guessing how you can get public support. NASA and the USA government have the technology to do a better live stream, I am certain. They just do not have the infrastructure, or they did not use the infrastructure.

As I see it, most of the serious space exploration aficionados got their interest more by ideas of exploration and discovery, often despite poor quality coverage of live events (i.e. watching Apollo missions on tiny black and whit TV's), but as is the case in many things we mostly hear the stories of those who are on the extremes; in this case those who love space exploration and those who greatly oppose it, not those who either passively and nonvocally support or oppose it. Those people probably make up the bulk of the public, not just in the USA but everywhere. How do you convince those people to support that space travel is worthwhile? I have no idea.

But I guess that there is a case to make that some of those people will be turned off by tacky video stream, and that NASA, and the other space agencies, should try to themselves well at all times, and in all media outlets. Spacex certainly has gotten much support through publicity, and you can see the contrast in support for it versus support for less public outreach oriented companies. Its worth trying a bit harder.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Newt

[Nibb31]

Makes sense I suppose. Shame it takes so long to truck it across the country.

There is no hurry. It's only going to a museum.

[Motokid600]

There is no hurry. It's only going to a museum.

I take it they retrieve all the data and make all their examinations before it gets to the KSC then?

[Nibb31]

I do agree there needs to be extensive coverage for public interest. Cameras. Cameras everywhere.

EFT-1 = Engineering Flight Test.

NASA doesn't have an infinitely extensible budget. Neither do their comms with the capsule have infinite bandwidth. The priority will always be on telemetry data. PR is secondary. The views out of the window weren't that valuable in terms of engineering data anyway.

Don't worry though, I'm pretty sure those GoPros were recording HD. When the capsule gets back, they can pop out the SD Cards and upload the clips to YouTube.

[Nibb31]

I take it they retrieve all the data and make all their examinations before it gets to the KSC then?

It probably goes to KSC or JSC for forensics. Then it gets refurbed and probably gets offered to the Smithsonian.

[TythosEternal]

Pacific is the plan for operational flights; bigger margin of error.

Bigger ocean, better weather, milder currents, and easier access to post-recovery tequila.

[Tommygun]

It probably goes to KSC or JSC for forensics. Then it gets refurbed and probably gets offered to the Smithsonian.

I was thinking the Smithsonian may want the first manned Orion though.

[B787_300]

I think it will be offered to Houston or KSCVC first then get offered to the Smithsonian

[Sandworm]

I was thinking the Smithsonian may want the first manned Orion though.

Too bad the Orion is meant to be reusable. The museums can can have them in 30+ years after dozens of flights, like shuttle. Or, perhaps, maybe, they will drop this reusability farce and just admit these are single use vehicles.

[gutza1]

There is no hurry. It's only going to a museum.

Actually, the capsule that just flew is going to be launched again for a launch abort test.

[Tommygun]

Oh that's right, I forgot about them being reused.

[B787_300]

i dont really think they can easily be reused... water damage on the HS will be pretty extensive

[gooddog15]

I would think that they would make the heatshield detachable when performing maintenance. Also in this instance, the heatshield has a ablative coating, making it non-reusable

[magnemoe]

i dont really think they can easily be reused... water damage on the HS will be pretty extensive

That depend on who parts get exposed to water, the part of the pod who is not under pressure still need protection from reentry so you can not have huge openings near the bottom, if you design a bit smart you should be able to keep water out.

[cantab]

The heatshield's just one bit. No reason it can't be replaced.

[RocketPilot573]

Got to see the launch this morning on NASA-TV. And whew, what a launch! Had to leave after that though... But good to hear that it landed in one piece!

Was defiantly thinking "Needs MOAR Boosters!!!" when I saw the altitude was dropping during orbital insertion. And that BBQ.

[Nibb31]

Too bad the Orion is meant to be reusable. The museums can can have them in 30+ years after dozens of flights, like shuttle. Or, perhaps, maybe, they will drop this reusability farce and just admit these are single use vehicles.

They are burnt up and dunked in salt water, including thrusters, valves, and sensors. It uses pyros and parachutes, which need to be replaced, so refurbishing it is impractical. You're better off rebuilding a new one and refurbishing some of the equipment inside.

With one flight every two years, it's not like the flight rate is going to make it worthwhile to refurbish the capsules.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Nibb31