NASA and Boeing Busy Testing Next-Generation Space Capsules

[Indy Vidual]

It’s been a busy seven days in the world of space capsule testing, with both Boeing and NASA taking steps toward the eventual first missions of their CST-100 and Orion spacecraft. NASA’s Orion program managed to test phases of the re-entry process with a water impact and parachute test of the capsule designed for taking humans beyond Earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo era.



In related news:

 

[John F Kennedy III]

What will these be used for?

 

[Indy Vidual]

NASA appears to (somehow) be finding money to continue a fresh round of space missions, including...
...test of the capsule designed for taking humans beyond Earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo era.

What will these be used for?

Not sure how we can afford it, but they seem to have big plans for "going back to the moon", etc.

 

[Natural Citizen]

NASA's Orion Spacecraft Comes to Life

"Orion will take humans farther than we've ever been before, and in just about a year we're going to send the Orion test vehicle into space," said Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development in Washington. "The work we're doing now, the momentum we're building, is going to carry us on our first trip to an asteroid and eventually to Mars.

"It's been an exciting ride so far, but we're really getting to the good part now," said Mark Geyer, Orion program manager. "This is where we start to see the finish line. Our team across the country has been working hard to build the hardware that goes into Orion, and now the vehicle and all our plans are coming to life."

Throughout the past year, custom-designed components have been arriving at Kennedy for installation on the spacecraft -- more than 66,000 parts so far. The crew module portion already has undergone testing to ensure it will withstand the extremes of the space environment. Preparation also continues on the service module and launch abort system that will be integrated next year with the Orion crew module for the flight test.

The completed Orion spacecraft will be installed on a Delta IV heavy rocket for EFT-1. NASA is also developing a new rocket, the Space Launch System, which will power subsequent missions into deep space, beginning with Exploration Mission-1 in 2017.

Project... http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/index.html

 

[Natural Citizen]

What will these be used for?

Orion will utilize advances in propulsion, communications, life support, structural design, navigation and power, drawing from the extensive space flight experience of NASA and its industry partners. With destinations including near-Earth asteroids, our own Moon, the moons of Mars and eventually Mars itself, Orion will carry astronauts into a new era of exploration.

Many of these things that Orion will utilize has come into discussion in the generel public and a good bit can be found in the technology sub forum here. Of course, a good bit of neat stuff is probably still buried in other sections though since it was posted before we had that sub-forum but it is what it is, I suppose. Specifically propulsion and communication, navigation and power because they are most relevant to short term scope.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/617408main_fs_2011-12-058-jsc_orion_quickfacts.pdf

 

[luctor-et-emergo]

Not to justify the inefficiency and immorality of government spending, but there are worse things government spends money on. NASA is what ? Like 0.5% of the budget ? Lately I hear liberals talk about how fast-food chains drive up the taxpayer cost because all the fast-food workers rely on government aid to make ends meet. Even though it's probably not as efficient as private enterprise, this Orion program does attempt to discover what we can do about asteroid impacts, which I think is quite useful to everyone on this planet.

On the technical side, I love that they are addressing safety as a major issue now. I don't know whether the abort system would be a 'fun ride' but it does look promising. Overall if you look at the challenges that deep space exploration brings with it there will have to be some major scientific breakthroughs when everything is developed. Specifically with food medical issues like bone degradation. Really interesting stuff..