Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Corsair on October 14, 2005, 04:40:24 pm

Title: Back to Space
Post by: Corsair on October 14, 2005, 04:40:24 pm: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/10/14/space.shuttle.reut/index.html

They're talking May 2006... and meanwhile, snail's pace on a replacement for the shuttle.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Grey Wolf on October 14, 2005, 04:47:03 pm: They're ditching the concept of reusable spacecraft. Back to Apollo-style capsules.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Descenter on October 14, 2005, 04:48:11 pm: I personally like the 'gilder' idea with the shuttle myself, besides being reusable.

[Edit] better yet they should keep the shuttle for launches into space from earth and design a new interplanetary vehicle that can be launched from space.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Grey Wolf on October 14, 2005, 04:50:46 pm: It has a marked tendency to consume money, however. I'm actually intrigued more by the CEV concept, as, unlike the Shuttle, it's a true interplanetary vehicle. The Shuttle had orbital capability, but nothing more.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: aldo_14 on October 14, 2005, 05:28:56 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Grey Wolf
They're ditching the concept of reusable spacecraft. Back to Apollo-style capsules.

Absolutely no technical advance, I notice; just go back to the same old recycled 1960s ideas.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Grey Wolf on October 14, 2005, 05:56:08 pm: It's actually a hybrid of the Shuttle's launch design with the Apollo-type capsule, which has been enhanced and made larger.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: aldo_14 on October 14, 2005, 06:06:58 pm: Exactly. Solid state rockets; same base principles as 40 years ago. To me, just slapping a bigger rocket on doesn't constitute a particularly major advance....
Title: Back to Space
Post by: achtung on October 14, 2005, 06:14:01 pm: Who said it was a major advance? :p

It was a good concept then and still is. The only real reason we started using the shuttle was it's docking bay so if the ruskies started making moves we could have the higher ground.
Nukes from space anyone?:D
Title: Back to Space
Post by: FireCrack on October 14, 2005, 06:15:57 pm: I agree with aldo.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Grey Wolf on October 14, 2005, 06:17:42 pm: Your post combined with your sig is quite amusing.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: mikhael on October 14, 2005, 07:50:51 pm: If it gets the US back into space, I'll back it.

That's why I cheer every chinese mission that goes up. Each and every one is a slap in NASA, and by extension, the Administration's, collective faces.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Bobboau on October 14, 2005, 07:55:50 pm: "and she's buying... a stairway... to heaven"
Title: Back to Space
Post by: FireCrack on October 14, 2005, 08:39:49 pm: eh?
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Grey Wolf on October 14, 2005, 09:12:18 pm: It's a reference to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" being used to symbolize NASA's, or perhaps humanity's, return to space.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Trivial Psychic on October 14, 2005, 10:49:05 pm: I wonder if they're gonna do splash-down Apollo style, or something a little more sophisticated.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: FireCrack on October 14, 2005, 10:57:01 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Grey Wolf
It's a reference to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" being used to symbolize NASA's, or perhaps humanity's, return to space.

Well.. that much i get... but it just kinda seemed like an odd thing to say...
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Bobboau on October 14, 2005, 10:57:27 pm: actualy it was an ever more obscure reference to the orbital elivator.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Grey Wolf on October 14, 2005, 10:58:36 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Trivial Psychic
I wonder if they're gonna do splash-down Apollo style, or something a little more sophisticated.
They had a glider model (Lockheed Martin, I believe), but I think that lost.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: StratComm on October 14, 2005, 11:15:06 pm: By "a little more sophisticated" I hope you're not expecting more than parachute descent to Vandenburg or somewhere in the Nevada desert. From what I understand, the thing's a silent nod to the effectiveness of the Soyez.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: Trivial Psychic on October 14, 2005, 11:25:14 pm: Actually, I was thinking someting more like the para-foil design they had planned for the Emergency Crew Return Vehicle before it was scrapped. The para-foil allows controlled gliding for some distance, and since some of the downward force of the drop is converted into forward momemtum, it should make for a softer, more controlled landing.
Title: Back to Space
Post by: StratComm on October 14, 2005, 11:40:34 pm: Unfortunately the new CEV is a real throwback as far as appearance and re-entry characteristics are concerned. Apollo-style up one side and down the other.