NASA has finally announced the next spaceship to be used for going to the Moon and Mars. This new ship is called Orion and will be produced by Lockheed Martin, who has never made manned spacecraft before, but has worked on unmanned craft. The Orion will be more similar to the Apollo craft rather than the shuttle. It will be capsule shaped and use parachutes for a water landing. If everything works according to schedule, we will be back on the moon by 2020. I think that is shit. If we could go from next to no space travel in 1961, to landing on the Moon in 1969, using the computing power of a digital watch, why can't we be back sooner than 2020?
by the way, the info on the Orion is from the BBC world service, if I'm wrong on anything, it's their fault. The digital watch comment is a slight exaggeration, maybe.A picture can be found here: http://images.scotsman.com/2006/08/31/2006-08-31T202818Z_01_NOOTR_RTRIDSP_2_OUKBS-UK-SPACE-ORION.jpgThat may not be hyperlinked, I know nothing of internet.
Yeah, it was announced a fair bit ago. But some of your info is incorrect, we'll be back to the moon no later than 2014, and to Mars in no later than 2020.
Orion.. why does that remind me of Pikmin?
-ArcStill, 2014 is a long ways off. With the experience we have already going to the moon, plus the incredible advances in computing and engingeering, we could probably be back on the moon in two years if we pushed it. But at the same time, we cannot abandon the space shuttle concept entirely. We need a system for taking cargo and satellites into orbit, and doing things around the Earth. But we need something new, since the shuttles were all built in the 80s using technology from the 70s. The current spacecraft are worn out and obsolete.
The moon is far a way, and so is mars.
There are many reasons why, Shork. For one, they're going to stay longer, and have a bigger crew. The moon is also constantly bombarded by meteorites, and they're currently finding out how much damage they generally do. Additionally, they got to look for good landing spots for setting up a moon outpost. This will probably be on a polar cap, since it has tons of sunlight for most of the year.
"But we need something new, since the shuttles were all built in the 80s using technology from the 70s. The current spacecraft are worn out and obsolete."The Viking space probes are from the 70's, and are currently at the edge of the solar system. Not very obsolete if you ask me.Basically, they need to make sure everything is done right. Money is certainly a factor too.The probes don't carry people, so it doesn't really matter if the old probes are old. The shuttle is too dangerous to use much longer. It needs to be used to finish the space station, then a new design needs to be put into action. The establishment of a long term moon base will take a while, but itt probably won't happen on the first mission. That will probably be a trial run type thing, like how Apollo 11 didn't do much real research work, that came on later missions.
By the way, the French are crashing a probe into the moon this Saturday night, on a mountain near the north pole. You might be able to see it with a good telescope.