On Apr 16, 11:30�am, Pat Flannery wrote:
On 4/15/2010 10:16 PM, Neil Fraser wrote:





What is the justification behind resurrecting the Orion capsule as a
lifeboat? �Normally the vehicle that brings the crew to the station is
also the vehicle that serves as the lifeboat. �Reasons I can think of
a
* SpaceX and other commercial players are having trouble making their
capsules last for 6 months in space. �Thus their vehicles would come
and go, leaving the crew to rely on the lifeboat.
* An insurance policy in case commercial players fail to provide a
vehicle. �In this case NASA could refit the lifeboat with an escape
tower for crew launch.
* A get-ahead for a later full-up deep-space version of Orion.
* A jobs program to placate the recent protests and lobbying.
* A result of huge contract termination penalties which make
completing Orion Lite about the same cost as cancelling it.

Any other ideas?

Orion can carry six astronauts, Soyuz only three.
So you need two Soyuz to evacuate the whole ISS crew, but only one Orion.

Pat- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

2 capsule for evac is better.

What if the part of the station where the evac capsule is located gets
destroyed.

then all the crew die

orion has no launcher.

NASA should do what it should of done on day 1 post columbia.

Use existing delta and atlas heavies!