On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:04:58 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

They are now pressure testing orion, just wasting more money on a
capsule idea that probably wouldnt even be rembered, other than as
another example of government waste........

so why havent they buried the dead horse? its rotting and begining to
stink.........

Orion isn't dead. President Obama reinstated the project in April
(after killing it in February) as a lifeboat for the Space Station.
But both the Senate and House reinstated Orion as a full-fledged
spacecraft as a hedge against SpaceX, Boeing, et. al., failing to
deliver a manned spacecraft. Presumably, if SpaceX or Boeing do
deliver a reliable manned spacecraft, Orion will transition into a
deep-space-only role, which SpaceX and Boeing say their vehicles are
not capable of achieving.

And remember, there really has not been a serious problem with Orion.
It's trials and tribulations to date are almost entirely due to the
ever-declining performance of its launch vehicle, Ares I, forcing one
redesign after another (sound familiar?) Ares I, though, is now
thoroughly deceased with Orion tentatively basedlined on something
like DIRECT or Shuttle-C, but with Atlas V-Heavy a serious option.

Brian