Fate of Orion?

I've been looking at the NASA site, and Bolden's announcement says
that Orion is also gone, but there's also other sites say that a
version of Orion may be the new crew vehicle beyond LEO. What's likely
to be the truth? I would prefer that Orion survive and be the
workhorse for whatever exploration path is followed, along with a HLV
(and any thoughts on that-because I doubt strongly that commercial
providers would be able to built a heavy-lift vehicle anytime soon).
Even if Congress agrees with the proposal NASA announced today, they
may direct NASA to have a standby government vehicle in the event
commercial providers fail to deliver, along with a crew vehicle.

On Mon, 1 Feb 2010 12:30:07 -0800 (PST), Matt Wiser
wrote:

I've been looking at the NASA site, and Bolden's announcement says
that Orion is also gone, but there's also other sites say that a
version of Orion may be the new crew vehicle beyond LEO. What's likely
to be the truth? I would prefer that Orion survive and be the
workhorse for whatever exploration path is followed, along with a HLV
(and any thoughts on that-because I doubt strongly that commercial
providers would be able to built a heavy-lift vehicle anytime soon).
Even if Congress agrees with the proposal NASA announced today, they
may direct NASA to have a standby government vehicle in the event
commercial providers fail to deliver, along with a crew vehicle.


From http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1054 :

"....Boeing's crew module concept will be based on previous company
efforts. It will be compatible with multiple launch vehicles and
configurable to carry a mixture of crew and cargo on short-duration
missions to and from the International Space Station, orbital habitats
by Bigelow Aerospace and other future destinations in low Earth orbit.
The size of the system is expected to be larger than the Apollo-era
space capsule.... "



Hmmmm...... Orion is dead. Long live Orion.

On Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:17:53 -0500, Michael Gallagher
wrote:

"....Boeing's crew module concept will be based on previous company
efforts. It will be compatible with multiple launch vehicles and
configurable to carry a mixture of crew and cargo on short-duration
missions to and from the International Space Station, orbital habitats
by Bigelow Aerospace and other future destinations in low Earth orbit.
The size of the system is expected to be larger than the Apollo-era
space capsule.... "



Hmmmm...... Orion is dead. Long live Orion.

LM, Boeing and NG all designed Apollo-like capsules for CEV because
they knew that's what NASA wanted. So presto, we have lots of
Orion-like proposals coming out of the woodwork now.

Brian

On Feb 6, 12:00*pm, Brian Thorn wrote:
On Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:17:53 -0500, Michael Gallagher

wrote:
"....Boeing's crew module concept will be based on previous company
efforts. It will be compatible with multiple launch vehicles and
configurable to carry a mixture of crew and cargo on short-duration
missions to and from the International Space Station, orbital habitats
by Bigelow Aerospace and other future destinations in low Earth orbit.
The size of the system is expected to be larger than the Apollo-era
space capsule.... "

Hmmmm...... * *Orion is dead. *Long live Orion. *

LM, Boeing and NG all designed Apollo-like capsules for CEV because
they knew that's what NASA wanted. So presto, we have lots of
Orion-like proposals coming out of the woodwork now.

Brian

So I'll ask this question then: If (and I do mean IF) Congress directs
NASA to maintain a Government launch capability to LEO, as is their
right under the legislation that says "No cancellation or modification
to Constellation w/o Congressional approval), would Orion be retained,
or just develop a new capsule. I've seen proposals to stick Orion on a
Atlas V Heavy (among other systems), so how long would it take to
human-rate an existing rocket for Orion use to LEO?

On Sat, 6 Feb 2010 18:58:27 -0800 (PST), Matt Wiser
wrote:

So I'll ask this question then: If (and I do mean IF) Congress directs
NASA to maintain a Government launch capability to LEO, as is their
right under the legislation that says "No cancellation or modification
to Constellation w/o Congressional approval), would Orion be retained,
or just develop a new capsule. I've seen proposals to stick Orion on a
Atlas V Heavy (among other systems), so how long would it take to
human-rate an existing rocket for Orion use to LEO?

Delta or Atlas would be ready before Orion will be. And they're
available today for unmanned test flights, abort tests, and
boilerplate launches, etc.

Brian

Brian Thorn writes:

Delta or Atlas would be ready before Orion will be. And they're
available today for unmanned test flights, abort tests, and
boilerplate launches, etc.


Brian,

Does that include the 'heavy' configuration of these rockets?

Dave

David Spain wrote:

Does that include the 'heavy' configuration of these rockets?

Dave

We've got a few Delta IV Heavy launches under our belt.
No Atlas V Heavy has ever been built, and we don't even have a pad built
to launch them from.

Pat

Pat Flannery writes:

We've got a few Delta IV Heavy launches under our belt.
No Atlas V Heavy has ever been built, and we don't even have a pad built to
launch them from.

Might I suggest KSC 39C Pad B is available now & Pad A soon?

David Spain wrote:
Pat Flannery writes:

We've got a few Delta IV Heavy launches under our belt.
No Atlas V Heavy has ever been built, and we don't even have a pad built to
launch them from.

Might I suggest KSC 39C Pad B is available now & Pad A soon?

If they stick it on anything else other than a Ares I, it would probably
be the Delta IV Heavy.
Since United Launch Alliance was formed, they may never develop the
Atlas V Heavy, as it could be seen as duplicating the capabilities of a
already existing rocket.

Pat

On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:55:35 -0500, David Spain
wrote:

Delta or Atlas would be ready before Orion will be. And they're
available today for unmanned test flights, abort tests, and
boilerplate launches, etc.

Does that include the 'heavy' configuration of these rockets?

Delta IV-Heavy is already in service (first flight: Dec 2004.)
Lockheed-Martin claimed Atlas V-Heavy could be available in something
like 30 months from go-ahead. Pat is technically correct that we don't
have a pad for Atlas V-Heavy, but I'm pretty sure "Me" has indicated
the Cape's Pad 41 was built with the -Heavy in mind and wouldn't be a
major effort to upgrade for the -Heavy.

Brian