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Nasa's New Mega Rocket for Deep Space Will Be Launch Ready by 2018

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posted on Aug, 30 2014 @ 11:21 PM
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The SLS is here, ATS! In my efforts to take a break from the Doom and Gloom, I want to bring some good news to your attention. The Space Launch System or SLS is the largest rocket ever built and will send astronauts farther into Space than ever before.



It's possible that the Space Launch System rocket test flight could launch as early as December 2017, but NASA officials have committed to having the rocket ready for flight be the end of 2018 to be safe. That extra wiggle room should let the space agency cope with scheduling and funding issues as they crop up in the future, NASA officials said in a teleconference with reporters.

The SLS will be the largest rocket ever constructed and it is designed to send humans deeper into space than ever before. The huge launcher — which will stand at 400-feet-tall (122 meters) in its final configuration — could deliver NASA astronauts to an asteroid and even Mars sometime in the future. [See images of NASA's SLS rocket design]


The best news is that SLS will take humans to Mars where we'll find life! Only that life will be colonists living in the MarsOne colony.....! Lol!

www.space.com...



posted on Aug, 30 2014 @ 11:52 PM
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originally posted by: lostbook
The best news is that SLS will take humans to Mars where we'll find life! Only that life will be colonists living in the MarsOne colony.....! Lol!

www.space.com...


+1 .. loved that comment. All the really exciting stuff will be happening as I am dying



posted on Aug, 30 2014 @ 11:58 PM
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I thought when you said space launch system that NASA has finally found a way to build and launch rockets from space, hence making efficient use of fuel. This sounds like just a bigger rocket with bigger payload. Hardly efficient. So much fuel wasted fighting gravity.
edit on 30-8-2014 by f0xbat because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 30 2014 @ 11:59 PM
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originally posted by: f0xbat
I thought when you said space launch system that NASA has finally found a way to build and launch rockets from space, hence making efficient use of fuel. This sounds like just a bigger rocket with bigger payload. Hardly efficient. So much fuel wasted fighting gravity.


Anything built and launched from space would still require the material getting to space from Earth ...



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 12:05 AM
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a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I thought when i read SLS that NASA has plans to convert the International Space station as a possible launch site. I thought NASA had found a way to deliver the rocket to the IS. Clearly i had a different idea.



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 12:10 AM
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a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Yup even if you do launch something to mars from space you still have to get the payload to the space based launch system. What ever happens to the aero spike engine? Is any one still developing that tech?



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 12:11 AM
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originally posted by: f0xbat
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I thought when i read SLS that NASA has plans to convert the International Space station as a possible launch site. I thought NASA had found a way to deliver the rocket to the IS. Clearly i had a different idea.


I am just saying logically to get the rocket to the IS it has to be put there from Earth ...



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 01:54 AM
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a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Yer, i agree, i thought NASA had found a way to overcome this problem. I guess the name SLS just threw me off.



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 02:01 AM
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originally posted by: f0xbat
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Yer, i agree, i thought NASA had found a way to overcome this problem. I guess the name SLS just threw me off.


The only way it will be overcome is when we start mining asteroids and have industrial complexes off-planet. Some day it will happen.



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 02:54 AM
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What ever happens to the aero spike engine?


The X-33 project was canned (apparently) because they couldn't make the fuel tanks light enough and strong enough for the task. A bit of a shame really, because I rather liked that vehicle with its aerospike engines. Wasn't it supposed to be SSTO (single stage to orbit)? Quite some feat if it could have been achieved.



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 03:53 AM
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a reply to: Mogget

Yeah the X-33 was cool but it was a test platform. The craft was never designed to actually reach orbit. Just suborbital flights to test the different systems. The tank your talking about was a composite liquid hydrogen tank and I think the problem was they could't find a material strong/ light enough to make it viable. Ironically The SLS is using composite liquid cryo tanks. But the areospike is such a cool design. They actually considered it for the shuttles main engines. It would have been awesome to see it on the SLS. The Bell engine is so 1950's.
edit on 31-8-2014 by BGTM90 because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 01:02 PM
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Before you get all excited about SLS and Mars, you should read this article.

"...NASA wants everyone to be thinking about Mars. But no actual Mars missions were mentioned. No timeline was offered. No budget to do the whole Mars thing was available...at no point has NASA identified a single penny that might be used to pay for such missions."

The fact is, only two SLS missions are funded - one manned test and one unmanned.

spaceref.com/sls/using-jedi-mind-tricks-to-sell-nasas-next-big-rocket.html

a reply to: lostbook


edit on 31-8-2014 by astroroach because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 02:46 PM
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a reply to: astroroach

I'm not terribly excited about Mars, as I know that such a mission is several decades away in the future. I am, however, excited about this rocket system giving humans the possibility to go beyond the low-earth orbit, and I think NASA are doing a good job.



posted on Aug, 31 2014 @ 10:30 PM
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originally posted by: astroroach
Before you get all excited about SLS and Mars, you should read this article.

"...NASA wants everyone to be thinking about Mars. But no actual Mars missions were mentioned. No timeline was offered. No budget to do the whole Mars thing was available...at no point has NASA identified a single penny that might be used to pay for such missions."

The fact is, only two SLS missions are funded - one manned test and one unmanned.

spaceref.com/sls/using-jedi-mind-tricks-to-sell-nasas-next-big-rocket.html

a reply to: lostbook


True, these are the only two funded missions, but it is not true that they have not mentioned anything about Mars missions in relation to the SLS.

In the similar thread I made a couple of days ago about the SLS, I gave a link to a NASA article in which they mentioned that they are still "committed" (albeit, that is a vague term) to a manned mars mission by the end of the 2030s. NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot had this to say about the SLS and Mars:


Our nation is embarked on an ambitious space exploration program, and we owe it to the American taxpayers to get it right,” said Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot, who oversaw the review process. “After rigorous review, we’re committing today to a funding level and readiness date that will keep us on track to sending humans to Mars in the 2030s – and we’re going to stand behind that commitment.

Source:
NASA Completes Key Review of World’s Most Powerful Rocket in Support of Journey to Mars

Granted, and as you pointed out, nothing has been funded other than these two SLS flights. However, I'm just pointing out that it is not completely accurate to say (as you wrote) [b ]"...But no actual Mars missions were mentioned. No timeline was offered. They did mention that the SLS is one of the first steps toward a manned Mars Mission, and they offer a very rough timeline. Sure -- without funding, that is simply rhetoric, but at least NASA seems to have an eye on a Mars mission.


Here is the full thread I made about the SLS a couple of days ago:

www.abovetopsecret.com...



edit on 8/31/2014 by Soylent Green Is People because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 1 2014 @ 09:01 AM
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originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: lostbook
The best news is that SLS will take humans to Mars where we'll find life! Only that life will be colonists living in the MarsOne colony.....! Lol!

www.space.com...


+1 .. loved that comment. All the really exciting stuff will be happening as I am dying


Dying? You can't die now; not when all of the cool stuff is about to happen.



posted on Sep, 1 2014 @ 03:44 PM
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originally posted by: wildespace
a reply to: astroroach

I'm not terribly excited about Mars, as I know that such a mission is several decades away in the future. I am, however, excited about this rocket system giving humans the possibility to go beyond the low-earth orbit, and I think NASA are doing a good job.


I wouldn't be so sure of that. I bet there will be manned Mars missions within 15 years. Probably not by NASA, due to their slow pace and constantly changing budget priorities (thanks to new legislators every 2 years). But I bet SpaceX will be able to pull it off. I bet they'll have unmanned missions by the end of this decade.




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