Deep space MANNED exploration a possibility by the end of the deacde!

reply to post by curiousrb


I would love to go....I desperately want to see Mars....there are many strange buildings there. And of course, the aliens on the other side of the moon.

Originally posted by MysterX
Noticed they say 'four person' capsule...meaning possibly a generational slant to future missions maybe?

If it's two men and two women...it might be in future plans to actually go to 'deep space', that will take a lot longer than 6 months, and if they are thinking of this, we might see the first human child born off Earth in our lifetimes...but as far as the moon, an asteroid or Mars goes...i would call that local space, not deep space.

The Orion capsule itself is too small for a long-term Mission (such as a Mars mission) -- too small to also fit all of the food and supplies required to keep the astronauts alive for months at a time -- let alone large enough to provide for all the logistics of raising a child in space.

For a Mars mission, A larger Mars cruise vehicle spacecraft would probably be built in orbit out of multiple modules -- sort of like the way the International Space Station was put together in orbit. However, the Orion may still be used as part of a mission to Mars -- such as ferrying astronauts to and from the Mars cruise vehicle.

Originally posted by curiousrb
Article

Perhaps an interesting aspect of space exploration will be re opened once again!
Sending man into deep space! By the end of the decade.
Some of you may not get my excitement but for those who love space, you will!

The proposal to join in construction of the four-person US Orion spaceship will be debated at the European Space Agency's 20 member states in Italy. Europe is preparing plans to join the United States in building a manned spaceship that would take men and women to the Moon and beyond. The project could see a European astronaut launched into deep space before the end of the decade.

Something that interests me is this.
Who is going to be that astronaut?
What would it take for you to be the first person to be sent into deep space? No family or friends? Ambition for fame? Love of exploring, venturing where no man has gone?

The Orion capsule - known officially as the Multiple Purpose Crew Vehicle - is designed to carry astronauts on missions of up to six months and could take men and women to the Moon, or an asteroid or possibly even Mars.

I love the idea of sending men and woman back into space for exploring. Lets be honest, humans need to at some point get to get on the big stage with the probes!

It's great to see cooperation in the space agency where in a lot places, there is not much left in the world.

Can't wait to get updates on this!

edit on 19-11-2012 by curiousrb because: (no reason given)

edit on 19-11-2012 by curiousrb because: (no reason given)

They should also invest in this as this would be a perfect replacement for the Space Shuttle


www.reactionengines.co.uk...


It looks like something from Dan Dare or Thunderbirds

Sorry folks you are reading too much into this.

The Orion has about as much room a typical minivan.
Plus they still have no solution for the radiation problem. If there happened to be a solar flair the best they could do was rotate Orion to put the most mass in the direction of the Sun. Cosmic rays will punch through anything they can put up there. No protection at all.

So when you factor the size of Orion and radiation you get a mission length of 3 to 4 weeks at the outside. Which means a mission to the far side of the Moon (L2). Less than 4 times the distance to the Moon. Not really 'deep space' is it.

Money waster mission.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Yup, makes sense.

Wouldn't much fancy being in the equivalent of a metal rabbit hutch surrounded by the stench of a full nappy!

I do not understand. I think I'm missing something. USA (and EU?) are in massive debt. BUT, we have the money for space exploration. Now don't get me wrong, I believe space has to be explored. We should explore the entire earth first, imo.

So what's the catch? How is it possible for us to keep spending massive amounts of money that we don't have. Loopholes?

Originally posted by AdventureTime
I do not understand. I think I'm missing something. USA (and EU?) are in massive debt. BUT, we have the money for space exploration. Now don't get me wrong, I believe space has to be explored. We should explore the entire earth first, imo.

So what's the catch? How is it possible for us to keep spending massive amounts of money that we don't have. Loopholes?

The space programs for the U.S. and Europe are only small percentages of the total budget. They spend a lot more money on other things (defense/war, social programs, etc.)

The total NASA budget last year accounted for less the 1% (it was about 0.5%) of the total U.S. budget. That's 1/200 of the budget.

That means the total U.S. budget could fund NASA 200 times over (200 NASA-type space programs). The percentage of the budget given to NASA was a lot more back in the 1960s during the Apollo era, when NASA's budget was almost a full 5% of the total national budget.

Hear's another number -- The "Stimulus Package" that President Obama signed in 2009 was for $1 Trillion over a ten-year span. NASA's total budget last year was about $18 Billion, which would be only about $180 Billion over 10 years -- which is far, far less than that stimulus package.


EDIT TYPO:
Sorry -- but I had a typo. I meant that NASA's budget last year was 0.5% (not 0.05%) of the total U.S. budget. I fixed it above.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

The total NASA budget last year accounted for less the 1% (it was about 0.05%) of the total U.S. budget. That's 1/200 of the budget.

But you have to start cutting somewhere. I would bet that the job losses would be less than other government programs. Mostly because Nasa has more engineers than janitors.

Originally posted by samkent
reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

 

The total NASA budget last year accounted for less the 1% (it was about 0.05%) of the total U.S. budget. That's 1/200 of the budget.

But you have to start cutting somewhere. I would bet that the job losses would be less than other government programs. Mostly because Nasa has more engineers than janitors.

^
^^...and I'm sorry, but I had a typo in my post (which you quoted). It should read "0.5%" instead of "0.05%".
I apologize for any confusion.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Nice, you solved one problem.

Now the big picture is, how can you buy more toys, when you haven't paid for the ones you got?

reply to post by curiousrb


Gone for 6 months at a time? Unless my math is off, that would not get them very far into OUTER SPACE?? NO??

Beyond Mars they say??

Do we have technology that I am unaware of that can get us into Outer Space in a matter of months?? Hundreds of thousands of light years away, in months??

I must be missing something here???

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
....Do we have technology that I am unaware of that can get us into Outer Space in a matter of months?? Hundreds of thousands of light years away, in months??...

I don't know what your definition of "outer space" is, but hundreds of thousands of light years would be across to the other side of the galaxy, and then some. NOBODY is talking about going "hundreds of thousands of light years" -- or even one light year for that matter.

The entire Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light years in diameter, so going 100,000 light years would be going to hundreds of billions of other stars. They aren't talking about going to ANY stars.

The definition of "Deep Space" or "Outer Space" in this case is beyond the Earth-Moon system, say to Mars or an asteroid. A trip to Mars would take 6 to 9 months, using our current chemical-fuel rocket technology

Reaching the Moon that has already been visited and Mars? That is your 'Deep space'? Deep space means anything 'deep' beyond this solar system and probably beyond others...

And it would be a waste of time... Already have a probe sent to Mars, already have enough info of the Moon.

If this is to have any reason, must be a crew sent for decades and must aim to other planets. If a step is to be made further and still in the solar system (because with the laughable technology presented in public, going beyond is unthinkable), the direction has to be - JUPITER MOONS, Saturn or Neptune Moons and or Neptune itself.

Anything closer is a waste of time. If you wanna drop your asses in a different environment just to say you're the first humans, but when there's already a probe and pictures there, it would be a huge waste of time, money and resources.

reply to post by samkent


That's why they haven't launched yet! Everything is still in preparations.

You have to give them time to plan. They aren't idiots and they will find a solution.

reply to post by AdventureTime


Why do you think it is a joint operation.

If you actually READ the article you would see their way around the financial probelm.

The OP even mentions that they're using more teamwork.

reply to post by Imtor


You two have misinterpreted the article.
I think it's best that you realize they are saying what the Orion capsule can be used for. Like OP said, the Europeans want to optimize the capsule for further exploration. But if you realised the distance from here to Mars, you will see that perhaps Mars is a deep space destination.

reply to post by themadnut


The Orion is designed for a maximum mission of 6 months, and that's with extended service modules. True deep-space flight will NOT be done using the Orion.

Longer missions would require a much larger vehicle with more room for the astronauts to move around. As it is, the Orion is even too tiny (in my opinion) for a 6-month mission. There is no room for astronauts to exercise or have any privacy. They'll basically just be sitting there for 6 months (maybe moving a few feet around the craft).

reply to post by themadnut

That's why they haven't launched yet! Everything is still in preparations.

It's not the 'preperation ' stage.
It's the 'dream' stage.

It's interesting, but it will never happen. We have no program in place to even work up to such a thing, and the farthest any human has been away from Earth is a mere 250,000 miles. Even if somebody were to build and man such a ship, I can't imagine that it would anything but a death sentence to anyone on it.

Originally posted by curiousrbSomething that interests me is this.
Who is going to be that astronaut?
What would it take for you to be the first person to be sent into deep space? No family or friends? Ambition for fame? Love of exploring, venturing where no man has gone?

"MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. LOW WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG HOURS
OF COMPLETE DARKNESS. SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN
EVENT OF SUCCESS."

That was the help wanted ad Ernest Shackleton placed while in search
of a crew for his 1914 expedition to Antarctica. It was an ad nearly
5,000 applicants (including three women) found irresistible.