Orion flight test from Kennedy Space Center this morning

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weilke

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Just for any space-geeks already up this morning. United Launch Alliance / NASA is t-1hr for the launch of the Orion spacecraft flight-test on a Delta IV rocket from Kennedy space center.

So tune to your local NASA channel on cable/satellite.

The site for the program is here:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion/

The nasatv site to watch the launch is here:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
 
Does this have anything to do with the old Orion program? The one where they were going to use nuclear bombs for propulsion?
 
Henning said:
Does this have anything to do with the old Orion program? The one where they were going to use nuclear bombs for propulsion?
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No, just testing a new launch and re-entry vehicle. Everything very conventional.
 
weilke said:
No, just testing a new launch and re-entry vehicle. Everything very conventional.
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In the finest POA nitpicky style...nothing new about the launch vehicle except the unmanned crew capsule...
 
Is this the one that will distribute muslim propaganda, or the one that will "prove" man made global warming?
 
I think it is the one that proves that government can do anything private industry can do at 10 times or more the cost.
But that doesn't mean I object the government space program. It probably ranks up there with the interstate highway system as far as ROI from a government program, and is an example of an Industry the most likely would have been out of reach for private industry to start from scratch. I just don't know how to justify my opinion, given my firm belief in the delineation of powers as defined by the Constitution. It is just my opinion.
 
No launch today, fuel valve or valve indication problems...
 
It's a radical left wing or right wing fanatical plot. Not sure which yet.
 
Current schedule is for 0705 ET tomorrow.
 
Watched it launch this morning.

Unfortunately, all the news networks that covered it have so many graphics and crawlers on the screen all the time that much of the actual image was covered along the lower 1/3 of the screen. Then they cut away before the boosters released so they could get back to talking out whatever the topic of the day is.
 
Matthew said:
Watched it launch this morning.

Unfortunately, all the news networks that covered it have so many graphics and crawlers on the screen all the time that much of the actual image was covered along the lower 1/3 of the screen. Then they cut away before the boosters released so they could get back to talking out whatever the topic of the day is.
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I watched the whole thing on 'NASA TV'. No crawlers, only the intercom and a commentator from launch alliance. Our local government-access channel carries nasa-TV during the overnight hours. I tried to watch it yesterday, but with the launch delay, the automated system cut away to a parking commission meeting at 7:30 :mad2:
 
Anthony said:
Is this the one that will distribute muslim propaganda, or the one that will "prove" man made global warming?
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Naw, this is continuation of the Gemini program. This flight proved to a new generation that it is possible to orbit the Earth for up to 4 hours. And it is being touted as the 1st step to putting men on Mars as soon as 2021. :rolleyes:
 
Richard said:
Naw, this is continuation of the Gemini program. This flight proved to a new generation that it is possible to orbit the Earth for up to 4 hours. And it is being touted as the 1st step to putting men on Mars as soon as 2021. :rolleyes:
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It's a pretty FN high orbit. Not LEO. That's a huge step past Gemini. And the control systems are a bit more than spaghetti wired analog computers now.

As it is a new reentry vehicle on a TEST flight, just how much demonstration did you want them to do? You prove it works before you push it, or you have a spectacular failure.

The resulting test was rather successful, so now we know this NEW vehicle can survive the > 1000 mile orbit environment, and a reentry.
 
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what I find interesting: the tiles were at 3500+ degrees 9 minutes from splashdown.
9 minutes later they contact 67 degree water....that must be a heck of a sizzle!
 
Badger said:
what I find interesting: the tiles were at 3500+ degrees 9 minutes from splashdown.
9 minutes later they contact 67 degree water....that must be a heck of a sizzle!
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Ceramic heat tiles lose surface heat very quickly and have low absorption rates. They were likely just warm when they contacted the water.
 
No ceramics on Orion's heat shield. It's using the same stuff Apollo had - at least that's what Lock-Mart sez...
 
The Hydrogen burn off around the boosters was quite surprising to see right before ignition. When I saw the flame I was half expecting to a huge explosion shortly. I've seen quite a few launches, non Delta IVs, but never seen that much burn off from the sparklers before.

Apparently it's normal from a Delta IV, but non the less surprising to watch. :eek:
 
Clark1961 said:
No ceramics on Orion's heat shield. It's using the same stuff Apollo had - at least that's what Lock-Mart sez...
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Oh, so it's a blanket, it was plenty cool when it hit the water. I guess it's as good as anything and is a cheap consumable part, much more economical than the tile system required on the Space Shuttle.
 
Here's the heat shield:

"...an ablative material, which was also used on the Apollo capsules.

NASA’s Orion Thermal Protection System Advanced Development Project considered eight different candidate materials, before downselecting to an Avcoat and Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator – with a technical name of AVCO 5026-39 HCG (Filled Epoxy Novalac in Fiberglass-Phenolic Honeycomb)."



http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/06/eft-1-orions-heat-shield-installed-flight-test/
 
Richard said:
Naw, this is continuation of the Gemini program. This flight proved to a new generation that it is possible to orbit the Earth for up to 4 hours. And it is being touted as the 1st step to putting men on Mars as soon as 2021. :rolleyes:
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I heard on the news last night, for whatever that's worth :rolleyes: that this would lead to actually having astronauts orbiting in the vehicle in 2021( that's as long as it took to go from John Glenn to Neal Armstrong's boot on the moon.) and for some reason that didn't even surprise me. Talk about the bigotry of low expectations.

I sure hope they meant that men would go to Mars in 2021.
 
nddons said:
I heard on the news last night, for whatever that's worth :rolleyes: that this would lead to actually having astronauts orbiting in the vehicle in 2021( that's as long as it took to go from John Glenn to Neal Armstrong's boot on the moon.) and for some reason that didn't even surprise me. Talk about the bigotry of low expectations.

I sure hope they meant that men would go to Mars in 2021.
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When the country went to the moon, going to the moon was what mattered. These are commercial ventures, maximizing profit is what matters.
 
weirdjim said:
LOX vent valve froze up.

Although for the life of me I can't figure out what they are using smoked salmon for.

JIM
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Clever!

What I can't figure out is why liquid oxygen isn't called LO2, analogous to LN2 for liquid nitrogen.
 
So I guess it would have been PC wrong to launch a chimp? And the space program has given us what recently? Tang and velcro?
 
yetti said:
So I guess it would have been PC wrong to launch a chimp? And the space program has given us what recently? Tang and velcro?
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The manned space program? Very little, we need to evolve into a cooperative species species before we can go further along those lines. The unmanned end of the space program has provided us with huge advances in knowledge. That's all we can afford and will be allowed until we get our act together socially though. We can't be allowed to propagate the galaxy, universe, and beyond until we demonstrate that we aren't a virus willing to kill everything because we don't understand it. We got close, but we're slipping.
 
Jim Logajan said:
The NASA order was for 500 kilos of butter, 50 containers of lox.
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Skip Miller said:
Bagels and lox with butter? Jim, ever been to NYC?
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From the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice":

Tanaka: This... is an order for naval stores. 500 kilos of butter, 50 containers of lox. What is lox?
James: Oh, it's an American name for smoked salmon. But it's also the technical name for liquid oxygen. Which makes rocket fuel.


(And no, I've never been to NYC - not even to visit the factories there that make salsa.)
 
Henning said:
The manned space program? Very little, we need to evolve into a cooperative species species before we can go further along those lines. The unmanned end of the space program has provided us with huge advances in knowledge. That's all we can afford and will be allowed until we get our act together socially though. We can't be allowed to propagate the galaxy, universe, and beyond until we demonstrate that we aren't a virus willing to kill everything because we don't understand it. We got close, but we're slipping.
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I want the US flag on the rocket, not a UN flag. Apollo 8 gave us some serious pride and cohesion as a country. I think we could use a bit of that now. Call me whatever you like, but I want the next big step, (manned Mars?) to be a sole NASA venture. I am not a big government guy... In fact, about the only two things government can get right is our military and the space program.
 
Kritchlow said:
I want the US flag on the rocket, not a UN flag. Apollo 8 gave us some serious pride and cohesion as a country. I think we could use a bit of that now. Call me whatever you like, but I want the next big step, (manned Mars?) to be a sole NASA venture. I am not a big government guy... In fact, about the only two things government can get right is our military and the space program.
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We can't afford it on our own, simple as that, never will either.
 
yetti said:
So I guess it would have been PC wrong to launch a chimp? And the space program has given us what recently? Tang and velcro?
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Quite a bit actually...

http://spinoff.nasa.gov

Heck, check out the Spinoffs of tomorrow PDF, a few of them could make our lives as pilots better, easier, and/or safer. Look at pages 5, 8, 9, & 14 for starters. Just because it's not highly visible doesn't mean that NASA and the space program haven't benefited our lives immeasurably over the years.

My personal opinion is that NASA is one of, if not the, best bang-for-the-buck areas of the federal government.

Also, Tang & Velcro weren't actually developed by, or even for, the space program. :)
 
Jim Logajan said:
From the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice":

Tanaka: This... is an order for naval stores. 500 kilos of butter, 50 containers of lox. What is lox?
James: Oh, it's an American name for smoked salmon. But it's also the technical name for liquid oxygen. Which makes rocket fuel.


(And no, I've never been to NYC - not even to visit the factories there that make salsa.)
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:rofl::rofl::rofl:...:lol::lol::lol::lol: :thumbsup:
 
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