Project Constellation canceled

XTI Nightrider wrote:My dad works for a government contractor and after that im not allowed to say much else. so i know what you mean about budget cuts. no one knows what the future holds for the space program, just because this got canceled i saw something the news saying the new focus could be unmanned moon explorations, I also found out the even if they could get a rocket to the moon with men onboard, they couldnt land because they weren't designing a landing craft or something like that

My dad works for the NRO(one of the biggest military civilian organizations)....Eyes in the skies...

i meant they hadnt actually made the lander yet, nor did they have the budget for it

XTI Nightrider wrote:i meant they hadnt actually made the lander yet, nor did they have the budget for it

Ahhh I see

nickyf1 wrote:all of them are being lost to the private sector now.

good. less socialism in this country.

THE FREE MARKET WILL TAKE CARE OF IT.

While it is a shame, that this has been canceled. I think Nasa and ES should join forces, on sorting out the fusion power.

However, I just hope the fusion power test at the ISS goes well. Because in my view, the current power of space crafts is too out dated.

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When I hope each type of space craft propulsion will be possible:

Fusion - 5-10 Years "Nasa thinks 25 years"
Anti-Matter - 40-50 years
Alcubierre Warp Drive - 120-250 years

Pebb wrote:...the current power of space crafts is too out dated.

What? The sun, yes it is pretty old!

The universe aint gonna disappear anytime soon so humans have plenty time to go an explore it. Obama is doing the right thing and getting his country stable and making sure the current generation of people can actually live rather than spending money on space travel. As awesome as it would be to go up it was never gonna amount to anthing other than going to the Moon (which has been done) or maybe stretching to Mars on our current technology. At least not in our life time. And we may be out of the recession by then as well

I think he is talking more about the rockets. At the moment they are fueled by the rocket fuel, the solar power can be used for all the electrical things needed.

The ESA are partnering the Russians on a replacement for the Soyuz I think.

AJzero wrote:

Pebb wrote:...the current power of space crafts is too out dated.

What? The sun, yes it is pretty old!

I am talking about the Fuel Chemical Mixture rockets.

Other Term - Chemical Rocket

Richy59 wrote:The universe aint gonna disappear anytime soon so humans have plenty time to go an explore it. Obama is doing the right thing and getting his country stable and making sure the current generation of people can actually live rather than spending money on space travel. As awesome as it would be to go up it was never gonna amount to anthing other than going to the Moon (which has been done) or maybe stretching to Mars on our current technology. At least not in our life time. And we may be out of the recession by then as well

My main point was that space exploration, cutting edge technology, things that help Humans evolve should not be constrained by money!

Obama is suppoting travel to Mars, a nearby Asteroid or one of the Langrian points (Points in the galaxy where you can be standing still in relation to the Sun and the Earth).

The moon is important though! It could be used for developing methods of colonization! Think of it as some sort of Celestial Paul Ricard!

nickyf1 wrote:

Richy59 wrote:The universe aint gonna disappear anytime soon so humans have plenty time to go an explore it. Obama is doing the right thing and getting his country stable and making sure the current generation of people can actually live rather than spending money on space travel. As awesome as it would be to go up it was never gonna amount to anthing other than going to the Moon (which has been done) or maybe stretching to Mars on our current technology. At least not in our life time. And we may be out of the recession by then as well

My main point was that space exploration, cutting edge technology, things that help Humans evolve should not be constrained by money!

Obama is suppoting travel to Mars, a nearby Asteroid or one of the Langrian points (Points in the galaxy where you can be standing still in relation to the Sun and the Earth).

The moon is important though! It could be used for developing methods of colonization! Think of it as some sort of Celestial Paul Ricard!

The main use of the Moon is the mining of Helium 3, which will be someday needed for future Nuclear Fusion power plants. However I can't really see the real benfit of having bases on the Moon.

But looking at the current rate of technology, I think it would be better for Human kind to focus on Terraforming Mars in the next 70-100 years.

Terraformation innit booii

Pebb wrote:

nickyf1 wrote:

Richy59 wrote:The universe aint gonna disappear anytime soon so humans have plenty time to go an explore it. Obama is doing the right thing and getting his country stable and making sure the current generation of people can actually live rather than spending money on space travel. As awesome as it would be to go up it was never gonna amount to anthing other than going to the Moon (which has been done) or maybe stretching to Mars on our current technology. At least not in our life time. And we may be out of the recession by then as well

My main point was that space exploration, cutting edge technology, things that help Humans evolve should not be constrained by money!

Obama is suppoting travel to Mars, a nearby Asteroid or one of the Langrian points (Points in the galaxy where you can be standing still in relation to the Sun and the Earth).

The moon is important though! It could be used for developing methods of colonization! Think of it as some sort of Celestial Paul Ricard!

The main use of the Moon is the mining of Helium 3, which will be someday needed for future Nuclear Fusion power plants. However I can't really see the real benfit of having bases on the Moon.

But looking at the current rate of technology, I think it would be better for Human kind to focus on Terraforming Mars in the next 70-100 years.

the moon could be used in constructing space vehicles too large to launch from earth. we could send several sections or moduals to the moon much easier and more effeciantly than completly constructing a vehicle on earth and then launching it.

Some news coming from Obama concerning the Orion CEV Capsule.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_sci_obama_nasa

Basicaly they will launch it unmanned on an Atlas, or some other unmanned launcher, and dock it to the ISS automatically. Then they will hitch a ride on a Russian Soyuz to go there, then the US Astronauts, and anyone else who needs a ride will return in the Orion.

Obama has just outlined what he expects of NASA between now and 2030.

2015 - Test of new Heavy Lift Launcher with both crew and cargo.
2020 - Testing of hardware capable of sending humans beyond LEO
2025 - First landing of Human's on a near earth asteroid
2030 - Manned orbit of Mars with a landing following (Echoing JFK's words: ''sending men to Mars and returning them safely to Earth'')

He expects NASA to come up with a plan by August.

Won't it take years to get to mars? That's going to suck.

Quite a long time when the Apollo Program went from orbital flights to a lunar landing within less than 8 years.

No, I meant, actual years to reach Mars. Not years to develope the capability. I thought the actual time required for the flight is what prevented us from traveling further than the moon at this time.

Oh right.. With current chemical rockets it will take around 10 months, but nuclear propulsion should take just over a month.

I guess I will have to read up on nuclear propulsion. Didn't know that sort of thing was being used. Sounds not so good for the universe!

I remember seeing a program which touched on it and I think it fell foul of the anti nuclear movement. It was like a giant pogo stick dropping bombs behind it
Some of the speeds and ship sizes they were crazy...like putting a cruise ship into space.

Some experiments were done in the 60's, it would most likely be constructed in orbit with a chemical rocket taking the astronauts to it.. if they develop a nuclear powered spacecraft that is.

For the asteroid mission they will be using a heavy lift rocket with the Orion CEV on top like the Apollo/Saturn system.

On the way to Mars they will most likely use inflatable habitats, so it will become some sort of space station that can travel long distances. They will also have refuling stations in the earth-moon Langrian points, which are essentially points in space where you can be standing still in relation to the earth and the moon. So they may be using chemical rockets to get to Mars, you never know Mars' moon Phobos is actually easier to get to than the Earths moon in terms of trajectory, it just takes longer to get there, which is why that is anohter possible destination.

A couple of Jovian moons are within reach too. Wont be long before we are in ''2001'' territory!

All we need is a Battlestar and we will be able to travel in space for aaagggeeesss without worry

Well, once we learn to defy the physics of the universe. Yes, why not.

And I wondered how long I would last before someone would reference some Sci-fi thingy again

Wooohooooo! Pad Abort 1 for Orion went perfect! Amazing experience just to watch it live on Ustream.

Just over 47 years since Apollo's Succesful Pad Abort Test 1 at the same Launch facility.

I hope to see Orion take crews back to the moon and mars one day