Lunar Missions: The Next Generation
On August 31st NASA selected Lockheed Martin as the lead contractor for the next generation of space exploration vehicles (manned that is).
The project is called Orion. If you recall your mythology Orion is a hunter. Space explorers are hunters of a sort - they hunt for new information, for signs of life and that sort of thing so I think it fits. It fits a wee bit better than calling the project Apollo who is a sun god and yet the Apollo missions were to the moon. I guess it was more macho than naming them after the moon goddess. Gosh can't have any feminine references now can we?
Anyway the news release is in NASA's archive now so it is a little difficult to find. The link is:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06305_Orion_contract.html
In short the craft will be able to transport four people to the moon and will later support transfers to Mars. The timetable sucks
The first human launch date isn't until 2014 and the first manned moon landing isn't until 2020. We are talking 8 years to a human launch and 14 to a manned landing on the moon. Gee, so much for "by the end of this decade". I guess without a President Kennedy to drive it (and the whole space race against the USSR) we can't do much of anything in under 14 years.
Depressing. I was 8 years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon the first time. I'll be 59 before we get back there.
The project is called Orion. If you recall your mythology Orion is a hunter. Space explorers are hunters of a sort - they hunt for new information, for signs of life and that sort of thing so I think it fits. It fits a wee bit better than calling the project Apollo who is a sun god and yet the Apollo missions were to the moon. I guess it was more macho than naming them after the moon goddess. Gosh can't have any feminine references now can we?
Anyway the news release is in NASA's archive now so it is a little difficult to find. The link is:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06305_Orion_contract.html
In short the craft will be able to transport four people to the moon and will later support transfers to Mars. The timetable sucks
The first human launch date isn't until 2014 and the first manned moon landing isn't until 2020. We are talking 8 years to a human launch and 14 to a manned landing on the moon. Gee, so much for "by the end of this decade". I guess without a President Kennedy to drive it (and the whole space race against the USSR) we can't do much of anything in under 14 years.
Depressing. I was 8 years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon the first time. I'll be 59 before we get back there.
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