OT- whos out there is ready for orion?

[reefsahoy]

Im so jacked up! NASA first test flight of the new Orion space rocket tomorrow dec 4@705 am est liftoff! 1st step for man to mars or ateroid missions. It will test about 50% of the systems, fly approx 3600 mile above earth (space station is only 160 miles above earth for comparision) and test heat shields coming back to earth at higher temps than the shuttle. The entire flight to ocean is around 5 hours. Ive read the entire flt mission and im so excited! I was too young to understand the redstone, gemini, and apollo missions back when it happened and find it so interesting. I didnt really find the space shuttle interesting because it couldnt fly any higher than 200 miles above the earth and cannot get to any moon or planets. I will definitely be up looking north if the skies are clear (at times you could see the shuttle launch from miami on a clear day) or i'll be pinned on the tv! Weather has a 70% chance of good liftoff weather. Anyone else out there find this interesting? Go NASA!

 

[Stylo328]

I hadn't given it another thought until reading your post. Now even I feel excited.

 

[reefsahoy]

This flt is the furthest a rocket, thats designed to take man, has gone since the apollo landing on the moon. No other nation has been able to fly that far with a rocket designed to take man. The moon is 240000 miles away and was 6 days travel round trip nonstop, mars on the other hand is 34 million miles or 500 days round trip! It will take on average 30 minutes to transmit and then recieve a voice signal. This means if you ask a question from the ship you wont hear an answer for 30 minutes and thats if you get the answer immediately from the ground and this while traveling over 20000 MPH. Can you imagine how far off target you can go if you are just 1/10th of a degree off at 20000 MPH for 30 minutes? Imagine driving 60 MPH for 30 minutes off target! You'd miss by 30 miles! And at 20000 MPH? At 20000 MPH you could be a whopping 10,000mile off course! So they better answer fast and be accurate! This is really cool stuff they are doing!

You can watch it live from here http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#.VIAMAaC9KrV

 

[Alex1524]

Launch got rescheduled until Friday!

 

[rovster]

LOL, now I'm excited

 

[Alex1524]

You'll be able to see it better than any of us in Orlando!

 

[reefsahoy]

If you go to Titusville, you'll be able to feel the earth vibrate and if winds are correct you'll feel some heat too. I saw shuttle launches and it's the most awesome feeling. You'll feel really patriotic! It's awesome!

 

[Alex1524]

Didn't the Obama administration stop all NASA funding and projects during his second term?

 

[Rogger Castells]

Nick I a have been following this, I am as exited as you!

 

[doggydoc]

Great thread!
Time to get back and explore the UNIVERSE

 

[roblack]

Orion is super cool. All the things we struggle with as a species, but we can perform feats like this.

 

[AquamanE]

The Kennedy Space center doesnt get as much hype as the other central florida parks, but it is an amazing place.

I went to Titusville when the Space Shuttle had John Glenn in it some years back. Watched it lift off from one of the parks there. It was definitely an experience. We where over 5 miles away. You could barely see it with binoculars, but MAN did you feel it when it took off!!

 

[reefsahoy]

For me personally, its the excitement of man flight, exploring other heavenly bodies. The science, engineering, and the curiosity of man. The space program has done so much for human advancement in our everyday life. So much so that we take it all for granted. With it comes a great nation who leads the the human species in technology, and science. This is what made the USA the leading country on the planet, lets not lose that edge to anyone else. If supported and finance properly, I expect a great few decades learning and advancing. Now off my soap box, and no i dont work for NASA. I went thru engineering in hopes for working in the space program. When I graduated from college i got hired by Lockheed, who was responsible for the test flight for Orion, but then the challenger accident changed the direction of my career. I now work for GE Healthcare in cardiac and vascular imaging. Not a bad backup plan but not as exciting for me.