NASA managers on Monday announced that the United States' return to manned space flight will not be until March 2015. Recall that the last Space Shuttle mission will fly on May 31, 2010 on a last trip to the International Space Station. My bet is that it will slip another year before it actually launches.
The Orion crew vehicle will look similar to the 1960's Apollo spacecraft, but will be 2.5 times larger in volume. It will carry a crew of four to the moon, or a crew of six to the space station. Unlike the Saturn 5 missions of the early 70s, NASA will launch two separate rockets for a lunar mission. The first launch will be the earth-to-moon booster stage and the lunar excursion module. The second launch will the the Orion crew vehicle and earth-orbit rendezvous will stack the lunar mission hardware together.
The first launch will be with the new Ares 5 Cargo vehicle. It is a two-stage heavy-lifter, using outboard solid rocket boosters and six liquid oxygen-hydrogen engines which can lift 414,000 pounds into low earth orbit. The Ares 1 has a solid fuel first-stage booster and a liquid oxygen-hydrogen engine for the second stage.
It doesn't seem like much has changed in 40 years for NASA, but let's try a comparison. Suppose we examine a 1968 Chevrolet and compare it to a 2008 Chevrolet. The 1968 Chevrolet has gaudy whitewall tires, purple metal-flake paint, and an 8-track player. Has there been any real advances in 40 years of automobiles? Mmm. Maybe that shows up a different problem.
After all the technological advances of the past 40 years, including NASA's own robotic missions to Mars, why don't we have more splash? Shouldn't we have a beryllium sphere or dilithium crystals by now? Just kidding, but it is interesting how some facets of our world have changed substantially in 40 years, and others, very little. Why is that? Any ideas?
NASA - you need more splash!
Why do some things appear to have changed substantially in the last 40 years while other things are much the same? Truly original ideas are quite rare ... always have been, always will be. Most of what is billed as "technological advances" are just the sum of many small, evolutionary improvements to someone else's idea. Real change involves really new ideas ... and they don't come along often.
Should we have dilithium crystals by now? Thinking back to 1968, watching Star Trek as a kid, which technological marvel did you expect to see in your lifetime? The personal communicator (cell phone)? The computer with which you could quickly obtain data on almost any subject (PC w/internet)? The matter transporter (I had high hopes, but oh well, you can't have everything!)
Posted by: The Navigator | August 13, 2008 at 08:53 PM