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Member (Idle past 3597 days) Posts: 1811 From: East Asia Joined: |
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Author | Topic: Spaceward ho! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Archer Opteryx Member (Idle past 3597 days) Posts: 1811 From: East Asia Joined: |
Innovations in space exploration--let's have a thread for it!
NASA recently funded support for private development of vessels to service the International Space Station. Today's news: the agency is now doing something similar to service moon bases. X Prize Cup to Host NASA's Lunar Lander Challenge Here's a link to the page for NASA's Constellation Program _ Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML. Archer All species are transitional.
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Admin Director Posts: 12998 From: EvC Forum Joined: Member Rating: 2.3 |
Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.
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Archer Opteryx Member (Idle past 3597 days) Posts: 1811 From: East Asia Joined: |
More news on the development of the Orion spacecraft--mainly the interior space. It may look like Apollo on the outside, but it's looking more like Star Trek on the inside. They are aiming for clean, versatile control panel design.
Project Orion: NASA's Next Spaceship Takes Shape | Space _ Archer All species are transitional.
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Taz Member (Idle past 3291 days) Posts: 5069 From: Zerus Joined: |
I don't get it. They named the first shuttle to have ever lifted off the ground as Enterprise. Why can't they now build something that looks more like a ship? They can stick with the current capsule like design if they want. Just duct tape to it a couple of warp drives or something.
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GDR Member Posts: 6202 From: Sidney, BC, Canada Joined: Member Rating: 1.9 |
I'm really glad it's Lockheed that's involved. I've had experience with several of their aircraft and nobody designs a better cockpit than Lockheed.
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MangyTiger Member (Idle past 6353 days) Posts: 989 From: Leicester, UK Joined: |
but it's looking more like Star Trek on the inside Hope they remember the seat belts - the Federation never seemed to work that out in hundreds of years Oops! Wrong Planet
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kuresu Member (Idle past 2513 days) Posts: 2544 From: boulder, colorado Joined: |
correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the first shuttle Columbia?
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Taz Member (Idle past 3291 days) Posts: 5069 From: Zerus Joined: |
The first shuttle was Enterprise. It was never meant to go into space. All it was good for was for a few test flights. The first shuttle that went into space was Columbia.
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Taz Member (Idle past 3291 days) Posts: 5069 From: Zerus Joined: |
MangyTiger writes:
In episode "Skin of Evil", the episode where Tasha died (damn the script writers), they used a shuttle to go down to the alien planet to investigate an unknown energy reading. On their way down, we had a view of them inside the shuttle, which shows that they were all wearing seatbelts. This was the first episode ever in star trek history where seat belts were shown to be used by star trekers. Hope they remember the seat belts - the Federation never seemed to work that out in hundreds of years Suprisingly, the next time seat belts were seen to be used was in Star Trek Voyager. Can't remember the episode name off the top of my head. Mr. Paris rides the delta flyer to try to reach warp 10 where theoretically the delta flyer would enter "hyperspace" and could travel anywhere in space-time. While flying, Paris is seen for a brief moment with seat belts. I guess they finally caught on and officially gave Picard seat belts on his big chair in the bridge of the battle scarred Enterprise at the end of Star Trek Nemesis. Yes, I hate myself for knowing these things.
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Silent H Member (Idle past 5819 days) Posts: 7405 From: satellite of love Joined: |
It may look like Apollo on the outside, but it's looking more like Star Trek on the inside.
Does anyone know why aesthetics have normally not been taken into consideration for interior spaces of spacecraft, as well as any/all other facets of space exploration? While I understand that utility might demand more direct access to parts, and additional money is not likely there for frills, wouldn't it play better for motivating those within and without the field to see something that looks and feels good? When a person looks at a person in a dumpy spacesuit and a dumpy spacecraft and learns it cost millions of dollars, it is likely not going to be as impressive as seeing a person in a cool looking suit entering a cool looking spacecraft. Indeed one might generate more interest/money by people wishing they could be wearing the gear and being in the ship. Hell you might even get talent for free by allowing trekkies or other sci fi enthusiasts (with valid experience) to craft the nonfunctional design portions. Edited by holmes, : ere for ier holmes {in temp decloak from lurker mode} "What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away." (D.Bros)
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Archer Opteryx Member (Idle past 3597 days) Posts: 1811 From: East Asia Joined: |
holmes asks:
Does anyone know why aesthetics have normally not been taken into consideration for interior spaces of spacecraft, as well as any/all other facets of space exploration? A very interesting question. Until now all our manned spacecraft were designed in a pre-computer age, wouldn't you say? That requires lots of switches and control services in very limited space. Now a variety of tasks can be handled with a few touch screens. The matter of aesthetics--naturally linked to issues of ergonomics--is now getting more attention. We're looking at some long expeditions now. The more time people spend in a habitat, of course, the more it affects them. They will be more productive if they find the place appealing. To do this it needs to reflect something human back at them. Archer All species are transitional.
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Silent H Member (Idle past 5819 days) Posts: 7405 From: satellite of love Joined: |
Until now all our manned spacecraft were designed in a pre-computer age, wouldn't you say?
Yes n No. But I guess it all depends on what you mean by computer. Heheh. I get what you are saying that touch screens, and smaller processors in general, can afford more space. But even if we still dealt with switchboards I'd think ergonomics and esthetical considerations could have been possible. Scifi films and things had been around for decades before the space race. Heck, Kubrick's 2001 showed more esthetical considerations while staying true to the nature of necessary hardware, and that was before much of what we went on to do. Look at me crabbing about esthetics. I should be happy enough the US gov't is getting interested in real space programs again. holmes {in temp decloak from lurker mode} "What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away." (D.Bros)
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Taz Member (Idle past 3291 days) Posts: 5069 From: Zerus Joined: |
holmes writes:
I don't think the US gov is getting that much interested in space programs. Look at the scheduling and the designs. The new pod obviously can't do much beside going directly to where it is going. It can't carry that much load. But the main thing is the plan is projecting a whole 20 years into the future. Between now and then, anything could happen. Heck, I'll be an old man by the time I get to see a man on mars some 50 years from now. Look at me crabbing about esthetics. I should be happy enough the US gov't is getting interested in real space programs again. Like I said before, I'm afraid this might be another political stunt by the Bush administration (or the republicans).
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cavediver Member (Idle past 3643 days) Posts: 4129 From: UK Joined: |
But the main thing is the plan is projecting a whole 20 years into the future This is what depresses me. It took only 12 years to go from mankind never having touched space to Armstrong and Aldrin walking on the moon. And that is using 50's and 60's technology...
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Silent H Member (Idle past 5819 days) Posts: 7405 From: satellite of love Joined: |
Your skepticism is noted and you may very well be right. If it is a political stunt, I hope someone at NASA has the foresight to milk it for all it's worth.
One may remember that Bush Sr tried to generate the same interest during his administration. It is intriguing to note that back then and now with Jr, the main source of criticism are liberals suggesting how outrageous and useless such programs are. holmes {in temp decloak from lurker mode} "What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away." (D.Bros)
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