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Space Stuff
Jul. 4th, 2012 11:46 amHeard a reporter on NPR yesterday talking about NASA's new Orion capsule.
Now, leaving aside for a moment the poor choice of name (see info on the real Orion here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29 ) and the Agency's bad habit of not just gold plating everything but frequently making it out of solid platinum, this is a good idea. In fact, we should have been doing this in the mid-Seventies, as a progressional, reusable follow-on to Apollo. *Then* we could have built winged system.
No, I'm wondering why the reporter stated, flatly, that it looks exactly like an Apollo capsule.
The problem is, it doesn't. The Orion crew module is larger and has different proportions.
Now, there's a reason it *resembles* the Apollo capsule. That reason is that the laws of physics and aerodynamics haven't changed. (Both Gemini and Apollo - unlike Mercury - could perform aerodynamic steering during reentry. I believe Orion will, as well.)
No, not all re-entry capsules look exactly alike. Some vary considerably from the Apollo shape. However, the classic "gumdrop" form is one which works so well it has been used for landing static probes and rovers on Mars and Venus and Titan, as well as dropping one into the atmosphere of Jupiter.
I wonder if the reporter was born after Apollo shut down. Because it's hard to imagine anyone who lived through that period - if they were paying attention, anyway - saying Orion looks "just like" Apollo.
Now, leaving aside for a moment the poor choice of name (see info on the real Orion here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29 ) and the Agency's bad habit of not just gold plating everything but frequently making it out of solid platinum, this is a good idea. In fact, we should have been doing this in the mid-Seventies, as a progressional, reusable follow-on to Apollo. *Then* we could have built winged system.
No, I'm wondering why the reporter stated, flatly, that it looks exactly like an Apollo capsule.
The problem is, it doesn't. The Orion crew module is larger and has different proportions.
Now, there's a reason it *resembles* the Apollo capsule. That reason is that the laws of physics and aerodynamics haven't changed. (Both Gemini and Apollo - unlike Mercury - could perform aerodynamic steering during reentry. I believe Orion will, as well.)
No, not all re-entry capsules look exactly alike. Some vary considerably from the Apollo shape. However, the classic "gumdrop" form is one which works so well it has been used for landing static probes and rovers on Mars and Venus and Titan, as well as dropping one into the atmosphere of Jupiter.
I wonder if the reporter was born after Apollo shut down. Because it's hard to imagine anyone who lived through that period - if they were paying attention, anyway - saying Orion looks "just like" Apollo.
