• news
  • FRIDAY AUGUST 25 2006 1:30 PM

NASA Names Newest Spacecraft

Submitted by WilWheaton

Edited by WilWheaton

Tags: NASA, manned space exploration

NASA has been working on a new spacecraft to take humans back to the Moon, and eventually to Mars. Until recently, the vehicle has had the super secret codename: Wil Wheaton Is Totally Awesome[1] but an astronaut on the International Space Station inadvertently disclosed the name of the vehicle when talking to mission control on an unencrypted space-to-ground radio.

US space agency Nasa has named its new manned exploration craft Orion.

[. . .]

It is hoped the name Orion could eventually mean as much for manned space exploration as Apollo did in the 1960s and 1970s.

Orion is named after the constellation, which is one of the brightest and most easily identified in the sky. Orion sits on the Celestial Equator, too, so it can be seen from just about anywhere on the planet.

The vehicle (and the entire program) is really cool, and a fantastic replacement for the retiring space shuttle: two rockets will launch, one carrying the crew (the Crew Exploration Vehicle or CEV) and the other carrying the equipment for the landing. The two vehicles will enter orbit around Earth, where the crew will hook up with the lander and its attached "departure module" which gives the crew a boost to get to the Moon. Once there, they climb into the lander, do their thing on the Moon, then hook up with the CEV (which remains in computer-controlled orbit around the Moon) for the trip back to Earth.

The vehicle can also be modified slightly to service the ISS, and each CEV has ten uses before NASA sends it upstate to live on a farm.

The first scheduled flight will be to the ISS sometime before 2014, and its first flight to the Moon will happen before 2020.

[1] That's not true. It's actually called "Wil Wheaton Kicks Ass" or WWKA (pronounced wuh-wuh-kah!"[2]

[2] Also not true.

  • PERMALINK
  • PRINT
  • Digg This
  • Email To A Friend
 

Previous

PAGE: 

1 | 2

Next

Comments
MrCrisp

MrCrisp

I'm lost
August 2004

AUG 25, 2006 05:39 PM

emotedcreations said:

DancehallDreamer said:

emotedcreations said:
Spaceships are not penises DD no matter how hard you wish!



This is what I was talking about.



Im scared to click that link while I'm still at work wink



NEWSFLASH: you're on a porn site. wink

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

AUG 25, 2006 05:50 PM

MrCrisp said:

emotedcreations said:

DancehallDreamer said:

emotedcreations said:
Spaceships are not penises DD no matter how hard you wish!



This is what I was talking about.



Im scared to click that link while I'm still at work wink



NEWSFLASH: you're on a porn site. wink



Yeah, but I feel safe in the CE boards.... blush

DhD_No_Pants

DhD_No_Pants

Katy, TX
May 2006

AUG 25, 2006 05:52 PM

emotedcreations said:

MrCrisp said:

emotedcreations said:

DancehallDreamer said:

emotedcreations said:
Spaceships are not penises DD no matter how hard you wish!



This is what I was talking about.



Im scared to click that link while I'm still at work wink



NEWSFLASH: you're on a porn site. wink



Yeah, but I feel safe in the CE boards.... blush



Do you know how hard it is for me to not post nudie pics in every CE thread worth mentioning right now?

I will be kind, just this once. Remember this kindness, for it will probably be a while before it is seen from me again.

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

AUG 25, 2006 05:54 PM

DancehallDreamer said:

emotedcreations said:

MrCrisp said:

emotedcreations said:

DancehallDreamer said:

emotedcreations said:
Spaceships are not penises DD no matter how hard you wish!



This is what I was talking about.



Im scared to click that link while I'm still at work wink



NEWSFLASH: you're on a porn site. wink



Yeah, but I feel safe in the CE boards.... blush



Do you know how hard it is for me to not post nudie pics in every CE thread worth mentioning right now?

I will be kind, just this once. Remember this kindness, for it will probably be a while before it is seen from me again.



Well, I have only two days left, and hopefully my next job won't include me sitting in front of a computer all day, so give me two days and then I'm all for the nudie pics.

note: i think I'm so addicted I'd find someway to hide it so I could bullshit while working....

MrCrisp

MrCrisp

I'm lost
August 2004

AUG 25, 2006 06:09 PM

emotedcreations said:
Yeah, but I feel safe...



you're never safe in america! skull

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
also, i'm watching final destination 2. i really don't feel safe now.

Quirky

Quirky

Birmingham, AL
October 2005

AUG 25, 2006 06:21 PM

The Ensign Crusher 1 and the Wakka Wakka should be the best starships ever.

Orion? fuck that.

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

AUG 25, 2006 06:36 PM

you're never safe in america! skull

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
also, i'm watching final destination 2. i really don't feel safe now.



emotedcreations***looks over shoulder as he clicks the 'spoiler'.....

ThisIsWhoWeAre

ThisIsWhoWeAre

Oakland, CA
July 2004

AUG 28, 2006 02:45 AM

The astronauts will have to rely on a computer-controlled craft in lunar orbit? I can't possibly see any problems with that...

SPOILERS! (Click to view)



Markus001

Markus001

United Kingdom
November 2004

AUG 28, 2006 06:49 AM

Ooh, Orion. Nice and cool spacey name.

I'd have preferred it if they called the project 'Mark Kicks Ass'

cmdrfire

cmdrfire

United Kingdom
December 2005

AUG 28, 2006 11:01 AM

I think that this is awesome news, and I think the name is a good one. But there needs to be a move-on on the schedule! The experience gained by the last generation to go to the Moon is steadily disappearing as these pioneers get older and die - we need to take advantage of this massive pool of experience, and use it in our own endeavours, as soon as we can.
C'mon, the Pentagon doesn't need all that money - put some more into the chronically under-funded NASA.
With all respect to the Russians, NASA is the last real spacewards-looking organisation that can pull this off - but only if they get the funding so as to achieve the means to make significant, extra-orbital manned spaceflight reality once more.

Arcanum

Arcanum

Jersey City, NJ
June 2006

AUG 28, 2006 01:00 PM

If they want funding, NASA's got to get on board with the public and get some support. Stop developing really boring spacecraft and give us something a little more sci-fi and edgy. Here ... let me show you what I mean ...


zoom image

Simple paint job and the addition of a gun turret makes all the difference in the world. wink

PointBlank

PointBlank

New York, NY
November 2004

AUG 28, 2006 01:11 PM

Arcanum

Arcanum

Jersey City, NJ
June 2006

AUG 28, 2006 01:18 PM

PointBlank said:
I guess "Sky Raping Space Cock" was already taken?



LOL. Great ... and here all along I thought space exploration was an invaluable tool for the study of the universe. We faked the rape of space with our false sky cock?

Sounds like something from the back cover of a really bad porno.

erleichda

erleichda

Germany
May 2003

AUG 28, 2006 01:32 PM


zoom image

We built the Orion 37 years ago.

Arcanum

Arcanum

Jersey City, NJ
June 2006

AUG 28, 2006 01:33 PM

erleichda said:

zoom image

We build the Orion 37 years ago.



Now that looks like a nicely designed spacecraft.

That's what I'm talking about.

Previous

PAGE: 

1 | 2

Next

featured interviews