What we're getting to replace the Shuttle...

[CPMcGraw]

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1513658585/bctid1745075221

Sad and pathetic...

[Leo]

Indeed

[jetlag]

Was that parachute supposed to NOT open all the way? That sure looked like a bone-crushing landing :eek:

[pantherjon]

It was a capsule crushing landing!:eek: There is a link to a picture of it on the ground over on TRF in the thread about this..Was a prototype, so I am sure they will get the bugs worked out.But will agree, it is kind of pathetic to screw up this bad on something this basic...

[barone]

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JRThro]

It was a capsule crushing landing!:eek: There is a link to a picture of it on the ground over on TRF in the thread about this..Was a prototype, so I am sure they will get the bugs worked out.But will agree, it is kind of pathetic to screw up this bad on something this basic...
It was a parachute test article, not even the same size and shape as the Orion capsule.

[Bob Kaplow]

http://site.glennztees.com/images/slideshow/go_for_launch_image.jpg

Now you know what I'm building for NARAM-51 F/F scale!

[STRMan]

I don't know how you guys feel, and I am NOT a professional rocket scientist, but I think using streamers to recover living humans is NOT a good idea. ;)

[Shreadvector]

This was a parachute test and not a real crew module. I was just asking the guy down the aisle from me if any video was officially released from this air drop test. We support the C-17 end of the test. We can carry and drop all sorts of cool stuff. Google "Air launch".

[Shreadvector]

http://site.glennztees.com/images/slideshow/go_for_launch_image.jpg

Now you know what I'm building for NARAM-51 F/F scale!

Now that is closer to the original Orion concept!!!

[tbzep]

And to think back in the 60's we could consistently get three chutes open (except for the two chutes on one mission). Maybe they should start offering some of the old Apollo era folks a nice bonus to come out of retirement for a couple of years.

(Yes, I know the Orion's chute is huge and offers some unique problems, but there's no fun making comparisons if you factor that.)

[ghrocketman]

That is a seriously BAD joke, but I feel the space program has become a joke ever since the last Apollo landing on the moon.
Seems we are always taking steps BACKWARDS in manned spaceflight in the mamby-pamby name of freakin' safety.

There is NO reason (other than maybe $$$) why we cannot build a booster better than the Saturn V now, with today's technology, even faster than the Saturn series went from concept to completion back in the 1960's.
In my opinion, NASA is extremely watered-down from the proud institution it once was.
If the Saturn was concieved now it would never be built/launched....the politicos and safety beatniks would kill it.

[tbzep]

BTW, did they choose the huge single chute configuration for reliability reasons over use of multiple smaller chutes? The triples worked pretty good for Apollo...and looked really cool. :cool:

I know the military doesn't drop payloads at the speeds the Orion will be traveling, but they are pretty good at using multiple chutes on heavy payloads instead of trying to make one huge chute work.

[Royatl]

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1513658585/bctid1745075221

Sad and pathetic...

Imagine if we'd had YouTube and BrightCove back when Neil Armstrong crashed the lander training vehicle...

[tbzep]

Imagine if we'd had YouTube and BrightCove back when Neil Armstrong crashed the lander training vehicle...

There's one big difference with this test and Armstrong's crash. Parachute recovery has been used by the US and USSR/Russia successfully since 1961, and even earlier if you count some of the scientific and spy payloads. The parachute itself is very old technology with a lot of data in support of these new parachute designs. The flying bedstead was very hard to fly according to the astronauts, and it was brand new technology at the time Armstrong wadded it. BTW, in the 60's, test plane/pilot crashes were common, so people would have been used to watching F-104's and X planes auguring in on Youtube all the time.

[luke strawwalker]

One other thing... the LLTV was a handful and operating at the cutting edge, and it wasn't a DESIGN problem that caused that crash...

I mean, jeez Louise, if they can't even get a parachute to work how are they EVER going to get Ares I to fly, let alone Ares V??

SERIOUSLY! OL JR :)

[Leo]

Imagine if we'd had YouTube and BrightCove back when Neil Armstrong crashed the lander training vehicle...

Roy, they are trying to reinvert the wheel and in the this case failed. That is kinda sad.

[Shreadvector]

Speaking of what happens when the Shuttle is retired....

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0809/04griffin/