What does Orion to the ISS give us that Dragon 2 and CST 100 don't?
Well, Orion has 84 man-days of life support. With a 6 km/s TMI burn, you can get to Mars in 80 days in 2035 as Musk pointed out at IAC.
Quote from: ncb1397 on 06/02/2017 08:19 pmWell, Orion has 84 man-days of life support. With a 6 km/s TMI burn, you can get to Mars in 80 days in 2035 as Musk pointed out at IAC.It doesn't matter what the vehicle is, no one is going to go to Mars in such a small confined space.NASA released a study in 2015 that recommended a minimum of 25 m3 (883 ft3) per person based on Mars DRM 5.0. As a reminder, the habitable volume of the Orion spacecraft is only 8.95 m3, or 316 ft3 - barely a third the space one person would need.
Obviously something has to be attached to Orion. If it aerobrakes into Mars orbit, you need a miniature service module attached to the docking port for manuevering and power after you eject the service module to expose the heat shield. If you go directly down to the surface...
What is really the psychological difference between being cramped for 168 hours vs 1680 hours?
It doesn't matter what the vehicle is, no one is going to go to Mars in such a small confined space.NASA released a study in 2015 that recommended a minimum of 25 m3 (883 ft3) per person based on Mars DRM 5.0. As a reminder, the habitable volume of the Orion spacecraft is only 8.95 m3, or 316 ft3 - barely a third the space one person would need.
Maybe imagining ways the Orion could be used on a trip to Mars is a fun thought experiment, but otherwise it makes no sense to drag a small capsule all the way to Mars and back. The Orion is a Earth-local vehicle onl
Math suggests that it would be 10X harder, don't you think?
Oops, yeah. Forgot that bit, its from FOIA.
The 2017 budget request for NASA required several reports to be prepared.Amongst these was 'Subsec. 421(e) Enactment + 60 days On Orion to ISS without SLS'.
... short version is that its technically feasible, but will take 3-4 years to develop, a lot of money, and needs mission-specific hardware, and NASA thinks its a bad option when Commercial Crew exists.
Quote from: speedevil on 05/22/2017 02:24 pmThe 2017 budget request for NASA required several reports to be prepared.Amongst these was 'Subsec. 421(e) Enactment + 60 days On Orion to ISS without SLS'. Quote from: brickmack on 07/07/2017 05:22 pm... short version is that its technically feasible, but will take 3-4 years to develop, a lot of money, and needs mission-specific hardware, and NASA thinks its a bad option when Commercial Crew exists. Perhaps new leadership wouldn't be as tied to the PoR and provide viable options rather than disregard.