Orion Is An Apollo Restomod

"Vizzini" (993Dave) 12/05/2014 at 15:04 • Filed to: Space the Final Frontier

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I'm a space program geek. I'm a bit too young to remember the Apollo program first hand, but I was way into the Shuttle. I never got to see a launch, but I did manage to skip out from work, grab my wife and little daughter and race up to Edwards when the Shuttle had one of its rare California landings. It bugs me that the Shuttle has completely run its course, from theory to execution to retirement as an entire concept of space travel.

Now we have Orion. I enjoyed following the descent and splashdown today (the launch was a bit too early for this West Coaster), in part because it felt like a kind of time warp. Here we are, waiting for a little capsule to free-fall from orbit, watching for the triad of huge parachutes to signal a safe return to earth. It's 1968 all over again. Now, though, the little capsule is jam packed with computers that can finally outpace a pocket calculator, and we can track it with all sorts of cool video and telemetry that Gene Krantz could only dream of.

Orion is the spacefaring equivalent of a Jag E-type all kitted out with F-type underpinnings. It looks like the old Apollo, and operates fundamentally the same way, but everything under the skin is updated to this century's tech.

Make good use of your new toy, NASA. Lay some 11s toward Mars.

For Sweden > Vizzini 12/05/2014 at 15:14

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Orion is the latest SBC

f86sabre > Vizzini 12/05/2014 at 15:35

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I like how they mirrored the product bloat between Apollo and Orion. Looks the same, just a bit bigger.

I have to say that the one thing that blows my mind is that it will be almost 2 years before it flies again. I really don't understand that at all.

Racescort666 > f86sabre 12/05/2014 at 15:42

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Any idea of how far along they are with SLS? As far as launch vehicles go, SLS is basically just re-purposed Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters and shuttle main engines right?

More of a comment for Vizzini: I can see the disappointment of the retirement of the Shuttle but it's not like it's totally done. Effectively the program lives on in the SLS although the orbiter is now gone.

Ntovorni > For Sweden 12/05/2014 at 15:50

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Or is the Titan the SBC, and the Orion is the little (Miata?) you shove it in

Vizzini > Racescort666 12/05/2014 at 17:04

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I like the idea of the SLS in that it repurposes existing inventory. I'll miss the orbiter, though. It was a fundamentally bold way of taking people and material into space, in a way denying the strangeness of space by saying, "look at us, we're just going to bring our trusty airplane up here and fly it home."