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Nasa reveal plans for the biggest rocket ever made to take man to Mars..
UK Daily Mail ^ | January 15, 2014 | Mark Prigg

Posted on 01/16/2014 5:20:49 AM PST by C19fan

It is set to become the largest rocket ever built, dwarfing the rockets that took man to the moon and paving the way for manned missions to Mars. Nasa today reveal stunning new pictures of its SLS (Space Launch System), which will eventually be capable of lifting 130 tonnes into orbit. The rocket will be used to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, and to help us explore the outer reaches of the solar system. It is even hoped the craft could play a role in manned missions to Mars, being able to launch 'stepping stone' bases into orbit.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: mars; moon; nasa; orion; rocket; sls; spaceexploration; spacelaunchsystem
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To: C19fan

21 posted on 01/16/2014 6:26:54 AM PST by JoeProBono (SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
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To: GOP_Party_Animal

Thanks...


22 posted on 01/16/2014 6:29:36 AM PST by ken5050 (This space available cheap...)
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To: Celtic Conservative
Sorry, it was Richard Gordon, not Gordon Cooper.

CC

23 posted on 01/16/2014 6:29:55 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (tease not the dragon for thou art crunchy when roasted and taste good with ketchup)
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To: C19fan
The Space Senate Launch System is the Porkulus of space.

Designed to maintain the flow of cost-plus, no-bid contracts to all the companies that built the shuttle, and ensure that the return flow of campaign contributions will not be interrupted.

Pfui.

24 posted on 01/16/2014 6:43:22 AM PST by Notary Sojac (Mi tio es enfermo, pero la carretera es verde!)
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To: Celtic Conservative

Yes I have. Very intense minute of comm. After Al Bean reconfigured the SEC to AUX, things calmed down and the crew literally laughed their way to orbit. Loved Pete Conrad’s comment about needing some more bad weather testing.


25 posted on 01/16/2014 6:46:42 AM PST by NCC-1701 (I am proud of what America USED TO BE.)
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To: C19fan
It is a false hope. The Apollo days of NASA are gone, people. We haven't got the national will to send a man to Benghazi to save a US Ambassador from being tortured to death, much less send a man to Mars.

The only reason this rocket is being built at all is the incredible inertia of the enormous FedGov sow: once a program is started, politics makes it extremely hard to stop it. The power of incumbency, multiplied by media manipulation, gerrymandering, vote buying, and dirty tricks (traffic jams on election days) make it virtually impossible to stop any given politician, much less any Federal program.

There may be a rocket, but there will be no Mars mission.

26 posted on 01/16/2014 6:47:36 AM PST by backwoods-engineer (Blog: www.BackwoodsEngineer.com)
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To: Paladin2
Is it going to use alternative energy?

That's the "gotcha" ... Obama's insisting only "renewable" fuel sources be used. Solar and Wind are at the top of the list (/humor)

27 posted on 01/16/2014 6:50:48 AM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: NCC-1701; Celtic Conservative
Pete Conrad was a character, and Al Bean was a perfect straight man for him. I've got Bean's book around here somewhere.

There aren't any men like that left in the space program.

28 posted on 01/16/2014 6:50:51 AM PST by backwoods-engineer (Blog: www.BackwoodsEngineer.com)
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To: DoodleDawg
The Saturn V wasn't designed for a Mars mission. It was designed to attain LEO and put the CM/CSM/LM on a trajectory to the Moon.

It could never be used to do the same for a Mars mission.

29 posted on 01/16/2014 6:54:36 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts ("The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." - George Orwell)
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To: backwoods-engineer

Have you seen pictures of their lunar surface cuff lists? They were laced with Playboy playmates and other humorous things. The guys in flight prep knew the Conrad and Bean well. In some of the comm from the moon, they can be heard laughing at some of the check list items. The 12 crew was a true crew that worked well together. The 15 and 17 crews were similar in makeup but not near as tight as 12 was. In fact, the 12 crew had their crew positions painted on their Vettes, CDR, LMP, CMP. Now, how cool was that?


30 posted on 01/16/2014 6:58:31 AM PST by NCC-1701 (I am proud of what America USED TO BE.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

“It could never be used to do the same for a Mars mission. “

Of course not, because moon launches require the ability to lift stuff into space, in contrast, a Mars launch requires the ability to lift stuff into space.

BIG DIFFERENCE.


31 posted on 01/16/2014 6:59:56 AM PST by RFEngineer
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To: C19fan

The word that should be rolling off tongues at NASA is a philosophy of “cumulative” space exploration. That is, every time a mission within the solar system takes place, it should build on, literally, missions that have happened before, and its mission should be used to build on those that happen after.

When a space station is built, one of its primary tasks is to construct an “interplanetary shuttle engine”, a big, robotic engine and fuel tank to take other spaceships from Earth to Moon and Mars and beyond, and back, itself remaining in space. This would permit the spaceships to carry a lot more of their own fuel and supplies.

When considering Lunar and Martian missions, the first missions should be nuclear powered robotic tunneling systems. By mining tunnels as habitats, you avoid a huge number of problems, as well as create a cumulative Lunar or Martian base, so missions there can be a lot longer and carry more and different supplies.

The mining can be done before humans arrive and after they leave, and while they are there, the mining robots nuclear power can be used to provide copious amounts of energy to the base.


32 posted on 01/16/2014 7:02:13 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (There Is Still A Very Hot War On Terror, Just Not On The MSM. Rantburg.com)
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To: backwoods-engineer
Another funny moment: during the Command module/ Lunar excursion module re-docking sequence Pete Conrad can be heard to say "they say that guy Gordon is smooth as silk", referring to Dick Gordon, the CM pilot.

CC

33 posted on 01/16/2014 7:06:51 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (tease not the dragon for thou art crunchy when roasted and taste good with ketchup)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network
It is close enough, China may develop it as a weapons base.

Yup. See "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein.

 

34 posted on 01/16/2014 8:28:17 AM PST by zeugma (Is it evil of me to teach my bird to say "here kitty, kitty"?)
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To: Notary Sojac
Designed to maintain the flow of cost-plus, no-bid contracts to all the companies that built the shuttle, and ensure that the return flow of campaign contributions will not be interrupted.

Well, duh! Why do you think they budgeted more money than they originally asked for? (Fatter kickbacks!)

35 posted on 01/16/2014 8:34:38 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy
The word that should be rolling off tongues at NASA is a philosophy of “cumulative” space exploration.

Von Braun was pushing for this concept in the 60s. He wanted an Earth orbit rendezvous between the lunar lander and the crews, at a space station.

We were racing the Soviets at the time, so the idea was abandoned for the lunar orbit rendezvous between lander and command module.

The landers could have been reusable (if different from the LEM), and the space station could have been a stepping stone to more exploration.

The concept still seems to be on the back shelf gathering dust.

The tunneling machine concept is a good one, but maintaining any tlelmetry would be the hard part.

36 posted on 01/16/2014 8:45:11 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Notary Sojac

“Senate Launch System”....now there’s a thought.


37 posted on 01/16/2014 8:52:38 AM PST by Pecos (The Chicago Way: Kill the Constitution, one step at a time.)
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To: JoeProBono

Awesome graphic. Saved


38 posted on 01/16/2014 11:51:13 AM PST by zeugma (Is it evil of me to teach my bird to say "here kitty, kitty"?)
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To: C19fan

NASA reveals its latest boondoggle. There’s no need for a huge launcher.


39 posted on 01/16/2014 11:54:43 AM PST by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Smokin' Joe
Telemetry wouldn't be difficult of the tunneling machine would "poop out" a battery-powered relay beacon once every few miles of tunnel. Of course, it has to have one on the surface to relay to Earth.

It could all be done. We just don't have the national will to do it.

40 posted on 01/16/2014 4:20:56 PM PST by backwoods-engineer (Blog: www.BackwoodsEngineer.com)
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