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#1 2003-09-18 05:15:50
- Palomar
- Member
- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: Apollo-Style Capsules - ...could replace shuttle
*This just in. Interesting. I'll try to muster up a few comments/questions a bit later in the morning (it's only 5:15 a.m.!!)
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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#2 2003-09-18 05:49:14
- Palomar
- Member
- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: Apollo-Style Capsules - ...could replace shuttle
Article says: "The capsule design gained momentum in March from a study headed by astronaut John Young, who has flown in both capsules and shuttles. Young, as well as Michael Kostelnick, head of NASA's human space flight program, cite the versatility of the capsule, which can move beyond low Earth orbit to the moon or beyond."
*Erm...a manned (Apollo-style) capsule traveling BEYOND the moon? How so? I'm thinking of very confined spaces, limited storage for food, etc.
Of course, maybe it's still too early in the morning... 
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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#3 2003-09-18 07:17:42
- Shaun Barrett
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- From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia
- Registered: 2001-12-28
- Posts: 2,843
Re: Apollo-Style Capsules - ...could replace shuttle
Hi Cindy!
I think the main point they were making with this "can move beyond low Earth orbit to the Moon or beyond" business, is that we have experience with re-entry into Earth's atmosphere by capsules coming in from 'deep space'.
The shuttle only ever has to survive a 27,000 km/hr re-entry from Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The Apollo capsules returning from the Moon routinely survived re-entry at 40,000 km/hr. A capsule with its one-piece heat-shield is a more compact and robust structure than the shuttle and upgrading the latter to withstand a 40,000 km/hr meeting with our atmosphere would be very difficult.
In addition, capsules are lighter and easier to launch, not having to bring along wings and hydraulically operated undercarriages with them. Thus it's easier to lob them into LEO with a considerable amount of rocket fuel and a large motor attached, which can then be used to propel them out of LEO to, say, the Moon.
But I don't think anyone seriously expects NASA to use cramped Apollo-style capsules to make the trip to Mars. The astronauts would surely go mad and kill one another under those conditions!
The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down. - Rita Rudner
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#4 2003-09-18 09:52:00
- Palomar
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- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: Apollo-Style Capsules - ...could replace shuttle
Shaun: "But I don't think anyone seriously expects NASA to use cramped Apollo-style capsules to make the trip to Mars."
*Precisely.
Shaun: "The astronauts would surely go mad and kill one another under those conditions!"
*Yeah...that too. 
Maybe we should just bicycle to Mars ala "E.T. the Extraterrestrial"...it'd be good exercise, too. The leader gets to carry E.T. on the bike's front basket, like in the movie. :laugh:
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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