For a while there it looked like NASA was dropping out of the race to develop future technologies for space travel. Space crafts were aging and being retired, and the government simply didn’t have the money to invest in new programs for manned deep spaceflight. Surprise! NASA has just released images of its new Deep Space Transportation System craft called the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, assembled by Lockheed Martin. The MPCV is designed to take 4 astronauts on missions of 3 weeks or more, eventually aiming toward longer missions that could take humans to planets such as Mars, where only unmanned space craft have previously traveled.
Isn’t this just the same as the Orion spacecraft. Safer maybe, is it cheaper? The Government Accountability Office is highly critical of the plans. Saying the project is at risk of significant cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls because it commits the government to a long-term product development effort before establishing a sound business case. The White House’s Augustine Commission estimated that after development of the Orion and its Ares I launch vehicle is completed, the system will have a recurring cost of nearly One billion dollars per flight, not much different from the space shuttle.
[...] out of place on the Death Star. We also learned that NASA plans to rejoin the space race with a new MPCV craft fit for deep space flights, while here on Earth we saw GE harness the power of the sun to charge [...]
[...] out of place on the Death Star. We also learned that NASA plans to rejoin the space race with a new MPCV craft fit for deep space flights, while here on Earth we saw GE harness the power of the sun to charge [...]