LockMarts 2 cents: Orion could fly by 2013

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docm

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Well, their initial comments are out.....and they're still talking Ares I, but with a possibility of what sounds like Orion Lite if that gets them back in the game.

http://www.universetoday.com/2010/02/06 ... -lockheed/

February 6th, 2010

Orion can Launch Safely in 2013 says Lockheed


“We can fly Orion in 2013”, says John Karas, the VP and General Manager of Human Space Flight for Lockheed Martin. Lockheed is the prime contractor for NASA’s Orion capsule.

“There is no doubt in my mind we can do this. And Orion is very safe”. He strenuously repeated this statement to me several times with absolutely no doubt in his mind during a wide ranging interview. I spoke at length with Karas today (Feb. 6) at the NASA Press Center shortly before the scheduled Feb. 7 launch of shuttle Endeavour on the STS 130 mission to the ISS.

Lockheed Martin has issued an official statement saying, “We are keenly disappointed in the Administration's budget proposal for NASA that would cancel Project Orion as part of an elimination of NASA's Constellation Program. Orion's maturity is evident in its readiness for a first test flight in a matter of weeks. In fact, Orion can be ready for crewed flights to low Earth orbit and other exploration missions as early as 2013, thus narrowing the gap in U.S. human space flight capability when the shuttle is retired later this year”.
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menellom

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There are only two ways we'll see Orion flying by 2013. On a private rocket or a Jupiter.
 
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steve82

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"Over 4000 people are working on Orion and those jobs are at risk. Lockheed and its partners have spent $300 million of its planned $500 million investment in Orion,” Karas told me. "

With that kind of stockholder exposure, LM definitely has skin in the game. They are very serious about moving CDR up and closing on the design, and they are years ahead of the competition. It will be a lot easier for them to remove the lunar capabilities in exchange for weight from their design than it will be for others to try to figure out how to turn a cargo pod into a human vehicle. There are a wide variety of launchers available to do them. I wouldn't even close the door on Ares yet seeing as how the only thing wrong with Ares 1-X is that was dangerously close to validating their concept and proving thrust oscillation to be a red herring.
 
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bdewoody

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Now that it's apparent that the current administration won't be able to stuff an ill concieved health bill down the Nation's throat the President supposedly will concentrate on jobs. I guess the NASA, Boeing and LockMart employees involved in human space flight don't count. Brevard County, Florida may end up looking like the ghost communities around Detroit.

I just hope that when Congress realizes the impact on jobs that the Presidents recommendations would have they will have a clearer vision and reinstate the most valuable programs.

I think in a little while I'm going to drive over to Titusville and watch the last night launch of the Space Shuttle.
 
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MarkStanaway

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I believe it is quite possible for Lockheed Martin to develop a stripped down version of Orion for launch by 2013.

The question would then be what is its mission?

Will it compete with SpaceX's man rated Dragon and Russia's Soyuz as a ferry to the ISS?
There would seem to be only a market for one manned ferry from the US at this stage of the game.

The only other possible market I can see in the short to medium term is as a ferry for the Bigelow hab modules.

If LM can identify a viable mission and decides to go ahead and develop Orion Lite it will leave the option of restoring later versions of Orion to its original deep space mission capabilities when more enlightened times return.
 
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voyager4d

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MarkStanaway":3bwhxlal said:
The only other possible market I can see in the short to medium term is as a ferry for the Bigelow hab modules.

Yes, but if Bigelow can lease his modules out to different goverments and companies as he says he will, there will be many "Bigelow" space stations. So the market could quickly grow. And like in many other fields in the beginning there will be many to provide the service, but in the end there will only be a few big players left.
 
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Woggles

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menellom":2moag13g said:
There are only two ways we'll see Orion flying by 2013. On a private rocket or a Jupiter.

I was thinking the same. Does anyone know if there are talks from the private companies about attaching Orion to there systems?
 
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menellom

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Woggles":1pl4ef3w said:
menellom":1pl4ef3w said:
There are only two ways we'll see Orion flying by 2013. On a private rocket or a Jupiter.

I was thinking the same. Does anyone know if there are talks from the private companies about attaching Orion to there systems?

I've heard rumors about sending an Orion (though this may refer to Bigelow's Orion Lite concept) on the Falcon 9 Heavy, but so far the only confirmed reports I've heard of the Orion being used on other rockets is the ESA's Ariane 5.
 
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EarthlingX

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menellom":1wpiky2v said:
Woggles":1wpiky2v said:
menellom":1wpiky2v said:
There are only two ways we'll see Orion flying by 2013. On a private rocket or a Jupiter.

I was thinking the same. Does anyone know if there are talks from the private companies about attaching Orion to there systems?

I've heard rumors about sending an Orion (though this may refer to Bigelow's Orion Lite concept) on the Falcon 9 Heavy, but so far the only confirmed reports I've heard of the Orion being used on other rockets is the ESA's Ariane 5.
There is, hm .. , 'very reserved optimism', about it from ESA :

At the end of the video:
Kennedy Hosts Post-Launch News Conference
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF2OMg2gp7s[/youtube]

He says, please correct me,
'it is possible, but we have 5 partners to discuss it with, and we need a stable plan, to be able to talk about financing'
, or something like that.
 
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