Sooo.....am I the only one excited about Orion?

[TomcatMF]

Space flight is so cool. If I had the opportunity to go up there, I'd do it.

 

[Punchy]

Missed the launch, but very cool indeed. Manned missions to space don't make sense logically, financially, etc, but manned missions have that "FUCK YEAH!" factor that robot launches will never have.

Besides, it's manifest destiny. Humans don't live in the environment anymore, we suit it to our needs. That includes you, outer space. We're comin' for ya.

 

[TomcatMF]

Didn't Ares get shit canned?

Wonder why Titan II isn't on that image?

Isn't the Titan II an ICBM?

 

[BlockInlay]

Isn't the Titan II an ICBM?

Yes but I think it was also the booster used on all the Gemini missions.

 

[TomcatMF]

Yes but I think it was also the booster used on all the Gemini missions.

It looks like that list only goes back to the Apollo program. Two other rockets that are missing are the Redstone and Atlas rockets used in the Mercury 7 program.

 

[Tiltsta]

Didn't Ares get shit canned?

Wonder why Titan II isn't on that image?

I think NASA folded the Ares rocket designs into a new single launch system (SLS) that can do cargo and manned flights back in 2010 when Congress fucked their budget.

 

[Mark Wein]

Splashdown in about 8 minutes.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/6540154

 

[Chad]

Nope, you are not alone. I waited in my front yard with my camera until the scrub. I'm about 3 hours south, bit I can see the rockets launch from my yard. I hope it goes off on Friday.

I love the idea of space flight, but the logical part of my mind tells me manned space missions are a waste of resources that could be spent on robot probes that are cheaper, can do more science, and are better suited for the hazards of space . We are perfectly adapted to live here, and going out to even low earth orbit is dangerous and expensive. We are fragile and need a lot of stuff to live in space. The other part of my mind wants to do the Kessel run in under 3 parsecs and explore the cosmos.

It is crazy how far you can see the launch from. The night of my brother's rehearsal dinner, we were at Atlantic Beach (the beach directly east of Jacksonville) and we could see the shuttle launch. It was pretty cool. I have seen a few from my father in law's in Melbourne, but that is pretty close to it,

 

[Mark Wein]

Fucking killer.

 

[nuke_diver]

Glad to see there is a effort for manned missions. While robots can do a lot it is IMO our destiny to explore/colonize other planets or we will become extinct. It's only a matter of (geological) time before something bad happens to our pale blue dot...it's happened many many times before.

 

[Mark Wein]

woohoo! SPlashdown!

 

[Punchy]

Bad ass.

 

[Chihlidog]

Good show NASA. Long overdue!!

 

[Mark Wein]

http://io9.com/this-was-the-incredi...utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow