NASA is going retro. The agency last week commissioned aerospace firm Lockheed Martin to build the space capsule for its crewed moon and Mars missions.
The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle bears a striking resemblance to the Apollo capsules that took America to the moon in the 1960s, with its conical crew pod and rocket-powered service module. The first crewed launch is planned for 2014, NASA says, with a moon landing no later than 2020. Orion will carry at least four crew members to the moon and Mars, and up to six on shorter missions to the International Space Station.
Commissioning the $8 billion project is the first concrete step NASA has made towards replacing its 25-year-old space shuttle fleet, which has been reduced from five to three since the losses of Challenger and Columbia. The reusable Orion will be launched using a new expendable rocket called Ares. Unlike Apollo鈥檚 famous ocean splashdowns, Orion capsules will parachute down on land.
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NASA鈥檚 last attempt at a shuttle replacement was the X-33 spaceplane, also built by Lockheed Martin. However, the project was abandoned after persistent problems with the design of the fuel tank (New 杏吧原创, 20 November 1999, p 12).
Some critics are unhappy at what they perceive as a lack of imagination on NASA鈥檚 part. Aerospace consultant Charles Lurio in Boston says Orion is a throwback to Apollo-era technology when what is needed are moves toward 鈥渁n affordable and sustainable future for human space exploration鈥�.
