re: #191 Honorary Yooper

I hope they got moving on its replacement a bit faster. I think I like the new Orion craft a bit better than the Shuttle.

I’m just an armchair enthusiast, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. Personally, I consider Orion a stopgap vehicle. I don’t consider it an advancement in technology or capability. Project Constellation was deigned around a return to the moon, and the fulfillment of our commitment to the IIS. When NASA asks the question of how to return to the moon, it’s Mother Nature is calling the shots, so it’s not surprising when the answer resembles the Apollo program.

I’m not saying this it is necessarily the wrong thing to do or that Project Constellation is bad. I believe there is strategic importance to manned access to space, and if the Orion capsule and Ares rockets are what we can afford given current budgetary constraints to preserve our access to space, then I support them. To me, though, they don’t represent an evolutionary advance in technology. They are a re-implementation of an older technology using modern materials and design methods. I heartily agree that there is value in a proven design. However, from a purely emotional standpoint I find them unsatisfying.