18 thoughts on “Earth from Orion’s Point of View”

  1. I noticed earlier that Orion was moving at 16,000 mph, which seems to be around 266 mi/sec, and that is well over the 7 mi/sec needed for escape velocity. Is this because the Delta IV and Orion service module engine are over-powered for a mission with no extra mass, or is it just to move into position faster rather than slower? Or am I confusing statute miles with nautical miles?

      1. (16000 mi)/(1 hr) * (1 hr)/(60 min) * (1 min)/(60 sec) = 4.44 mi/sec

        I see where my error was, I only divided by 60 instead of 3600. Thanks!

    1. Jacob,
      You need one more division by 60 to obtain miles per second. The 266 is miles per MINUTE. The miles per second speed is ~4.4, which is less than the escape velocity.

      I’m glad to see we’re back in the space program.

  2. Jacob, you’re doing the math wrong. 16,000 mph is 266 miles *per minute*. Divide by 60 *again* and you get 4.4 miles per second.

  3. How much free space is in the capsule for the astronauts to move around. (That is, once you folks include a crew.)

    I understand the Apollo capsule was comparable to the inside of a station wagon. That’s rather cramped, but they only had to put up with that during the ten days or so required for a moonshot. But the trip to Mars will be much, much longer.

    Am I correct that the mission to Mars will launch directly from Earth? That is, nonstop? I always figured that it would be better to assemble a craft in low Earth orbit, for among other reasons, to provide more living space for the crew. That would also enable the construction of a centrifuge to provide simulated gravity, as was depicted in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

    1. I suppose it would be something like the moon missions, where the Orion capsule is just the Earth re-entry vehicle and that there would be another living quarters module and a lander module attached to it for the mars trip.

  4. It’s great to see we are aiming for the stars again! Human space exploration and colonization is our destiny. We need only the courage to obtain it.

  5. On one of the earth camera views I noticed a bright spot moving very quickly from top screen center to mid screen right. It then made a sharp turn and moved off screen right. Any idea what it was?

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