Astronomy / Space Orion space capsule test flight live on NASA TV right now

Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up! Please don't blow up!

:D
 
The first steps to making Elite a reality. :D

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I'm watching it with E:D running in the background; its atmospheric music is a perfect accompaniment to the video stream. :)
 
Blasting off in three minutes from now if you want to watch!

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

It'll be testing super-duper new heat shields as it re-enters the atmosphere from beyond the Earth's Van Allen radiation belt, and is the vehicle that will apparently be taking humans to the Moon, asteroids and Mars in the future.

Edit: Countdown automatically halted again @ 3:00 mins due to excessively windy conditions.
 
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Delayed again due to high wind speeds. 1.5hrs in the launch window left.

All this radio chatter makes me want something similar in ED around stations even more!

Oh yes, and also a way to abort launch requests in ED would be nice also!
 
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Blasting off in three minutes from now if you want to watch!

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

It'll be testing super-duper new heat shields as it re-enters the atmosphere from beyond the Earth's Van Allen radiation belt, and is the vehicle that will apparently be taking humans to the Moon, asteroids and Mars in the future.

Edit: Countdown automatically halted again @ 3:00 mins due to excessively windy conditions.

Nice images of steam so far. You'd think they could get some entertainment while we have to wait. A few clowns perhaps?

Nominations?
 
Dragon is still an LEO capsule. It won't get us beyond Earth Orbit. That being said, I prefer SpaceX over other Taxi services...
 
Clock has started 3:10... Power to internal...

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Ahhh Stopped again...

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Fuel Drain Valve failed to close...
 
Dragon is still an LEO capsule. It won't get us beyond Earth Orbit. That being said, I prefer SpaceX over other Taxi services...

True enough , but I dont see anything in Orion that will protect astronauts all the way to to Mars either.

Also the Dragon V2 soft lands .. not need for parachutes (except in an emergency)
 
True enough , but I dont see anything in Orion that will protect astronauts all the way to to Mars either.

Also the Dragon V2 soft lands .. not need for parachutes (except in an emergency)

The astronauts do not stay in Orion all the way to Mars. You have to meet up with another vehicle, a hab module. For one, it's the speed of re-entry that Dragon would not currently be able to match.
 
Personally I think Mars is a bad idea with the current state of tech. We need ways to get payloads into space cheaper, once thats the case everything else will be easier so its where Id rather see the investment.
In other words; I dont want to just goto mars. I want to go there often!
 
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