Quote:
Originally Posted by gaetanomarano
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That mystery link (topic:
Stop the mystery links, please) desperately cries out for a description.
It's from flightglobal.com, an article entitled "NASA's Moon mission could see major change in concept of operations", with source
Flight International, parent of flightglobal.com.
Excerpt:
Quote:
NASA is studying a major change to its Moon mission plan to cut the time its spacecraft have to wait in low Earth orbit before setting off. Loitering in LEO presents challenges for cryogenic propellant storage and spacecraft energy budget.
A revised mission plan could see the Ares I launcher, carrying the Orion crew exploration vehicle, lift off before an Ares V cargo launcher takes the Earth departure stage and Altair lunar lander into space.
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Current: Unmanned stuff waits for manned, then all leave for moon.
Considering: Manned stuff waits for unmanned, then all leave for moon.
Gaetanomarano, do let us know when plans actually change. Thanks.
Edit: brief description of current plan in
NASA Orion Crew Vehicle overview:
Quote:
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An Ares V cargo launch vehicle will precede the launch of the crew vehicle, delivering to low-Earth orbit the Earth departure stage and the lunar module that will carry explorers on the last leg of the journey to the moon’s surface. Orion will dock with the lunar module in Earth orbit, and the Earth departure stage will propel both on their journey to the moon.
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24-December-2007, 04:30 PM
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