Comments on: NASA Releases Images and Video of Orion Failed Parachute Test

By: Geoff

Geoff — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:05:22 +0000

Silly. What no one seems to notice or speak of is that the PILOT is to blame for the mishap. Why a total novice was used I don't know..

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:51:17 +0000

Phil, how about this idea for a poll:
The question is simple:

Imagine you're in the ISS with a choice.
How many would choose a parachute over a shuttle re-entry anytime now or in the near future?

By: SydRoky

SydRoky — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:16:17 +0000

Oh God , lets just adapt this Orion program with a Shuttle since the Shuttle is the greatest spacetruck NASA's ever invented…We are gonna need new shuttles in a big way till we achieve the ability to build them in space.

By: Tyler Durden

Tyler Durden — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:53:52 +0000

This is why I hate it when people rag on private spaceflight. OF COURSE their first launches fail!

New technologies have a learning curve that you have to pass. Duh.

By: Mike barber

Mike barber — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:17:34 +0000

Would Orion have stabilised it it were allowed to freefall for a few more seconds befor the first chute deployed?

By: Sili

Sili — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:49:02 +0000

Well, I guess it's a good thing that we get to see everything almost immediately. Not so much posturing and propaganda.

Impressive how well the camera tracked the capsule despite its not decelerating according to plan.

By: Frank Glover

Frank Glover — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:02:47 +0000

Parachute deployment for a cone-shaped ballistic capsule *should* be familiar territory by now,

But having said that, the real point, of course, is that this was learned with a cheap, unmanned test article. And you just saw *why* they're done.

Most astronauts have engineering backgrounds themselves. Let there be no doubt that they'll be watching the analysis of, and fixes to this situation, with great interest….

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:26:35 +0000

I can't help thinking that in ten or twenty years or maybe earlier, we'll have to admit that the shuttles weren't that bad after all. It's just howling with the wolves now, isn't it, the shuttle bashing. And every one is jumping on these "new" designs… Look at how flawless these were in the Russian days. Making all the same mistakes again now.
We'll built new shuttles. We'll have to. Without those two, stupid, preventable accidents, the shuttles would have been the crown of NASA, many new and updated ones built regularly, with weekly lifts to wherever we wanted, even the moon. It's the decision makers that were flawed, not the shuttle design.

By: s0l

s0l — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:30:05 +0000

r2k : W.O.R.D… they had all the required technology & data 40 years ago…where did it go?!

By: John Mendenhall

John Mendenhall — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:17:09 +0000

Well, now we know why the Russians have had so much trouble with their parachute systems. Their recent thump was only the most recent.

Much as I dislike the Shuttle, how about using the airframes and redoing the interiors?

By: Bo Babbyo

Bo Babbyo — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:54:25 +0000

Weren't they supposed to be leaning on "off-the-shelf," proven technologies for this program? Granted it's pretty early going, and there has to be a first test of everything. But it's not like parachutes are the air in front of the bleeding edge of technology. I think I speak for all tech-watching Americans when I say, "Girl please. "

By: R2K

R2K — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:09:53 +0000

More money down the drain.

By: David R.

David R. — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:07:49 +0000

Again with the "test technique failure" language. The general public saw a big object crash. Emphasis on the word "crash" (substitute words: boom, bang). Hey NASA, "test technique failure" may make you sleep better at night, but most of the average joes out there that saw this thing saw a failure. The PR spin wasn't necessary…or even particularly effective. But, I will withhold final judgment until I test the language in my personal, everyday world. The next time I make something crash when the actual technology didn't fail, I will call it a "test technique failure" and then conduct a survey to see how many people arrived at the same conclusion.

By: Maxwell

Maxwell — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:32:03 +0000

…God thats a long way to fall.

I see the idea of a winged return vehicle in a whole new light.