@Mrfireman:
Generally i would think that they would know if they had to abort like within the 1st 10 seconds of launching off

FUO213

Just wondering, what if they're on the edge of space when they eject? Wouldn't it shoot them up and into space and leave them completely screwed? Or maybe it's designed to shoot 'em out sideways or something...

Mrfireman

Cool. =]

Evangelion

It doesn't eject anybody, it separates the command module from the rest of the launch stack.

[en.wikipedia.org]

Santos

Price/Availability??

homerjay- Smiling politely

i think that i have found a replacement for my turkey fryer

mfusion

So, it appears we're heading into a second Space Age. Exciting as the prospect is in and of itself, I wonder when we're going to see a biopunk/cyberpunk age. That would rock.

DisposableInterloper

@Santos:
In layman's terms, it ejects the CM.

DisposableInterloper

@FUO213: first 10 seconds is too short... challenge was around 73 seconds... and im sure it will have some computer that wont let it eject after a certain altitude

but what about on re-entry... the most dangerous part of space travel... and ex-girlfriends

purple-pillows

@DisposableInterloper:

Yeah, i know. I guess I'm being pedantic, but there's a big difference between ejecting the CM and "the astronauts will be ejected from the capsule" as the post said.

Santos

ejection dysfunction will be addressed

BiZarRroBALlmeR

I suspect you mean "hurtle" as no astronauts will be jumping hurdles in the capsule.

ToddBradley

Oh Jack... this has absolutely nothing to do with "seats" whatsoever. It pulls the entire Orion capsule off the top of the Ares I stack, and so has essentially no bearing at all on "ejection seats", other than that both are safety features designed to get people a safe distance away from problems. That's why it needs to accelerate harder than the normal launch, because the main rocket may still be firing, and therefor accelerating like normal itself.

icelight

Wow, that looks like one of Ballmers massive farts when he's pissed off from Apple comercials.

Ken_Darrow

"Ejector Seats" (snicker): If you like your delicious astronaut well-done!

awemaker

Fascinating story.

But wow, where to begin?

"As they hurdle hundreds of miles per hour"
That would be hurtle.

"disintegrating tin can filled with jet fuel"
Jet fuel? Rockets do not use jet fuel. Jets use jet fuel.

As other commenters have pointed out, this is not an "ejector seat"; the entire command module is ejected from the rest of the rocket, not some escape pod or the individual suited astronauts themselves.

Lastly, the length of time it takes to burn its fuel is completely irrelevant without knowing how much fuel is available and how much thrust it generates.

The_Gas_Man

@DisposableInterloper: Damn straight, that's a totally different direct object.

Metkis

Yeah... hate to be a troll, but this was just bad...

1. It pulls the whole capsule off the rocket. No ejection seats.
2. Space craft travel at THOUSANDS of miles per hour. (They usually break Mach I - 700+ mph - in under a minute)
3. Jet Fuel??? C'mon! Try aluminum powder in the first stage (thermite anyone?) and Liquid Hydrogen & Oxygen on the second. Makes jet fuel look like sterno.

This article just hurt to read.

Sorry!

drfaustus71

i want one of those for 4th of July next year.

spider2544

Besides merely seconding what Santos, icelight, The_Gas_Man and drfaustus71 said, I thought I'd add a little trivia. The launch escape system has never been used in an actual emergency on a US rocket, but a similar system *has* been used during a Russian launch emergency (Soyuz-T 10-1), and it saved the crew.

MikeK

BOOOM!

vgart

Great...mini solid rocked boosters to separate them from the bigger solid rocked booster underneath that is burning through its triple o-rings after a cold January morning. Can't NASA just get some blueprints for Soyuz and copy those for a while.

whoareyou

@The_Gas_Man: I was thinking the same thing about the jet fuel. Jet fuel is for jets, it's made from fossil fuels (ie. petroleum based). Rockets use rocket fuel which may be anthing from liquid Hydrogen and Oxygen (which doesn't actually bur in and of itself) to rocket grade kerosene (SpaceX, anyone?) or aluminum powder (Solid Rocket Boosters) and its oxidizers.

alexmg2420

Proof that we're getting dumber as a society? NASA has needed to go back to the 60's for design and technology that is to be reused almost 50 years later without any new significant breakthrough. (At least not one that I've heard so far)

magikal04

@magikal04: Not necessarily, the Orion crew vehicle looks very similar to the Apollo CM. If the original worked so well to take men to the Moon, why go through the expenses and trouble of reinventing the wheel? We still shoot weapons that essentially use the same technology as weapons designed 100 years prior, and we also still cook our family recipes with fire.

Besides, a broad chunk of society couldn't build this stuff anyway, so that part is irrelevant - they'd go hunting for the Apollo plans too - if they weren't arguing over the conspiracy of it all, that is.

electrikecho

Well, if you ask "why" do something different, I have a little bit of a different take on it. The problem with the new Orion plan is that it has drastically reduced capability compared to the Shuttle. I haven't seen anything to suggest how those capabilities will be restored in the future. For example, could Orion accomplish a Hubble servicing mission? No. Could Orion be used in the construction of something like the ISS? Not as I understand it. And so on. I think Orion is a good vehicle for getting to and from ISS, but it seems to have limited use for anything else.

MikeK

@purple-pillows: "but what about on re-entry... the most dangerous part of space travel... and ex-girlfriends"

Ahaha, I LOL'd

yashichi8bit