what is the differences between the present space shuttle and the new orion spacecraft?
2007-07-09 15:52:15 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Project Orion was a way to use atom bombs as fuel for a space ship. the idea was to build a cruse ship size space ship shaped like a bullet and the flat end would have a thick shield of steel with a hole in the center. the space ship would spit an atom bomb out the hole. At a precise distance from the plate, the bomb would explode and push the ship forward. This would be repeated over and over to accelerate the ship.
It was never built.
2007-07-09 16:05:30 · answer #1 · answered by Owl Eye 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The space shuttle is half rocket and half airplane. It can glide to a precise and gentle controlled landing on a particular runway at the chosen airport. It has that large cargo bay that can bring back large payloads from space. They could even bring back the Hubble Space Telescope if they wanted to.
The new Orion vehicle is a capsule on top of a regular rocket, much like the old Apollo. It just drifts down by parachute to a rough landing that is not exact. They will need to use some large empty area a hundred miles wide because they cannot control where it comes down very exactly. It will have no cargo bay like the shuttle and very limited space for cargo in the capsule, so will not be able to bring large objects back from space.
2007-07-09 23:37:35 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋