NASA Begins Work on First Space-Bound Orion Spacecraft

[Crazy Eddie]

So how long before this gets cancelled?

Until someone stops giving NASA the money it needs to do the job. As of now all sides are committed to it.

They haven't given them the money YET. And they're not planning to any time in the future. The whole point of the rocket isn't building a working rocket, but keeping KSC contractors employed for another couple of years.

 

[Squiggy]

So how long before this gets cancelled?

Until someone stops giving NASA the money it needs to do the job. As of now all sides are committed to it.

They haven't given them the money YET. And they're not planning to any time in the future. The whole point of the rocket isn't building a working rocket, but keeping KSC contractors employed for another couple of years.

Except little of the work is done at KSC. They pretty much just slap the big pieces together and launch it. Michoud and Marshall are going to get more manhours of work in this than Kennedy.

 

[sojourner]

Are we talking about MPCV or SLS?

 

[Squiggy]

Either. Kennedy isn't in the business of building the components...just putting the components together in mating and launching.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Except the whole point of building Orion was to give the SLS something to launch, and the whole point of building SLS was to have something for Orion to fly on.

 

[Marc]

I think they'd have to reinvent it (or at least re-engineer it from the bits that remain as exhibits) - I heard that the blueprints were deliberately destroyed in the mid-70's. Of course, that is probably an urban legend as I can't imagine why anyone would do such a thing.

The blueprints are in the National Archives. What actually were destroyed were the specialized machine tools and casts made for the rocket. People often get the two confused hence the urban legend.

And the destrution of the machines and dies is pretty much common practice whether it's make rockets, aircraft or cars. Yes in some instances it's for security in other instances it's becaause the facilities are needed to build something new.