Could we even survive 21 days just the two of us inside of —
GEYER: Yes, it would be a wild, yes.
CRANE: Orion will take up to six astronauts into deep space for 21 days.
Is there any way we can get inside these chairs here, do you think?
GEYER: Yes.
CRANE: How was Orion outfitted to get us to deep space?
GEYER: State of the art heat shields to protect the crew on entry. Parachute systems. A very lightweight system, so Orion is, you know, over 40 percent composites, which means it's light.
One of the things special about Orion is the size. So, four people in 21 days gives you a lot of capability whether it's exploring an asteroid or on the surface of a planet.
CRANE: Why 21 days?
GEYER: Well, 21 days — it gets you really into this high orbits around the moon, which allows you to either do missions at the moon or do transfers on to asteroids around the Mars. So, it's about the right duration.
CRANE: For a journey to Mars, the crew would have to transfer from Orion to a larger habitat.
GEYER: If you're going to go to Mars, which is somewhere up to a year and a half to three-year mission, you need more volume.
CRANE: Right.
GEYER: You need bigger head module, more food.
CRANE: Orion still doesn't have an exact destination. But whether it's the moon or Mars, it's going to take a powerful rocket to get it out there.
NASA has already spent approximately $7.3 billion on the SLS program and each rocket will only be good for one mission.
A later model of the rocket will be even more powerful and could take us to Mars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Space launch system is our path to Mars.
CRANE: Is it our only path?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, it's our only path.
CRANE: NASA is testing the engines and they've already sent Orion on a flight test. The first manned Orion SLS mission is set for 2021.
我们两个人可以在这里生存21天……
盖耶:对,有点疯狂。
克莱恩:“猎户座”飞船可承载6名宇航员完成为期21天的外太空探索任务。
你认为有什么方法能让我们坐到这些椅子上吗?
盖耶:有。
克莱恩:“猎户座”飞船为什么能让我们进入外太空?
盖耶:最先进的热防护系统可以在宇航员进入舱内时提供保护。还有降落伞系统。这是轻量级系统,“猎户座”飞船40%以上的材料采用的是复合型材料,所以它非常轻。
“猎户座”飞船其中一个与众不同的地方是它的尺寸。4个人在21天时间里,有能力探索小行星或是行星表面。
克莱恩:为什么是21天?
盖耶:21天,可以进入高月球轨道,这使你可以在月球上做任务,或是转移到火星附近的行星去。所以,21天是合适的周期。
克莱恩:在火星之旅中,宇航员必须要从“猎户座”飞船转移到更大的加压舱去。
盖耶:火星任务是一项持续1年半至3年的任务,需要更多容量。
克莱恩:对。
盖耶:需要更大的头部模块,更多食物。
克莱恩:“猎户座”飞船目前仍没有确定目的地。但是无论目的地是月球还是火星,都需要由强有力的火箭运送。
美国国家航空航天局已经在SLS项目上花费了约73亿美元,每枚火箭只能执行一次任务。
后期火箭模型将会更强大,可以将我们送去火星。
身份不明的男性:太空发射系统是我们通往火星的方法。
克莱恩:是唯一的途径吗?
身份不明的男性:目前是我们唯一的选择。
克莱恩:美国国家航空航天局正在测试引擎,他们已经对“猎户座”飞船进行了飞行测试。“猎户座”飞船计划于2021年进行首次载人飞行任务。