The comments here about SpaceX are totally off-base. The point of the SLS project is to re-purpose the Space Shuttle's technology to develop a launch vehicle. It uses the Space Shuttle's liquid hydrogen/oxygen main engines (SMEs) as well as the solid-fuel rocket boosters (SRBs). SpaceX has no experience working with this technology: its rockets use an RP-1 (kerosene) based design. Also, the target lift capability of the SLS is 2-3x as much as the Falcon Heavy.[1]<p>SpaceX is doing great things, but they have a defined mission and so far have focused their limited resources on a family of related designs with an eye towards that mission. The vast majority of the aerospace engineering talent in the U.S. does not work at SpaceX. They work at Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, etc. It will be a long time before it's reasonable to make a comment implying that NASA chose Boeing instead of SpaceX because of lobbyists.<p>[1] See: <a href="http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/falcon-heavy-uncertain-case-lunar-exploration" rel="nofollow">http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/falcon-heavy-uncertain-ca...</a>.
This article makes it sound like this project is the only chance for the US to launch manned spaceflights again. Clearly, the Dragon capsule has a much better chance of doing this before the SLS. I wonder if Space X is simply not very well known.
> "The launch abort system (LAS) is a key reason that Orion is intended to become the safest spacecraft ever built. In an emergency it could activate to pull the crew module and the astronauts it will carry away from the launch pad and the rocket in milliseconds" NASA officials wrote on their Web site.<p>A very strange statement. Safety systems like that are used since Mercury flights. And what kind of milliseconds are we talking here? Thousands? Hundreds? Even with 20g acceleration - pretty harsh by today's standard even for abort systems - in 0.1 second you're only going to get 1 meter away - not quite too far.
> For the maiden flight, the rocket will be matched with an Orion space capsule, and launched past low-Earth orbit. Although this will test the capability of the SLS to send a human crew into space, the mission will be entirely automated. This is something that was not possible during the Apollo or Space Shuttle programs.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_missions#Unmanned_Apollo-Saturn_IB_and_Saturn_V" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_missions#Unmann...</a><p>There were several - 4, I think - unmanned Apollo spacecraft flights in 60-s.
I'm no space exploration expert, yet I find this mission to Mars and other space related news fascinating.<p>Is there a website that explains the details of this kind of mission? Duration of the trip, planning, payload, technology, space craft, biggest challenges, back to Earth mission, etc. I'd love to learn more about this.