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They can, on SLS and Orion.
by idlewords 3y ago
They can, on SLS and Orion.
- resolutebat 3y agoThey could and perhaps soon will, but at time of writing, they haven't.
- idlewords 3y agoThe parent comment is about capability.
- GMoromisato 3y agoI guess it depends on how you define "capable". I defined it (implicitly) as "have they actually put humans in orbit". That's a pretty simple and objective definition. If you want to include SLS/Orion and Starliner, you have to define the point at which a system becomes "capable". Is it when they designed it? When they approved the budget? When they tested it uncrewed? When it's less than 1 year from launching with humans? Depending on your definition, India might already be "capable" of launching astronauts now. Note also that both Orion and Starliner are working through technical problems. Are they very likely to resolve them in <1 year? Sure. But there's still a non-zero chance that they will delay for 1 year, 2 years, or even more.
- idlewords 3y agoYou're being a little obfuscatory here. In 2022 SLS flew a capsule around the moon that was human-rated, except that it had mannequins in the seats instead of people. Adding oxygen and some granola bars to this setup is not a big technical leap; the hard part is done. I'm not a fan of either SLS or Orion, but it's pretty clear that they will have no difficulty putting a human crew into space whenever their schedule and budgetary drama allows it.