Request Deep Impact ship - Messiah?

[Mor]

Just wondering if anyone ever made or can make the ship from Deep Impact. I think it's very fitting for Orbiter:

Reference pics:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/McTodd69/Deep Impact Messiah/x_7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/McTodd69/Deep Impact Messiah/x_5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/McTodd69/Deep Impact Messiah/x_8.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/McTodd69/Deep Impact Messiah/deep_impact_model.jpg

 

[Arrowstar]

I've never seen the film, but from the look of those pictures, it looks like they cannibalized an orbiter and some Russian rockets, tossed it together with bolts, and let it fly. Interesting.

 

[Mor]

Good call. In the movie it was built in 8 months by the Americans and Russians together.

 

[rseferino]

I liked this movie more than Armageddon (that I hate). I have had that idea, with the idea of a comet for landing. I believe that one of the most difficult thing would be the Orion rocket.

 

[Sky Captain]

I've never seen the film, but from the look of those pictures, it looks like they cannibalized an orbiter and some Russian rockets, tossed it together with bolts, and let it fly. Interesting.

Haha, I see there a front part of the space shuttle, several modules from MIR station and Energia strap-on boosters put together and integrated with Velcro Rockets.

 

[Ghostrider]

Well, if they had to cobble together a spaceship capable of doing the trip in 8 months, that would have been the way to go. No time to design and test a whole new spaceship.
What irked me a lot was the whole landing sequence and stuff. Why use the command module to land, instead of a specialized lander? And why go through the tail? Yes, I know, less drama this way. And why did they have to wait until they reached the Earth to come up with the whole detonate-the-warheads inside the comet? They had months to study it. Lots of nonsense with the PAL codes, with Earth having to beam them up by radio. They should have had them already, or any comms malfunction on the way would have doomed the mission.

But the most unrealistic thing ever is the deserted beach where the wave is about to hit. It's going to be the most freaktastic wave ever and there are no surfers anywhere...

 

[Mor]

Well, if they had to cobble together a spaceship capable of doing the trip in 8 months, that would have been the way to go. No time to design and test a whole new spaceship.
What irked me a lot was the whole landing sequence and stuff. Why use the command module to land, instead of a specialized lander? And why go through the tail? Yes, I know, less drama this way. And why did they have to wait until they reached the Earth to come up with the whole detonate-the-warheads inside the comet? They had months to study it. Lots of nonsense with the PAL codes, with Earth having to beam them up by radio. They should have had them already, or any comms malfunction on the way would have doomed the mission.

But the most unrealistic thing ever is the deserted beach where the wave is about to hit. It's going to be the most freaktastic wave ever and there are no surfers anywhere...

Now that you tickled my geek bone, I think I might try to address some of the things you raised.

1. Landing with the command module: Not sure about this one but I assumed that they didnt want to use up more room on the ship for a specific additional module with all the maneuvering and guidance equipment and whatnot.

2. Going through the tails: This one actually has a plausible explanation. The tail of the comet points away from the sun, and hence is in its shadows. They are trying to work in the shadows away from the hot, lit areas on the comet and hence the insertion was made somewhere along the comet's tail.

3. Returning close to Earth: That actually ties into your next point, that they needed to come closer to Earth to request the activation codes for the remaining nukes after the antenna was damaged during the mission.

4. Activation codes: Wondered about that too, but I suppose an explanation would be that the governments don't trust that many nuclear weapons in the hands of a few, multinational people (especially with Russian guy in there too). Yes it's the end of the world, but maybe they figured the old security protocols still apply.

Compared to these relatively minor curiosities, Armageddon seems like a parody. I mean, they JUMPED a heavy driller from one asteroid to another... seriously?

 

[T.Neo]

The ship is essentially two parts; the command/landing module, and the booster section.

The front portion of the command module is clearly cobbled off of a shuttle.

The six boosters at the back of the propulsion system (which curiously seem to be burning continuously) look like Energia-derived Zenit boosters.

Curiously there also seems to be a pair of shuttle boosters with Titan-like nosecones just behind the command module; they are never lit, and without jettisoning the aft hardware, they would merely cook the drive unit.

I'm not sure how you'd be able to build such a thing in 8 months secretly, even in 1998 when the internet was less advanced, space enthusiasts would realise something was up.

Not to mention avid skywatchers wondering wtf that big bright unknown object is...

Overall I was quite impressed by Deep Impact; the science, despite (of course) having several flaws, was far better then Armageddon.

EDIT:

I mean, they JUMPED a heavy driller from one asteroid to another... seriously?

Not to make Armageddon seem legitimate (which it isn't), but doing so would be quite easy provided the driller had some sort of propulsion and manuvering system. Asteroids have very weak gravity, you could probably jump from one to another.

 

[Ghostrider]

The Messiah was referred to have an "Orion drive" thingy in dialogue, which was a Russian development. It's shown in a sequence when the Russian cosmonaut is arming it, as well. While not the eco-friendly nuke popper we all know and love, it's supposed to be some kind of atomic rocket (yes, I know, it should be nuclear thermal engine or whatever, buy I like the fifties term better). This accounts for the Messiah ability to travel to the comet in reasonable time.

I understand some shortcuts and gimmicks must be used for dramatic purpose, but the whole issue of the codes makes no sense. The Messiah mission is one of a kind, and everybody knows the Murphy is always camping out there with a TRG-42. Why risk wrecking it if the comms fail? They could have the codes uploaded after ignition, it's not like that fine crew is about to go all Blofeld on Earth, and they might have to do a second try should the first one fail. Why keep backup nukes if you don't think you might use them?

I was disappointed in both Deep Impact and Armageddon for different reasons: Armageddon was a SFX feast with marginal plot and a waste of good actors, while Deep Impact was a failed attempt at drama with plot holes and wasted opportunities that would have let Wolf-Biederman through with space to spare.

 

[Sky Captain]

The messiah spacecraft has something that looks like a small oval pusher plate with bomb ejector hole in the middle, but it`s waaay too small to be effective also it leaves the side boosters exposed to atomic blast. The whole design makes no sense as a nuclear pulse craft.

In this video the supposed pusher plate can be seen briefly at 2:15

 

[Urwumpe]

The PAL codes should be on the spacecraft as soon as they prepare to leave Earth - it makes no sense to go to save the planet without them... Even if you assume that it was impossible to remove the PAL from the nuclear bombs.

I can't remember if the Messiah had a Orion type nuclear propulsion, but it was clearly nuclear...i remember it more as NTR than as a Orion drive. But haven't seen the movie for ages, despite it being the better one compared to Armageddon.