Hopefully_SFW

KSP is what got me engaged in real spaceflight. It's truly awesome to see the feeling is mutual.

First of all, thanks so much for doing this. I believe we're at the beginning of a new cultural interest/excitement in spaceflight that sizzled out in the U.S after the tragedy of the Columbia disaster, and it's great to see this treated as a scientific (rather than military) endeavor to be shared with everyone.

Here are my questions:

1. It's my understanding that this test flight will be unmanned. Will there be any unique instruments that will be used to see that any potential crew would've survived, beyond heat/G force?

2. Does this mission have any objectives other than testing the viability of the rocket/spacecraft system?

3. Given that the LM Orion program and SpaceX share the specific goal of exploring deeper fields of space, do you see this as an opportunity for competition or collaboration?

Thanks so much!

Thanks for this!!

As for the last answer, I greatly appreciate the maturity and honesty. It's sometimes surprisingly hard to find here on Reddit, unfortunately.

Best of luck to you and your team, you've already inspired so many people, young and old. THAT should be considered your first astronomical success.

Thanks! Me too!!

Thanks for the information!

I was referring to "goals" in a far broader sense. It is clear that Orion is intended for Mars exploration, but from what I've read (which could be incomplete), only Elon has expressed the explicit organizational goal to reach Mars.