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Artemis II

hank
edited February 1 in Off-Topic
Good Wikipedia summary of upcoming NASA Artemis II crewed lunar mission.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II

Originally slated to launch as early as Feb. 6. Now delayed because cold weather in Florida has caused crucial "wet test" to be delayed.
https://ktla.com/news/cold-weather-delays-nasas-artemis-ii-moon-mission/

The four astronauts will not land, but their craft will perform a figure 8 maneuver taking them behind the moon. There was damage to the heat shield on an unmanned test a couple years ago. This mission will try a different angle of attack entering the atmosphere to reduce or eliminate such damage. The goal is a lunar landing in 2028, but a delay seems likely. One hang-up appears to be getting the lunar lander ready for crewed flight by than. SpaceX is working on one per NASA's plans. Behind schedule. Blue Origin is also competing.

One cool aspect of this mission is that while passing behind the moon the 4 astronauts will be completely out of touch with earth for 40 minutes. Who wouldn't welcome that?

Comments

  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    Thanks for that, @hank. The whole thing had slipped of my radar.
  • CrashCrash
    Thanks, hank. I love anything about space exploration. Fascinates me.
  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    Same here.
  • hank
    edited February 2
    The world won't go crazy this time the way we did in the 60s & 70s. But still a risky venture any way you look at it. Once on the trajectory out to the moon there's no turning around if a problem comes up. Pretty much committed to the planned 10 day mission. The speed of 25,000 mph at which the ship will reenter the earth's atmosphere is much greater than what something simply orbiting earth would. I'm a bit surprised there wasn't at least 1 more test flight of that monster rocket. China has a goal of landing humans there by 2030. So, the U.S. is trying to beat them. Focus will turn to the lunar south pole where there is ice for drinking water and from which hydrogen fuel can be generated for deeper space flight.
  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    Perhaps NASA is rushing things a bit to curry favor with Trump, who already doesn't really care for NASA. If he thinks of it he might very well SAVE TRILLIONS of DOLLARS by gutting NASA and starting a new MAGNIFICENT TRUMP SPACE and MOON RESORT complex.
  • hank
    Old_Joe said:

    Perhaps NASA is rushing things a bit to curry favor with Trump, who already doesn't really care for NASA. If he thinks of it he might very well SAVE TRILLIONS of DOLLARS by gutting NASA and starting a new MAGNIFICENT TRUMP SPACE and MOON RESORT complex.

    Well, as you are aware, NASA has become quite political. But, that's been going on for a while.
  • DrVenture
    I watched the astronauts being interviewed over the re-entry concerns. There were burned up heat shield tiles on the test flight. One of them said he was not worried at all. I didn't believe him one bit.
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