NASA Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis 1 Moon Mission (Nov. 16, 1:04 AM)

jvett77

jvett77

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Artemis I is a planned uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission and the first flight of the agency's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft which will house astronauts on future missions. It will be the first in a series of missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come. The primary goals for Artemis I are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and ensure a safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery prior to the first flight with crew on Artemis II, planned for May 24, 2024. The Orion spacecraft is 16.5 feet in diameter vs Apollo command module's 12.8 feet.
  • Launch Wed,. Nov. 16, 2022 1:04 AM
  • Thrust at liftoff: 8.8 million lbf
  • Mission duration: 25 days, 11 hours, 36 minutes
  • Splashdown: Dec. 11, 2022
Tuesday, Nov. 15, 10:30 p.m. NASA coverage of the launch of the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I mission (Launch scheduled at 1:04 a.m. EST Wed., Nov. 16, 2022).
 
Dolemite censored said:
It's about fucking time.
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Damn straight! The Orion spacecraft dates back to 2005, when NASA issued a "request for proposals" to industry with the goal of "developing a new Crew Exploration Vehicle by 2014 that is capable of carrying astronauts beyond low Earth orbit." NASA sought Orion as a building block to land humans on the Moon in what was known as the Constellation program using the Ares V rocket.

President Obama declared Constellation to be "over budget (originally at $230 billion), behind schedule, and lacking in innovation and it was cancelled in 2010, but Orion survived. The Orion and Ares V designs were modified and reauthorized in 2010/2011 as the Space Launch System and the program was partially revived as the Artemis program in 2017.

Details:
The anatomy of a delay: Here's a timeline of twists and turns for…

Then more design and budget delays through 2022.
 
Over its lifetime, and for $23.7 billion, NASA's Orion program has produced:
  • Development of Orion spacecraft
  • Exploration Flight Test-1 basic vehicle
  • The Orion capsule to be used for another test flight
  • Work on capsules for subsequent missions
To see how efficiently this money could theoretically have been spent, look at the success of the SpaceX Corporation:.

SpaceX is generally considered one of the most efficient space companies. Founded in 2002, the company has received funding from NASA, the Department of Defense, and private investors. Over its history, we can reliably estimate that SpaceX has expended a total of $16 billion to $20 billion on all of its spaceflight endeavors. Consider what that money has bought:
  • Development of Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy rockets
  • Development of Cargo Dragon, Crew Dragon, and Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft
  • Development of Merlin, Kestrel, and Raptor rocket engines
  • Build-out of launch sites at Vandenberg (twice), Kwajalein Atoll, Cape Canaveral, and Kennedy Space Center
  • 105 successful launches to orbit
  • 20 missions to supply International Space Station, two crewed flights
  • Development of vertical take off, vertical landing, rapid reuse for first stages
  • Starship and Super Heavy rocket development program
  • Starlink Internet program (with 955 satellites on orbit, SpaceX is largest satellite operator in the world)
To sum up, SpaceX delivered all of that for billions of dollars less than what NASA has spent on the Orion program since its inception. :dingdingding:

The Orion spacecraft is now 15 years old and has flown into space just once
 
Early image from Orion spacecraft with first view of Earth more than nine hours into the journey and 57,000 miles away.

1668620548796.png
 
Just released picture of the Orion spacecraft service module showing the discarded booster at the top to the right of center.

1668813496655.jpeg
Update:
Mission Time: 2 days, 14 hrs, 6 m.
Orion is 196,207 miles from Earth, 122,088 miles from the Moon, cruising at 1,464 miles per hour.
 
Last edited:
Correction: distance info from a twitter post above is incorrect. Earth to moon is 238,000 miles. They must have gotten miles and km confused.
 
jvett77 said:
Over its lifetime, and for $23.7 billion, NASA's Orion program has produced:
  • Development of Orion spacecraft
  • Exploration Flight Test-1 basic vehicle
  • The Orion capsule to be used for another test flight
  • Work on capsules for subsequent missions
To see how efficiently this money could theoretically have been spent, look at the success of the SpaceX Corporation:.

SpaceX is generally considered one of the most efficient space companies. Founded in 2002, the company has received funding from NASA, the Department of Defense, and private investors. Over its history, we can reliably estimate that SpaceX has expended a total of $16 billion to $20 billion on all of its spaceflight endeavors. Consider what that money has bought:
  • Development of Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy rockets
  • Development of Cargo Dragon, Crew Dragon, and Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft
  • Development of Merlin, Kestrel, and Raptor rocket engines
  • Build-out of launch sites at Vandenberg (twice), Kwajalein Atoll, Cape Canaveral, and Kennedy Space Center
  • 105 successful launches to orbit
  • 20 missions to supply International Space Station, two crewed flights
  • Development of vertical take off, vertical landing, rapid reuse for first stages
  • Starship and Super Heavy rocket development program
  • Starlink Internet program (with 955 satellites on orbit, SpaceX is largest satellite operator in the world)
To sum up, SpaceX delivered all of that for billions of dollars less than what NASA has spent on the Orion program since its inception. :dingdingding:

The Orion spacecraft is now 15 years old and has flown into space just once
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Yep. Smartest thing they did to ensure the Artemis program was rope SpaceX into being part of the plan and not competition.

The money could have been better spent working with SpaceX to develop the whole thing. And much would have been saved.

But, that surely didn’t beat out the same old contractor and lobbying game.

So we have an impressive rocket that is grossly expensive and been way behind schedule.
 
Delete correction. Comment #6 over 2 hours ago is correct. My brain. :doh: ...elliptical trajectory. :beer2:
 
Elapsed time from launch 3 days, 22 hours. Orion speed has declined to 660 mph as earth's gravity pull has weakened and it is now 227,000 miles from earth and only 66,000 miles from the moon.

The gravitational forces of the Earth and the Moon cancel out at a point about 42,000 miles (70,000 km) from the Moon. If the Orion spacecraft lost its engines at this point, it would eventually fall to the Moon.

Orion will go past the Moon just 60 miles above the lunar surface on Monday morning, November 21, where it will perform the "outbound powered flyby” engine firing. This will send it toward the planned distant retrograde orbit around the moon where it will stay for two weeks.
 
jvett77 said:
Elapsed time from launch 3 days, 22 hours. Orion speed has declined to 660 mph as earth's gravity pull has weakened and it is now 227,000 miles from earth and only 66,000 miles from the moon.

The gravitational forces of the Earth and the Moon cancel out at a point about 42,000 miles (70,000 km) from the Moon. If the Orion spacecraft lost its engines at this point, it would eventually fall to the Moon.

Orion will go past the Moon just 60 miles above the lunar surface on Monday morning, November 21, where it will perform the "outbound powered flyby” engine firing. This will send it toward the planned distant retrograde orbit around the moon where it will stay for two weeks.
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Well said, though I think the better way to say it is the earths gravity PUSH is wearing out. The energy created from gravity assist during trans lunar injection phase is wearing out.

Not trying to nit pick, that just hit me sideways lol.

Well said on all the rest. Can’t have too much of a fault with engines the next 24 hours or this thing is a damn expensive meteorite.
 
Update:
Mission Time: 4 days, 21 hrs
Orion is 234,000 miles from Earth, 21,000 miles from the Moon, cruising at 140 miles per hour.
 
Orion performed its outbound powered flyby maneuver, a two-and-a-half-minute firing of the spacecraft's main engine, starting at 7:44 a.m. EST Monday. A few minutes after that, the spacecraft made its closest approach to the moon at an altitude of about 81 miles. Initial photos from solar array cameras lack in quality.

aMoon flyby.jpg
 
jvett77 said:
Orion performed its outbound powered flyby maneuver, a two-and-a-half-minute firing of the spacecraft's main engine, starting at 7:44 a.m. EST Monday. A few minutes after that, the spacecraft made its closest approach to the moon at an altitude of about 81 miles. Initial photos from solar array cameras lack in quality.

View attachment 92753
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Oh boy does the initial photo lack in quality. They probably should have held that until they cleaned up the image.

On the other hand, they don’t need to make extra effort against haters.
 
Tomorrow, Orion will exceed the farthest distance from earth for a human rated spacecraft, 248,000 miles, reached by Apollo 13 in 1970, before reaching its maximum distance or 280,000 miles.

Also, they just announced that high resolution pics will be available in the coming days.
 
HammerDown said:
How much is this costing?
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$4 billion, including high res pics. lol. After a brief search, each successful launch will cost about $4.1 billion. NASA's inspector general expects the overall Artemis program to reach $93 billion by the time the first astronauts return to the surface of the moon, targeted for 2025. Your tax dollars well spent. :dhd:
 
jvett77 said:
$4 billion, including high res pics. lol. After a brief search, each successful launch will cost about $4.1 billion. NASA's inspector general expects the overall Artemis program to reach $93 billion by the time the first astronauts return to the surface of the moon, targeted for 2025. Your tax dollars well spent. :dhd:
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What a monumental waste.
 
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