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

HammerDown said:
How much is this costing?
Click to expand...

HammerDown said:
What a monumental waste.
Click to expand...
The simple point is this could be done so much cheaper utilizing how far Commercial Space has come.

But, clearly the lower price tag of this wasn’t as appealing for influential Congress people as the contractor lobbyists with “contributions to re-election funds”.

They threw Elon a bone to handle the lunar lander that Starship will carry so that he would shut up about it.
 
HammerDown said:
What a monumental waste.
Click to expand...

NASA is expensive and inefficient due to tight, flat budgets controlled by Congress. Look at all SpaceX accomplished from scratch for $20 billion in post #4. Over 100 launches, development of three rockets, several launch sites, and proven vertical landing techniques for first stage boosters and reuse. That will save a lot of money since we're in space for the long haul and both groups will be working together. Don't you wanna go to Mars, someday? :headscratch:
 
jvett77 said:
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.
Click to expand...

Woops. I forgot to consider a small thing like earth's orbital speed of 67,000 mph. :doh: So, Orion won't reach its max distance from earth until next weekend. We'll celebrate then.
 
Orion spacecraft just completed its two-minute Orbital Departure Burn to leave moon orbit.

Orion after the burn with a small glimpse of Earth in the background.
aOrionOrbitDepBurn.jpg
 
Now this has been one of the coolest shots to see so far. Further out than any man rated spacecraft. Pretty cool stuff.
 

Attachments

  • 0997EC81-946D-49C5-8C09-D9BA0F3069F5.jpeg
    0997EC81-946D-49C5-8C09-D9BA0F3069F5.jpeg
    277.4 KB · Views: 5
Orion's return to Earth, powered moon flyby burn scheduled today at 11:43 a.m. EST. Landing in the Pacific scheduled for Sunday, December 11.
 
The Orion spacecraft is now only 22,000 miles from earth moving at 9,000 mph as it heads for a splashdown at 12:40 p.m. ET today in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s Baja California. Its speed will increase to 24,850 mph as it hits the air, heating the vehicle's heat shield to 5,000 degrees F. It would be great to have a live stream from the vehicle of the approach.
 
Latest shot just received at 15,000 miles from earth, 12,000 mph.

1670775069693.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Service module just separated from Orion capsule. 40 minutes to splashdown. 18,000 mph.
 
On this day, 50 years ago, December 11, 1972, Apollo 17 landed on the moon, the final Apollo lunar landing. :eek:
 
So much for NASA moon program excitement for now. The Artemis 2 orbital moon mission with four astronauts won't launch until late 2024. The moon landing Artemis 3 mission won't take place till 2025. The current plan is to place a permanent Gateway space station in lunar orbit prior to Artemis 3 launch. The Gateway will allow crew transfer from the Orion spacecraft to a lunar lander, the SpaceX Starship HLS (Human Landing System), which will take the astronauts to the lunar surface. The Starship will then launch from the moon to lunar orbit for crew transfer back to the Orion spacecraft and return to earth. The Starship will then be disposed of in a lunar orbit.

These plans are all tentative and obviously depend on the success of both the Artemis and SpaceX Starship programs.
Artemis 3 - Wikipedia
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top