Updates Artemis Program Updates & Discussions

[n72.75]

And isn't Boeing also the prime contractor for the SLS?

 

[francisdrake]

What worries me about Starship is the painters scaffolding you come down on and the lack of clearance on the ground.

Well, if SpaceX intends to have separate landing engines, they could arrange them so the ship comes down horizontally. The astronauts could conveniently step out of the airlock.

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, if SpaceX intends to have separate landing engines, they could arrange them so the ship comes down horizontally. The astronauts could conveniently step out of the airlock.

But that would increase the pressure of the exhaust on the lunar surface and kick off a lot of dust, while in the current configuration, there is a lot of separation, that permits to land closer to existing bases and especially solar arrays.


Would be nasty, if you would have to dust off the solar arrays after every landing, especially if the dust also gets into the mechanisms.

 

[dman]

Maybe NASA was concerned that the Boeing lander's might rapidly pitch down and crash due to undisclosed, but known, software bugs.


Had trouble getting the parachutes tp work ………..

 

[barrygolden]

don't hear alot from NASA about the dust problem as of yet. have to see what the contract has after Feb 2021

 

[Gargantua2024]

Personally hoping that Blue Origin loses the contract award for the Human Landing System

SpaceX and/or Dynetics are the companies more deserving to win those awards because of their innovation, design reusability, and higher safety compared to the almost expendable proposal by the Blue Origin National Team

 

[Sbb1413]

Me too. I don't like the reusability technique possessed by the National HLS proposed by Blue Origin. NASA is more likely to choose Dynetics and SpaceX on February 2021.

UPDATE (31/10/2021): My prediction (which is exactly a year and a day old when I updated this comment) has become nearly true, although the announcement was delayed by a few months and NASA chose only SpaceX Starship as its Human Landing System (HLS).

 

[4throck]

don't hear alot from NASA about the dust problem as of yet. have to see what the contract has after Feb 2021

If you look at the previous moon landings (and liftoffs) dust on hardware was never a problem.
You have video from the Lunar rovers during liftoff and you don't see dust falling on the camera.
Even the Surveyors were quite clean after landing.

 

[barrygolden]

yeah not much dust on the LM bug the suits were covered to the point with Apollo 15 were not have been able to do a 4th EVA due to dust in the zippers and joints even the rover had to be dusted off almost every stop plus the camera. a little air pressure might be used to blow the suits off on Artemis 3.

 

[cannon_gray]

I hope the implementation of the mission will follow all deadlines as for now there are lots of contracts singed but none of the stage is ready - not the lunar base or spacecraft, however, NASA is doing its best to be ready for the first flight by 2024. Nine women and nine men have been already selected for training in the Artemis lunar program.

 

[Star Voyager]

I have friends that work on Artemis at KSC. Recently I asked what the administration change means for the 2024 deadline and they said they’re working on it as if there wasn’t a 2024 deadline. However, it was assured that rollout would likely happen this coming summer. “The more the first one gets delayed, the easier it will be to transition into the next one”.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1375916845585330182

 

[N_Molson]

A cool pic of the Orion capsule pressure vessel (mostly the cabin), very interesting for 3D modeling of various capsules :

Note the lattice structure everywhere, to prevent the inner hull from "ballooning".

 

[barrygolden]

Just had a chance to look back and reread this again and I guess I'll eat my hat. SLS did launch so hats off too NASA for that. Orion 2 plus Most of SLS 2 are at KSC and Orion 3 is well on the way to completion. NASA has a new SLS engine program underway and Artemis is funded through Artemis 5 with a little funding for Artemis 6 through 10. NASA doesn't seem to have a lot of faith in Starship so more funding given to the other 2 contractors who lost the HLS contract. Artemis 2 seems headed for a May 2024 launch date but that will push back and looks as if one of the Artemis 3 astronaut's is on track for the flight.

 

[Gargantua2024]

NASA doesn't seem to have a lot of faith in Starship so more funding given to the other 2 contractors who lost the HLS contract.

Probably a lot is going on with Starship development behind the scenes, but publicly it kind of looks that way since we never get to see any major milestones ever since the successful flight of SN15 last year (other than the occasional static fires that occur)


That being said, Starship HLS will indeed be used as a primary lander up until at least Artemis 4 and/or (possibly) Artemis 5

 

[Xyon]

OF Staff Note: thread locked pending review.

 

[Xyon]

OF Staff Note: Several posts in this thread have been removed. These posts contained off-topic political discussion that should take place in The Basement, not here. Please keep this thread on-topic as it continues. Thank you.

 

[Gargantua2024]

New timeline for the Artemis Program and other missions presented for US FY2024
The 2-year gap between Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 are still frighteningly concerning imho

 

[GLS]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1642912219712172035

The 2-year gap between Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 are still frighteningly concerning imho

History tells us that it will be more than that.
And Artemis 2 will probably launch closer to November 2025 than to November 2024.

 

[barrygolden]

Well NASA's goal is to land a woman and a person of color on the Moon so after that they don't talk any firm plans about a base and don''t see one on this chart most likely and dont see Moonship after Artemis 4, I think the cost of 7 launches to refuel it is way to much. Artemis is a dead man walking after Artemis 3 . Seems like it would be cheaper to refuel Alpaca or even fly a new one fully fueled fo every flight and use it to take cargo down to the surface like the LER and or a hab for a base