Jump to content

The Artemis Program is real, and it's spectacular

Hagbard Celine

By Hagbard Celine
in Nerdz

 Share

Recommended Posts

Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10848

Posted
Posted

2 days ago the Artemis astronauts eligible for selection for lunar missions starting in '24 were announced, and a Horn made the list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Wilson

Stephanie has more hours in space than any African American, male or female.  She earned her Ba.Sc at Harvard, and her MA.ASe on the 40 in '92.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-artemis-team-of-astronauts-eligible-for-early-moon-missions

hook'em Steph

stick that landing

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10848

Posted
  • Author
Posted

cnn had a brief story this morning i briefly overheard to the effect that the 2024 moon landing is pushed back to 2028 due to the 2021 budget request of $3 billion only getting $840 million, and trouble with the SLS testing (imagine that)....  so while scouring the result set i discovered that Jim Bridenstine "stepped down"(?) 2 days ago at the hour of Joe's innauguration.  interesting developments.

https://www.space.com/nasa-2021-budget-congress-omnibus-spending-bill

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/01/20/Bridenstine-leaves-NASA-calls-for-unity-in-space-science-efforts/4471611165916/

8-minute hotfire test shut down after 1 minute:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-conducts-test-of-sls-rocket-core-stage-for-artemis-i-moon-mission

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89618

Posted
Posted
On 1/22/2021 at 4:16 PM, Hagbard Celine said:

so while scouring the result set i discovered that Jim Bridenstine "stepped down"(?) 2 days ago at the hour of Joe's innauguration.  interesting developments.

He announced it a few months ago.

https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/space/nasa-chief-plans-step-aside-under-biden

Quote

Even if asked by the President-elect Biden administration, NASA chief Jim Bridenstine told Aerospace DAILY he would pass on staying on as head of the U.S. space agency, not for partisan reasons but to ensure that, politically, NASA has the best chance of thriving under new leadership. 

“The right question here is ‘What’s in the best interest of NASA as an agency, and what’s in the best interest of America's exploration program?’ Bridenstine said on Nov.  8, the day after Democrat Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

“For that, what you need is somebody who has a close relationship with the president of the United States. You need somebody who is trusted by the administration…. including the OMB [Office of Management and Budget], the National Space Council and the National Security Council, and I think that I would not be the right person for that in a new administration,” Bridenstine said. 

Right now, they have an acting administrator who has a solid background at NASA, and managing large groups.  He'd already reached the highest civil-service position in NASA as it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jurczyk

 

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
TommyJ

TommyJ 2

Posted
Posted
On 1/26/2021 at 12:15 AM, atomheartbevo said:

He announced it a few months ago.

https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/space/nasa-chief-plans-step-aside-under-biden

Right now, they have an acting administrator who has a solid background at NASA, and managing large groups.  He'd already reached the highest civil-service position in NASA as it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jurczyk

 

 

Whatever happens next, I hope that Artemis' mission will be successful.
In general, a lot of interesting things in the space sphere are happening now.
I suspect some people have a plan to make the space industry much more commercial.
When do you think tourist trips to the moon will be possible?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
  • 5 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...
  • 4 months later...
Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10848

Posted
  • Author
Posted

welp, after 16 major delays lasting 6+ years the horses are on the track

in 9 days we _finally_ make a go of the TWENTY THREE BILLION DOLLAR STACK

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/landing-pages/summer-of-artemis?utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc&utm_campaign=20220820_ksc_countdowntoartemis&r=65084792

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_1

tl/dr:

Each SLS stack uses 4 of the RS-25 engines used in the Space Shuttle; they were designed 50 years ago for re-use after every shuttle filght, and although the refurbishment time/cost after each shuttle flight was never close to original projections they are an extremely reliable engine using the most basic fuels for rocket flight: LOX and LH2.   There are 16 engines left over from the Shuttle program; they will be thrown away and not recovered.   After the first 4 SLS flights the stack will use the new simplified RS-25E variant optimized for expended use, lower per-engine costs by over 30%.   MECO remains virtually the same as with the Shuttle, so with a total lifetime of less than 9 minutes of use the "savings" of the expendable version are very 20th-century.

There were also ~90 SRB segment casings left over from the Shuttle program.  The SRBs in the SLS stack have an additional segment (5 for SLS v. 4 for the Shuttle) resulting in 25% increase in "total impulse" (wtf does that even mean?).  Like the RS-25s, we're going full trash-mode - no parachute/recovery package for SLS SRBs - "to the bottom of the ocean".   After 4 SLS flights a new design by Northrop Grumman will be used.

The core stage of the stack looks like a bigger shuttle main tank, because it is.

The Artemis 1 mission is a relatively ambitious unmanned 1-month trip to the moon and back.

If Elon can make Starship a viable proposition with similar costs, reliability and safety as Falcon, I can't see the SLS still flying in the next decade.

I appreciate the need to maintain a government/defense-industrial complex "independent" deep space capability, but for $23 BILLION freaking dollars, given what we achieve in the black world, this white world program is the envy of Herman Melville.

Artemis_I_Mission_Graphic.thumb.jpeg.e9fac418f597aa27377e00f4664c4b1e.jpeg

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10848

Posted
  • Author
Posted

the author is a horn

give him some clicks

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/08/the-sls-rocket-is-the-worst-thing-to-happen-to-nasa-but-maybe-also-the-best/?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=ars&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_mailing=ARS_Rocket_082522&utm_medium=email&bxid=5d892326fc942d478883f557&cndid=&hasha=a33abab8e12a2173469648950b73a000&hashb=584090fb26ed05b8319f8d3b03c5f2e7987b578f&hashc=a2f63589b923906ad50fd1ad1a5b1de97f6960c7dd523e9c23d6988db5716270&esrc=&utm_term=ARS_RocketReport

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CycleTex87

CycleTex87 2965

Posted
Posted

Interesting article on the mechanics and forces that move NASA at a national level and how it’s counterproductive to actually building something and flying it. 
 

The launch today is scrubbed due to one of these 1970’s left over engines jammed up.  Try again at the end of the week. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Captainant

Captainant 27621

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

The launch today is scrubbed due to one of these 1970’s left over engines jammed up.  Try again at the end of the week. 

It was unclear to me if it was the engine or a flow line from the tanks, considering they earlier in the sequence had a leak in one of those lines that delayed the launch. Still haven't cleared a full wet dress rehearsal... 

Honestly, I'm more offended at them just expending and destroying those beautiful masterpiece engines that flew STS!

 Harrison Ford That Belongs In A Museum GIF

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sam Lin

Sam Lin 3550

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Captainant said:

Honestly, I'm more offended at them just expending and destroying those beautiful masterpiece engines that flew STS!

This. On the one hand nice that they're getting used, but on the other hand, what a chunk of history just being thrown away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
  • 11 months later...
atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89618

Posted
Posted
On 8/20/2022 at 11:51 AM, Hagbard Celine said:

ach SLS stack uses 4 of the RS-25 engines used in the Space Shuttle;

Surprise, surprise, they are restarting production of the RS-25s.  @RamjetFDO may have mentioned it.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/start-your-engines-nasa-to-begin-critical-testing-for-future-artemis-missions/

Quote

NASA will begin a new RS-25 test series Oct. 5, the final round of certification testing ahead of production of an updated set of the engines for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The engines will help power future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.

A series of 12 tests stretching into 2024 is scheduled to occur on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The tests are a key step for lead SLS engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, to produce engines that will help power the SLS rocket, beginning with Artemis V.

Quote

“NASA and our industry partners continue to make steady progress toward restarting production of the RS-25 engines for the first time since the space shuttle era as we prepare for our more ambitious missions to deep space under Artemis with the SLS rocket,” said Johnny Heflin, liquid engines manager for SLS at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “The upcoming fall test series builds off previous hot fire testing already conducted at NASA Stennis to help certify a new design that will make this storied spaceflight engine even more powerful.”

Quote

“Testing a second set of hardware during this next phase of our certification test series will give us repeatability to ensure we have sound processes for building our new engines,” said Mike Lauer, RS-25 deputy program manager at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “The successful testing of the brand-new certification engine proved our engineering was sound – that the new design is capable of meeting requirements at operating extremes and durations. This next test series will help confirm our manufacturing processes will reliably create production engines that will meet these same requirements.”

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
Captainant

Captainant 27621

Posted
Posted

Destin with Smarter Every Day posted a talk he gave to the America Aeronautical Society. Really makes you concerned about where Artemis is when NASA wasn't even sure how many refuels it will take to land Artemis III a single time

Spoiler

It's AT LEAST 15 orbital cryogenic refuels per the paper NASA published after this talk

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10848

Posted
  • Author
Posted

all of the moon stuff has been pushed back out of 24 but whatever

last week's really cool news was the first ULA Vulcan launch on the first try in the first window

the blue flame of methalox is really fucking cool

the chinese beat spacex past the karman line with a methalox 4 months before the BFR 2 attempt

but the Bezos Blue Origin BE-4 engines have been way way behind and for have them work this well on the first try is just totally unexpected

the BE-4 engines are going power New Glenn and for them to work like this is so fucking cool

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Glenn

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 9 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...