Artemis Moon Program

[Flyaway]

NASA Deputy Administrator Views Artemis II Core Stage at Michoud

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, middle, and Dr. Quincy K. Brown, front right, senior policy advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, are shown the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket by Jennifer Boland-Masterson, left, director of manufacturing...

www.nasa.gov

 

[NMaude]

TheSpaceBucket has just put out a video about what future NASA Moon bases would look like:

Over half a century ago during the Apollo missions, after landing on the surface, astronauts would usually stay for less than 48 hours. After that short time, they were required to get back on the lander and begin their journey back to Earth. The Moon lacked the proper infrastructure to support humans for extended stays, which in turn held back the possibilities and exploration that could be completed.

For the upcoming Artemis missions, NASA wants to create a substantial lunar base, capable of keeping astronauts safe, healthy, and prepared for work on the surface. While there are still a few unknowns, we have a good idea of the future base location, general structures and plans, and how they will deal with temperature, radiation, etc.

While it won’t be easy, if done right, this lunar outpost could be the start of something incredible and help facilitate many future missions on and beyond the Moon. Here I will go more in-depth into NASA’s Moon base plan, the purpose it plays, what to expect in the coming years, and more.

Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/what-will-...

IIRC the longest stay on the Moon was with Apollo 17 which lasted about three days.

 

[NMaude]

Well it would seem that the Artemis II mission is progressing nicely for once:

It’s already been almost half a year since SLS lifted off for the first time and made the successful journey to the Moon and back. The data and results from Artemis I have given NASA the confidence to move on to the next big step, launching humans. While this second mission seems far away, in reality, we are relatively close to some significant testing and preparation.

Already we are seeing completed upper stages being delivered and construction on the launchpad underway. This comes in addition to the astronaut selection which was recently announced. Artemis II has some major differences from the first mission to not only ensure the safety of the astronauts on board, but also gather all the data necessary for the next step, landing humans on the surface.

If successful, we will be one step closer to making history as the agency puts everything into Artemis III and beyond. Here I will go more in-depth into important mission updates, the Artemis II mission profile, what to expect in the coming months, and more.

Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/nasas-arte...

 

[FighterJock]

Roll on November 2024.

 

[publiusr]

News

Sidus Space Logs a Subcontract to Support the SLS Mobile Launcher 2

Sidus Space started 2023 with the announcement of a new contract from Bechtel Corporation to manufacture cables for the NASA Mobile Launcher 2 project.

www.satellitetoday.com

Recap

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jrDv0OdMt5s&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fforum.nasaspaceflight.com%2F&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt


Alpaca—the REAL lunar lander

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K3WD4a83gO8&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fforum.nasaspaceflight.com%2F&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt


Pushing the limit 720 second— (12 minute!) burn:

NASA Tests Critical In-Flight Capability During RS-25 Engine Hot Fire - NASA

NASA carried out a critical hot fire of the redesigned RS-25 engine April 26 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, demonstrating the gimbaling, or pivoting, capabilities needed to stabilize a rocket during a launch and flight to space.

www.nasa.gov

If SLS were atop SuperHeavy with airstart mods…where would that core be slap empty?

 

[NMaude]

TheSpaceBucket has just posted a new video about NASA's plans for the Gateway space-station.

By now, multiple Gateway station segments are nearing completion in preparation for launch. With NASA planning to return to the Moon and for good, Gateway is supposed to play a crucial role in facilitating future Artemis missions. However, this brings up the question of what progress has been made and when will it be complete.

Gateway is a joint effort between NASA and a few other agencies. On top of that, contributors such as NASA have contracted some of the work out to Northrop Grumman among other companies. Everyone involved has either a dedicated module, or some sort of addition. All of which need to work together and be ready by a set time if the station wants to be fully operational in the coming years.

Currently, if everything stays on schedule, between 2024 and 2031, the Gateway lunar space station will be built out and then complete, ready to transfer astronauts and supplies from the lunar surface to Earth and back. Here I will go more in-depth into the future timeline of Gateway, recent progress that’s been made, what to expect in the coming weeks, and more.

Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/how-nasa-p...

 

[NMaude]

Curious Droid has this interesting new video out concerning old NASA rocket launch films and it includes footage from the Artemis I launch:

This is a quick update to the last video "Why is Older NASA Launch Film Footage Still the Best?" • Why is Older NASA... In that, I bemoaned the fact that even though we have supposedly better cameras than the Apollo and Shuttle days, the amazing close-up footage of today’s launches are not seen because digital cameras can't handle the over-exposure situations of the very bright engines and SRB's compared to film. Well, I just found out that NASA does still use high-speed film to record engineering footage and that this has just become available for the Artemis 1 launch of Nov 2022. So below are the links to the NASA footage on their images website and also the twitter user Go4Gordan who used a freedom of information request to get it released.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Not a very big Dalek. Blue Origin gets the nod as second choice for the lunar lander over Dynetics. It's significantly changed. An interesting design feature is that the cabin is in the base - those are windows on either side of the middle landing leg. A major criticism of the first proposal was the height and tall ladder that the astronauts needed to climb (and a problem with Spacex's too). The fuel tank visible above looks toroidal, suggesting a shaft rising to the top. If there's a separate ascent stage, it's probably the top half and the 'cap' has the docking system and a cabin, which seems inefficient in terms of mass. If it's single stage and fully reusable, there's just a long shaft from the cabin in the base to the cap. The docking system is directly underneath without the need for a shaft and not visible in this render, but placing it there would make it vulnerable to damage during landing from blowback from the rockets or simply hitting a rock.

Apart from easier surface access, the mass above the crew hab would provide some radiation shielding as well.

NASA Selects Blue Origin as Second Artemis Lunar Lander Provider - NASA

To develop a human landing system for the agency’s Artemis V mission to the Moon, NASA has selected Blue Origin of Kent, Washington. Through Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, uncovering more scientific discoveries, and preparing for future astronaut missions to Mars.

www.nasa.gov

 

[Rhinocrates]

In its final iteration, Dynetics' proposal, 'Alpaca', was completely reusable and no longer used drop tanks.

 

[NMaude]

In its final iteration, Dynetics' proposal, 'Alpaca', was completely reusable and no longer used drop tanks.

View attachment 699947

That almost looks like something from an episode of "Space:1999".

 

[TomcatViP]

Blue Origin lander:

 

[FighterJock]

That lander is massive, certainly is much bigger than the Apollo era landers that is for sure Tomcat VIP.

 

[TomcatViP]

@FighterJock : I wonder what the upper petals are for.

The access ladders looks too much complicated and probably not much adapted to lunar conditions. It seemingly illustrates a lack of commitment from their designers. I hope it's only a PR mistake.

 

[southwestforests]

@FighterJock : I wonder what the upper petals are for.

Given that illustration is different from the one on Blue Origin's own website announcement, I guess the only way to find out is to ask the uncredited artist,

NASA Selects Blue Origin National Team to Return Humans to the Moon | Blue Origin

www.blueorigin.com

A CNN article which uses illustration credits, "Shown here is an artist's concept of Blue Origin's lunar lander, known as Blue Moon."
A PC magazine article credits illustration as "(NASA)"
Article on The Daily Beast credits illustration as "Blue Origin"
A Boston Globe article credits illustration as "An artist rendering of Blue Origin's Blue Moon lunar lander.Blue Origin/Handout"
New York Times credits, "An artist’s impression of the moon lander that Blue Origin and other companies will build for NASA’s astronaut mission to visit the moon’s surface no earlier than 2029.Credit...Blue Origin"

So ...

I guess the thing to do is contact Blue Origin directly and ask them.

​

 

[Forest Green]

That lander is massive, certainly is much bigger than the Apollo era landers that is for sure Tomcat VIP.

Maybe to carry more down to the surface.

 

[FighterJock]

Not much thought about the ladder then TomcatVIP. Let's wait and see if the ladder was a PR mistake.

 

[Calphor]

Part of the reason it is so massive is that is used LOX/Hydrogen as propellants. The hydrogen tank is on top with a toroidal LOX tank visible. It is an unconventional design, but they take advantage of the high Isp of their propellant choice. My understanding is that the lander is fully reusable with a separate refueling element traveling from LEO to the lunar vicinity to enable each landing. It should be interesting to see how they tackle the boil off problem. Best of luck to the Blue team.

 

[publiusr]

In its final iteration, Dynetics' proposal, 'Alpaca', was completely reusable and no longer used drop tanks.

View attachment 699947

Dynetics always gets kicked in the teeth.
Vulcan should have been Pyrios----but noooo...Tory went for Bezos.

If Dynetics were a dog....somebody would be in jail from the leash burns in its neck.

 

[Calphor]

In its final iteration, Dynetics' proposal, 'Alpaca', was completely reusable and no longer used drop tanks.

View attachment 699947

Dynetics always gets kicked in the teeth.
Vulcan should have been Pyrios----but noooo...Tory went for Bezos.

If Dynetics were a dog....somebody would be in jail from the leash burns in its neck.

Tory knew better than to go with a refresh of the F-1A. Although an amazing technological feat in the 60s, the F-1A is woefully outdated and inefficient for a modern engine, not to mention extremely labor intensive to produce. Dynetics would have had to completely redesign the combustion chamber and regen system to make it financially viable. In addition, there would have likely needed to be significant mods to the launch pad to accommodate the output of an F-1A powered Vulcan.

Pyrios, on the other hand, was a decent booster design, but still would have had to deal with the expense of the redesigned F-1A. For use on SLS however, that would hardly have been a major issue.

 

[Rhinocrates]

@FighterJock : I wonder what the upper petals are for.

Sunshades to reduce hydrogen boiloff?

 

[Flyaway]

Amazon's Jeff Bezos to help Nasa return to Moon https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65635005

 

[publiusr]

So he’s footing the bill, right?

 

[TomS]

Given that illustration is different from the one on Blue Origin's own website announcement, I guess the only way to find out is to ask the uncredited artist,

NASA Selects Blue Origin National Team to Return Humans to the Moon | Blue Origin​

www.blueorigin.com

That's an announcement from 2020.

Here is the 2023 announcement on the BO website, using the same art as NASA.

NASA Selects Blue Origin for Astronaut Mission to the Moon | Blue Origin

NASA has awarded a NextSTEP-2 Appendix P Sustaining Lunar Development contract to Blue Origin.

www.blueorigin.com

 

[cattalonX]

Rockwell 1972

 

[TomS]

@FighterJock : I wonder what the upper petals are for.

Sunshades to reduce hydrogen boiloff?

The mockup of the last iteration of National Team lander had similar-looking structures labeled as radiators. I think these might be the same. The old ones were fixed but the new ones look like they are articulated from the top. Possibly so they can hinge up to keep the radiating surface facing the dark? The back sides have reflective mylar-like surfaces.

Here's the 2020 lander mockup with parts handily labeled.

 

[TomS]

Yes, definitely radiators. A lot more detail on the size/configuration of the lander here:

NASA HLS (Human Landing System) Lunar Landers

NASA HLS (Human Landing System) Lunar Landers

forum.nasaspaceflight.com

Looks like the radiators and solar panels (not visible here) are part of the design to keep the cryogenic fuels cool enough for long-term storage.

 

[GK Dundas]

View attachment 700030
Rockwell 1972

Looks suspiciously like the Vulture from the old American tv series Salvage -One ,with Andy Griffin.

 

[edwest4]

There's still the problem of resupply. At least 20 rocket launches per day will be required. Some water may be available on the surface but it will have to be filtered. Take-out and local restaurants will not be available. A power grid using solar panels will power the base, but once there, then what?

 

[publiusr]

View attachment 700030
Rockwell 1972

At least with Altair, you didn’t have to worry about the ultimate in cold showers in case something gets holed

 

[TomS]

Looking at the tapered tops of the radiators, I keep wondering if there's a configuration where the panels move forward and the tops move inward so that the panels fit together like petals. Why else have the tapers instead of simple rectangular panels?

 

[NMaude]

TheSpaceBucket has just put out a video concerning the SLS's RS-25 rocket-motors:

The core of the Artemis program and one of the most expensive aspects has been the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. In particular, the RS-25 engines, which were used decades ago on the Space Shuttle have cost a lot. All the way back around 2015 NASA awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a combined total of $5.7 billion apart of a Restart and Production program, meant to upgrade and produce a certain amount of engines.

While enough engines were completed and delivered for SLS’s maiden flight not long ago, the future is looking a bit shaky based on new information. Specifically, the NASA Office of Inspector General just released a full 56-page report on both SLS booster and engine contracts. This report not only highlights that there could be delays in the future, but the amount of money spent was extremely high.

This is a big deal as the RS-25 engine is necessary in order for Artemis II, III, and beyond to lift off with the first crews aboard. Here I will go more in-depth into this initial contract, what exactly went wrong with the engine, what to expect in the coming weeks, and more.

Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/the-proble...

 

[TomcatViP]

Frankly speaking, NASA should not take the path followed by the ESA that wanted to phase-out early a proven system just to make ample rooms for what was essentially a juicy program for the main contractor of the replacement vehicle.

The role of NASA is to provide uninterrupted access to space and long lead in Science. As much as some old airplane are still being X planes today, trusty engines should be relied on until a fully proven replacement system can be acquire off the shelf.

 

[NMaude]

IMO I think it was extremely shortsighted for NASA to cancel the development of the RS-84 in 2005, it would've been perfect for a kerolox first-stage in the SLS.

 

[Flyaway]

NASA Laser Communications Terminal Delivered for Artemis II Moon Mission

NASA Laser Communications Terminal Delivered for Artemis II Mission

The optical communications system for NASA’s Artemis II mission arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with the Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts around the Moon.

www.nasa.gov

 

[NMaude]

Some good news concerning the status of the Artemis 2 spacecraft from TheSpaceBucket:

NASA has been very busy as they continue to prepare for the second Artemis mission, Artemis II. After the first successful uncrewed mission around the Moon, this second launch features a full crew and an ambitious flight path. However, before the second Space Launch System rocket can lift off, each of its many partners and contributors needs to complete and ship their core systems.

Recently, we saw work on the European Service Module which provides Orion with primary power and propulsion until it's discarded at the end of each mission. Specifically, teams are performing final checkouts of the Orion spacecraft’s service module before integrating the crew and service modules for Artemis II.

This comes in addition to even more progress on this exact component just months prior. Once complete, NASA will be one step closer to the first human mission to the Moon in over half a century. Here I will go more in-depth into the recent module progress, the flight profile of Artemis II, what to expect in the next few weeks, and more.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Recent image of the lander confirming that the radiator panels are hinged and the docking port is not at the top and is probably that circular feature on the lower left. I'm a little surprised that it's not on a line passing through the centre of mass. Still, that was the case with the shuttle too.

 

[publiusr]

ROTON lives again {SLAP}

Ow!

Look, Byeman I know it’s a vacuum…

 

[NMaude]

TheSpaceBucket has just put out a new video concerning the Orion spacecraft and its' CM's heat shield:

Late last year toward the end of the Artemis 1 mission, the Orion spacecraft reentered Earth’s atmosphere before a successful splashdown in the ocean. Once recovered, NASA began taking a closer look at the spacecraft which revealed a few concerns. Specifically, engineers noted variations across the appearance of Orion’s heat shield relative to agency models and predictions.

Now toward the middle of 2023, we just got the news that a new heat shield has been installed on the Artemis II Orion spacecraft. In the coming months, we can expect to see more work on this component with the eventual addition of extra heat-resistant material. While the first Artemis mission was uncrewed and could afford mistakes, the second mission cannot.

This launch will have four crew members relying on this heat shield and the various spacecraft technology to keep them safe and complete the mission. Here I will go more in-depth into the unpredicted heat shield results, the design of this component, what to expect in the coming weeks, and more.

Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/a-closer-l...

 

[bobbymike]

NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne Put Gateway Thruster System to the Test

Testing of Gateway’s revolutionary propulsion system, known as the Advanced Electric Propulsion System, begins at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.

www.nasa.gov

 

[Flyaway]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1681041654189260804

View: https://twitter.com/nasagroundsys/status/1681041654189260804

Last week, teams from Exploration Ground Systems led a recovery training at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at @NASA_Johnson.

This training, which included astronauts @AstroVicGlover, @Astro_Christina Koch, and @astro_reid Wiseman, helped prepare teams for the future recovery of #Artemis II after a trip around the Moon. The divers' main role will be to remove the crew from the @NASA_Orion capsule and secure the spacecraft to be brought back to @NASAKennedy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1681042381607403523

View: https://twitter.com/nasagroundsys/status/1681042381607403523

As we get closer to the first crewed flight test for @NASAArtemis II, our teams have been working diligently to prepare for crewed missions as we work toward humans learning to live and work in deep space.

Below is additional imagery showing the involvement EGS's employees had, including NASA test director Dan Florez and Artemis landing and recovery director Liliana Villarreal.