Next month.
I thought this was a pipe dream but evidently it’s a thing…
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Thanks, I hadn’t heard about that. ST is one of my reliable sources.
It’s a whole different thing to do this:
That’s the next mission in 2027
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“back”
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I can’t wait for the conspiracy theories this time around. Flat earthers are going to be in for a rough ride.
It is a very similar mission to Artemis I,
which launch over 3 years ago. So not exactly taking the rapid path. That being said, there is no rush since the lander isn’t ready yet. The lander is based on the SpaceX Starship, which is also taking its own sweet time in development and has tended t be a bit explody.
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Thanks for clarifying that the lander isn’t ready yet. I was curious about what it will look like.
There are two companies working to build two different landers. One is SpaceX owned by Elon Musk (on left) and the other is Blue Origin owned by Jeff Bezos (on right, different scale). NASA is saving a ton of money by pitting the billionaires against each other in an ego contest. The downside is the government has less control over schedules. SpaceX is ahead in their development and will likely fly the first humans back to the surface.
I’m not sure I see this as a downside, at least if you want to get it done sooner.
This time in 4k, IMAX.
Brought to you by Brawndo, it’s got what plants crave.
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Fascinating, thanks. I don’t play a rocket scientist on TV, so I’m not completely understanding how two very different landers will mate up with the Orion spacecraft.
Each mission will only use one lander. So Artemis 3 is slated to use SpaceX, as is Artemis 4. Artemis 5 will use the Blue Origin lander. At the moment, the contract is only for these “demo” missions. A longer term sustainment contract for future missions is in the works based on the successes from the first missions. It is a similar approach NASA took with capsules for ISS. There the competition was between SpaceX and Boeing. Orion can mate with either lander using a universal docking adaptor. Similar again to how ISS can dock with half a dozen different spacecraft.
Thanks much for the thorough explanation. I’m looking forward to this, but I’ll be worried about the astronauts.
The Artemis 2 rollout is currently underway for anyone interested in watching the world’s slowest parade.
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Very cool, thanks.
I found an updated article on this and the rollout started later than hoped. So if the wet dress is a success, the launch window is Feb 8-11.
An interesting detail in the article is that the path around the moon will be the farthest from the earth that man has ever gone. That must be physics and angles and stuff.
NASA hauls Artemis II moon rocket to launch pad for February flight
The lunar orbit they are going to put the Orion capsule in is a higher orbit that we used in Apollo. In the grand scheme of things it isn’t that much further from Earth, but it is further.
The wet dress rehearsal ran into a hydrogen leak problem.
Next launch window is early March.
NASA delays Artemis II moon launch after issues during rehearsal