NASA & World Space Exploration...News, Views, Photos & videos
- Thread starter bd popeye
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Missed this news but SpaceX recently landed the same F9 booster for the 20th time
Raptor relight was successful
There's a slight deviation on the upcoming NASA ARTEMIS SCHEDULED MOON PROGRAM.
There are also concerns about the complexity of Artemis III. It will require a number of previously untested steps, including an Orion-Starship rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit; humans flying inside of Starship in space; Starship going down to the surface and coming back up to dock with Orion; and more. Mission planners would be more comfortable if they could, in NASA parlance, "buy down the risk" of Artemis III by validating some of these delicate maneuvers before the lunar landing mission.
This is why NASA has asked SpaceX to look at a mission where Orion would rendezvous with the Starship vehicle in orbit around Earth. Such a mission—whether called Artemis IIS or Artemis III—would solve a lot of problems for the space agency and appears to be the preferred option at this time. Critically, it would verify the ability of the two spacecraft to dock in an environment where, if there were a problem, it would be much easier for the crew to return safely home. It would also validate the ability of astronauts to live inside Starship and perform some ascent and descent maneuvers.
Perhaps just as importantly, such a mission would allow the space agency to avoid a long gap between Artemis II and Artemis III. No one is quite certain how long it will take SpaceX to deliver a Starship vehicle that is capable of landing safely on the Moon and then taking back off. The company is known for moving very fast in the development phase, but it still has a tremendous amount of work to do with Starship.
SpaceX must get the vehicle flying regularly—which it is close to doing—and then begin conducting refueling tests. These are necessary so that SpaceX can refuel Starship in orbit for a lunar mission, and nothing similar has ever been attempted on this scale. SpaceX must then learn to operate Starship in deep space, land on the Moon, and, critically, take off from the lunar surface a few days later to re-rendezvous with Orion so the astronauts can come home. All of this can be solved by engineering and testing, but it will take time.
An unrealistic timeline
The space agency's date for Artemis II is optimistic but potentially feasible if NASA can resolve the Orion spacecraft's heat shield issues. A lunar landing in September 2026, however, seems completely unrealistic. The biggest stumbling blocks for Artemis III are the lack of a lander, which SpaceX is developing through its Starship program, and spacesuits for forays onto the lunar surface by Axiom Space. It is not clear when the lander or the suits, which NASA only began funding in the last two to three years, will be ready.There are also concerns about the complexity of Artemis III. It will require a number of previously untested steps, including an Orion-Starship rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit; humans flying inside of Starship in space; Starship going down to the surface and coming back up to dock with Orion; and more. Mission planners would be more comfortable if they could, in NASA parlance, "buy down the risk" of Artemis III by validating some of these delicate maneuvers before the lunar landing mission.
This is why NASA has asked SpaceX to look at a mission where Orion would rendezvous with the Starship vehicle in orbit around Earth. Such a mission—whether called Artemis IIS or Artemis III—would solve a lot of problems for the space agency and appears to be the preferred option at this time. Critically, it would verify the ability of the two spacecraft to dock in an environment where, if there were a problem, it would be much easier for the crew to return safely home. It would also validate the ability of astronauts to live inside Starship and perform some ascent and descent maneuvers.
Perhaps just as importantly, such a mission would allow the space agency to avoid a long gap between Artemis II and Artemis III. No one is quite certain how long it will take SpaceX to deliver a Starship vehicle that is capable of landing safely on the Moon and then taking back off. The company is known for moving very fast in the development phase, but it still has a tremendous amount of work to do with Starship.
SpaceX must get the vehicle flying regularly—which it is close to doing—and then begin conducting refueling tests. These are necessary so that SpaceX can refuel Starship in orbit for a lunar mission, and nothing similar has ever been attempted on this scale. SpaceX must then learn to operate Starship in deep space, land on the Moon, and, critically, take off from the lunar surface a few days later to re-rendezvous with Orion so the astronauts can come home. All of this can be solved by engineering and testing, but it will take time.
NASA says its Gateway module is too heavy for Falcon Heavy despite being only 20 tons (for reference that is lighter than Tianhe core module and Russia's Zvesda module)
This comes at a time when a separate report highlights possible overstatement of even Starship's capabilities as Elon Musk is now saying Flight 3 is only targeting 40-50t to orbit.
This comes at a time when a separate report highlights possible overstatement of even Starship's capabilities as Elon Musk is now saying Flight 3 is only targeting 40-50t to orbit.