Well that crept up unexpected. Due to launch August 29. 

 

Quote

 

Formerly known as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), Artemis 1 will be the first test flight of the agency's new Space Launch System megarocket and the Orion crew capsule.The SLS rocket will launch the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on an approximately 26-day mission, during which it will spend six days orbiting the moon before returning to Earth. Artemis 1 is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than late Aug. 29, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Check back here for live updates on the mission.

 

https://www.space.com/news/live/nasa-artemis-1-moon-mission-updates

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/around-the-moon-with-nasa-s-first-launch-of-sls-with-orion

 

Hope it doesn't turn out to be the Big Bang Theory! 🚀

almost posted that in the other thread but felt there was no need.

The Space X Starship may take centre stage these days, but it will still be an impressive sight to see the SLS launch

 

1 hour ago, Christopher Low said:

The Space X Starship may take centre stage these days, but it will still be an impressive sight to see the SLS launch

 

Certainly will. Then they throw it away and make a new one. 😁

Spaceship will be there with superior tech soon enough. Between one and twelve months to go.

Edited August 15, 20223 yr by martin-w

“The lunar equator telescope is... located on the dark side of the moon..... free from Earth's electrical noise and free from radio noise generated by the sun”

Not exactly. There isn't a “dark side” of the moon. There is a side not facing Earth so it will be free from Earth's electrical field but it gets just as much sun's radiation as any other location.

Also, I wonder how they handle the requirements for breathable air in the early stages. Apparently there is enough oxygen, nitrogen and other elements which could be extracted from the regolith simply by heating but they would need to be separated and purified before being useable. How long could that take? Enough oxygen and nitrogen would have to be shipped from Earth to last until enough breathable air could be generated to cover the ongoing needs for however many people there are.

Edited August 15, 20223 yr by dmwalker

16 hours ago, dmwalker said:

Not exactly. There isn't a “dark side” of the moon. There is a side not facing Earth so it will be free from Earth's electrical field but it gets just as much sun's radiation as any other location.

 

Yeah, seems they messed that up. 

 

16 hours ago, dmwalker said:

Also, I wonder how they handle the requirements for breathable air in the early stages. Apparently there is enough oxygen, nitrogen and other elements which could be extracted from the regolith simply by heating but they would need to be separated and purified before being useable. How long could that take? Enough oxygen and nitrogen would have to be shipped from Earth to last until enough breathable air could be generated to cover the ongoing needs for however many people there are.

 

Yes, the top layer of regolith has enough oxygen to sustain 8 billion people for 100,000 years. But yes, initially, until the equipment was generating oxygen it would have to be supplied . Worth remembering that like on the ISS, oxygen can be  generated from the water in the wash basins and toilets and air. 

In 2025 a Belgium company is sending three experimental reactors to the Moon for extracting oxygen. Power is the key and for that, my money is on NASA's Killopower mini nuclear reactor. 

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/kilopower

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast13nov_1

 

Edited August 16, 20223 yr by martin-w

On the launch pad and ready to go to the Moon space cadets. 

And men and ladies on the Moon in 2025. Guess we can expect high definition, awesome footage when that happens with todays tech. 

 

 

Nearly six HOURS of nothing to see... 😬

At what time would be the earliest launch window scheduled? I'm flying from New York to Miami that day, and I'm looking forward to something like this:

 

Edited August 18, 20223 yr by Luis Hernandez

15 hours ago, Luis Hernandez said:

At what time would be the earliest launch window scheduled?

 

10 days, 2 hours to go. From now, 10:58 GMT. 🚀😁

 

 

On 8/15/2022 at 4:23 PM, charliearon said:

Hope it doesn't turn out to be the Big Bang Theory! 🚀

 

Well Artemis is 25% more powerful than Saturn V, in fact the most powerful rocket ever launched. So a "big bang" would be a mega big bang indeed.

Now consider SpaceX Starship, which is even more powerful still, and in Bocca Chica. So not far from residential properties. Residents are evacuated when there's a launch of course but if Starship explodes it will be a profound event to say the least. 

The soviet N1 was the biggest rocket explosion ever. It was designed to compete with Saturn V, but underfunded and rushed. The result was a rapid unscheduled disassembly... it went kaboom! The largest explosion in space flight history. Some parts of the rocket were found 10 kilometres away! Windows were blown out 40 kilometres away.

Now consider that Starship is even more powerful! 

 

Edited August 19, 20223 yr by martin-w

Those solid fuel boosters must be significantly more powerful than the ones used for the Space Shuttle. Based on the total launch thrust, they must be rated @ 3.6 million pounds each!

Edited August 19, 20223 yr by Christopher Low

On 8/19/2022 at 12:21 PM, Christopher Low said:

Those solid fuel boosters must be significantly more powerful than the ones used for the Space Shuttle. Based on the total launch thrust, they must be rated @ 3.6 million pounds each!

 

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/nasa-completes-test-firing-of-future-artemis-booster-motor.html

Quote

 

Secured horizontally in a test stand, the single five-segment booster motor fired for just over two minutes and produced 3.6 million pounds of thrust. The booster for the test, called Flight Support Booster-2 (FSB-2), is the same size and has the same power as a  booster used for launch. Together, the twin solid rocket boosters on SLS produce more than 75% of the initial thrust for an Artemis launch.

NASA and Northrop Grumman, the SLS booster lead contractor, are using the test data to evaluate improvements and new materials in the boosters for missions after Artemis III.

 

 

😲