SLS questions

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

There's a decade's worth of problems haunting the Space Launch System (SLS) since it took the place of the Space Shuttle program back in 2011. 

image

One problem is that SLS technology is old. The main engines are the ones used on the Space Shuttle, using liquid hydrogen propellant and liquid oxygen. The shuttle was scrubbed at least once on most launch attempts due to hydrogen problems.

SLS is not even reusable. Starship (SpaceX) will be.

A former NASA Deputy Administrator tried to get the agency to use a private company for Artemis but couldn't do it. She says the government status quo is too strong. The Planetary Society says the problem is politics.

So, it looks like lots of people have asked that question at the end of yesterday's post.

from Interesting Engineering

More SLS delay

Follow-up to this post

Here's the latest news on NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) -- it won't launch until at least mid-November of this year, another six weeks. The original (current) target was in August.

Why? Difficulties and problems with the SLS are mentioned here and here. But hurricane Ian added another layer to the mess. The delays go on. Pressure from public opinion must be building.

photo

from Space

Space vehicle 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

As you know, SpaceX was "founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets." They have worked toward the goal of interplanetary travel since the very beginning.

Falcon 9 and the bigger Falcon Heavy (both uncrewed) have done all SpaceX's missions so far, but eventually "Starship" will replace them. It's the vehicle for deep space, interplanetary travel, like SLS (yesterday's post) is supposed to be. Conceivably it could replace SLS for NASA if the problems are not solved.

Starship (according to the latest design) will be a little bigger than Saturn V - that enormous rocket that took three men to the moon fifty years ago - and about 30% heavier.

photo

SLS (if it's ever built) is similar in size to Saturn V.

Delayed again

Follow up to this post

It was going to launch next month, in just a few weeks. But Artemis 2 mission has been delayed again: it's unlikely to go in March, and they have no target date for it at this time according to NASA's chief. Maybe April.

SLS (Space Launch System) rocket was on the launch pad until this week, when it was pulled back for repairs. There was a "liquid hydrogen leak in an interface used to route the cryogenic propellant into the rocket's core stage."

How many problems and how many delays have there been with SLS? I've lost track. They've gone on for years and years, as you can see here.

from Space

Artemis 1

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

NASA adopted (during the previous administration) the goal of returning a human presence to our Moon for long-term research and exploration: the Artemis project.

A series of missions will get us there, and the first one is coming soon. After a successful fueling test of its SLS rocket last month, the window which has been targeted for Artemis 1 is August 23-September 6.

Without crew, this first mission will test how NASA's deep space exploration systems work together: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center.

Orion is the spacecraft designed for human crew. On this mission, it will fly 280,000 miles (thousands of miles beyond the moon) over a period of 4-6 weeks.

Artemis 1's mission manager says, “It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission.”

 

from NASA

Space vehicle 1

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

NASA's target for going to the moon is 2024. What vehicle we're going to use to get there is not entirely clear.

The SLS (Space Launch System, being built by Boeing) is NASA's official answer to that question. Boeing calls it "the backbone for a permanent human presence in deep space, for multiple trips to the moon and eventually Mars and beyond."

But confidence is the SLS is waning. Expected dates for its first flight slipped from 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. Disappointing. Combine that with cost overruns of hundreds of millions of dollars. 

The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives science committee says, ""If delays continue, if costs rise . .  no one should assume the U.S. taxpayers or their representatives will tolerate this forever."

Indeed. Taxpayers have already invested billions in this project. But at some point, maybe we'll have to cut our losses. You can guess what company is waiting in the wings with an alternate proposal.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Artemis 1 wait

Artemis 1 will eventually get off the ground. But the first two proposed launch dates had to be scrubbed (leaky valve and faulty sensor). Possible dates for the next attempt are September 27 and October 2.

image

Disappointment with SLS (Space Launch System), the biggest rocket ever, has been going on for years. The rocket originally was supposed to launch in 2016, six years ago. It got pretty close to finally launching at Kennedy Space Center last month and has been sitting there ever since while repairs are made.

The cost goes up with every delay, of course. Over 23 billion taxpayer dollars have gone into developing the SLS so far over the past ten years without success. Should we cut our horrifying losses and give the project to someone else?

Somebody in the U.S. Congress is surely asking this question: what if we commissioned SpaceX to build it?  

(cont'd tomorrow)

Artemis 2

Artemis 1 was un-crewed. But Artemis 2 will have a crew, now that they're confident that they have a deep space transportation system that works.

Four astronauts will fly to and around the moon, staying about ~5500 miles above its surface. New spacesuits are being designed to protect them from higher radiation than they experience here in low earth orbit. The same rocket (SLS) and the same craft (Orion) will be used. 

After all the data from Artemis 2 is analyzed, NASA will be ready for Artemis 3 - the mission that will actually land astronauts on the moon's surface. SpaceX's Starship will perform that historic landing.

If everything goes well, Artemis 2 will launch sometime in 2024 and Artemis 3 may launch sometime in 2025. 

Here is the splashdown of the Artemis 1 mission on Sunday:

from Space

First one done

Artemis 1, first of the Artemis Program missions, accomplished what it was supposed to do. Space Launch System (SLS), that long-delayed and way-over-budget Boeing rocket, was a success. It worked well with the Orion capsule and with NASA's ground systems.

NASA people are said to be super happy. Here is a photo taken yesterday from Orion as it neared its home planet:

It splashed down in the Pacific near California. The Artemis 1 mission manager clarified the future significance of this success by saying: 

"We now have a foundational deep-space transportation system." 

That's a big deal: the foundation for future transportation into deep space. Fans of space travel will be thrilled.

from Space

Launch at last

At long last, the Space Launch System (SLS) successfully launched the very first Artemis mission on Wednesday morning from NASA Space Center in Florida.

Artemis 1 is an un-crewed mission to fly to the moon without landing, all of course in preparation to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 if that target date holds.

According to the mission manager, "Today, we got to witness the world's most powerful rocket take the Earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it. And it was quite a sight."