Not as good as a cancellation of SLS, but it’s a redirection toward some semblance of programmatic sanity.
NASA just announced a MAJOR overhaul of the Artemis program. Here’s what’s changed, according to @NASAAdmin@rookisaacman:
NEW MISSIONS: Artemis 3 is no longer a moon landing 🤯 It's now a crewed test mission in Low Earth Orbit in 2027 – docking with SpaceX's Starship and/or…
And, of course, Boeing continues the lies: ” “The SLS core stage remains the world’s most powerful rocket stage, and the only one that can carry American astronauts directly to the moon and beyond in a single launch.”
Sorry for the light posting, I had to replace the graphics card in my computer, and it turned out to be a more onerous ordeal than I expected. Hopefully the desktop will be back on the air today. Carry on in comments.
After overnight data showed an interruption in helium flow in the SLS interim cryogenic propulsion stage, teams are troubleshooting and preparing for a likely rollback of Artemis II to the VAB at @NASAKennedy. This will almost assuredly impact the March launch window. @NASA will…
A thought experiment, to which I’ve gotten little response so far.
So, there's an argument going on in Space X (as opposed to SpaceX) about why we have to continue to waste money on SLS/Orion if we want to beat the Chinese back to the Moon. When I propose alternatives, I get objections like "Dragon can't come back from the Moon," "Nothing else…
I will just say we are leaning forward with transparency, sharing the blemishes and the successes, because for a program as costly and important to national security as Artemis, the public is entitled to the facts.
– The confidence test related to the seals we repaired and…
This is an age-old controversy, but while it (and figure skating in general) is entertaining, it is not a sport. It’s ballet on ice, except that ballet has no judges, biased or otherwise. The American team was clearly robbed. I have no problem keeping it in the Olympics, and it’s athletics in the sense that it requires training and practice, but stop pretending that it’s a sport. Sports scores should be objective, not whimsical.