Artemis I Orion SLS

[Skybird]

A crucial mission for both NASA and ESA. NASA, because the project to go to the Moon and Mars is already billions above funding and years beyond timetables, and for ESA because this is the first time ever NASA trusts a non-American supplier to provide a vital, critical component for an else American mission, the service module. If it fails, it means most likely an end to the American political will to fund the project any longer, and to ever trust the Europeans again with providing such a vital compenent.



The political and financial stakes are always very high with space technology, but sometimes they are really-really very high.

[mapuc]

I'm so excited-Imagine that I can follow the process towards the first person walking on the Moon after several decades.

In some years from now I can, do the same as my parent could, follow the launch of Artemis III, the journey and the landing on the moon.

Only different from then and now-The stream will be in colour and in better quality.

Of course the equipment will be way better or different than what they had on Apollo 11.

Markus

[Andreas86]

Originally Posted by mapuc

Only different from then and now-The stream will be in colour and in better quality.

Also.. This time it will actually come from the moon.


If they are lucky.

[August]

Originally Posted by Andreas86

Also.. This time it will actually come from the moon.


If they are lucky.

The first time they came from the moon too, as did the signals from following five missions. Radio signals emanating from the moon cannot be faked from somewhere else. Radio direction finders do not lie.

[Platapus]

Does anyone really really think that if we faked the moon landing that the Soviets would not have exposed this immediately?


Really


Or were the Soviets, our enemy during the cold war, in on this conspiracy????

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by August

The first time they came from the moon too, as did the signals from following five missions. Radio signals emanating from the moon cannot be faked from somewhere else. Radio direction finders do not lie.

Staying off topic for a while
No it was a prerecorded tape-the two astronaut on the moon had to investigate something on the dark side of the moon.

Ok back to serious Moon landing discussion

Markus

[Andreas86]

Well, I believed it until I started to really think about it.

Considering the enormous amount of failures in space missions before and after apollo (on both US and Soviet side), the statistic probability of NASA landing successfully on the moon 6 times without a single loss of life is just too much to swallow. It is damn near improbable, especially given 60s tech. I do not much believe the Soviets accomplishments either. Too much propaganda in those days.

Also, if this has happened 6 times successfully there would be no need to reinvent the wheel completely. Couple of years ago I saw an interview with an astronaut, claiming the biggest obstacle was to find a way to survive space radiation on the way to the moon, and build a spacecraft capable of this. Puzzling, one would think after 6 successful landings, not to mention the non-landing missions beforehand, this (at least) was solved.

Israel tried to land a modern probe in 2019, quite catastrophically. If man ever walks on the moon for real, there will be casualties, failures and questions. The loss of not 1, but 2 space shuttles since 1986 is chilling proof. But, if successful, there will also be happiness and extacy on a level Neil Armstrong strangely did not display, after becoming mankinds most famous ambassador.

Sorry for the off-topic. I hope this new endeavour goes well. But I have my doubts about men on the moon in this decade, it will be extremely hard.

[mapuc]

Apollo 13 was a failure. No life was lost, however they never landed on the moon.

It is through mistake and lost of life we develop-NASA had a lots of mishaps and some lost their life in the effort to land on the moon before -70.

Markus

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Andreas86

Well, I believed it until I started to really think about it.

Considering the enormous amount of failures in space missions before and after apollo (on both US and Soviet side), the statistic probability of NASA landing successfully on the moon 6 times without a single loss of life is just too much to swallow.

Not including the 28 or so unmanned Saturn I, Ib, V, and Little Joe test platforms. There were 10 manned attempts by the United States to go to the moon 9 of those were successful though not flawless. I admit it may not meet your demand more deaths must be involved to be believable. But the U.S. space program wasn’t just a walk in the park either

Apollo I mission: resulted in the death of 3 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee during a ‘routine’ plugs out test of shipboard systems prior to their scheduled launch.

Apollo XII mission:

Suffered two lightning strikes during launch. The first strike, at 36 seconds after liftoff, knocked the three fuel cells offline and the craft switched to battery power automatically. The second strike, at 52 seconds after liftoff, knocked the onboard guidance platform offline. Four temperature sensors on the outside of the Lunar Module were burnt out and four measuring devices in the reaction control system failed temporarily. Fuel cell power was restored about four minutes later. The astronauts spent additional time in Earth orbit to make sure the spacecraft was functional before firing their S-IVB third stage engine and departing for the Moon.

Apollo XIII mission:

During launch, the Saturn V second stage experienced a potentially serious malfunction when the center of its five engines shut down two minutes early. The remaining engines on the second and third stages were burned a total of 34 seconds longer to compensate, and parking orbit and translunar injection were successfully achieved. It was later determined that the shutdown was caused by pogo oscillation of the engine. Mission aborted when a violent rupture of a liquid oxygen tank deprived the Service Module of its ability to produce electrical power, crippling their spacecraft en route to the Moon. They survived the loss of use of their command ship by relying on the Lunar Module as a "life boat" to provide life support and power for the trip home.

Apollo XV mission:

During descent, the three main parachutes opened successfully. However, when the remaining reaction control system fuel was jettisoned, one parachute was damaged by the discarded fuel causing it to collapse. Spacecraft and crew still splashed down safely, at a slightly higher than normal velocity, on the two remaining main parachutes. If a second parachute had failed, the spacecraft would probably have been crushed on impact with the ocean, according to a NASA official.

[August]

Originally Posted by Andreas86

Well, I believed it until I started to really think about it.

There have been a total of 149 manned space missions flown as of August this year with a total of humans in space time of over 21 YEARS. It's not at all surprising that they got to the moon with only a loss of three Astronauts and one nearly disaster.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_spaceflight

[ET2SN]

Originally Posted by Skybird

because this is the first time ever NASA trusts a non-American supplier to provide a vital, critical component for an else American mission

Au contraire, I'm sure the robotic lifting and grappling arm on the Space Shuttle was designed and constructed in Canada while the early rocket engines started out on drawing boards in Germany.

[Rockstar]

Last time we went to the Moon it was about National pride. Today it is about exploiting extra-terrestrial resources. This could conceivably be the beginning of a new thread along the lines of The Energy Thread called ‘The Rare Earth Elements Thread.’

[ET2SN]

That's going to be some very expensive Tapioca.

The mining costs are going to be high but its nothing compared to the shipping costs.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by ET2SN

Au contraire, I'm sure the robotic lifting and grappling arm on the Space Shuttle was designed and constructed in Canada while the early rocket engines started out on drawing boards in Germany.

Lol

Well i hope they didn't mess up imperial and international units again

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by ET2SN

Au contraire, I'm sure the robotic lifting and grappling arm on the Space Shuttle was designed and constructed in Canada while the early rocket engines started out on drawing boards in Germany.

Yes, but that robotic arm was not vital, if it had failed, the craft and crew still would have lived and returned. The booster rockets were not built in Europe or Canada, AFAIK, but the US.

If the service module for Artmeis with its life support and energy systems as well as rocket fuel fails, then everybody aboard will be dead and the craft will never come home.