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Aug 29th is the first scheduled launch date for the deep space Orion.

Photos here - Link


Around the Moon with NASA’s First Launch of SLS with Orion

During Artemis I, Orion will venture thousands of miles beyond the moon during an approximately four to six-week mission.

NASA's Space Launch System rocket will launch with Orion atop it from Launch Complex 39B at NASA¹s modernized spaceport at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Artemis I, formerly Exploration Mission-1, will be the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.

During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a four to six-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

“This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “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.”

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HRK,

And if anyone is wondering why the big main fuel tank is rusty looking, that *IS* it, IIRC it's not rust but the material the thing is actually made of. They are not going to paint it or coat it because that adds thousands of pounds of weight to the rocket.

Am I missing something? Is this thing unmanned?

A dog, a monkey, what?

This one is un-manned.

When I first saw it off at distance, I thought it was a Shuttle on the Marie Osmond NutriSystem diet.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Am I missing something? Is this thing unmanned?

A dog, a monkey, what?

Just Shaun the Sheep

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62563720

quote:

For now, it will have to cheer on the British animated character Shaun the Sheep. A puppet used in the stop-motion TV films has been placed in the Orion capsule, complete with an Esa badge and Union flag on its overalls.

How cool!
I helped Lockheed Martin with some poly crystalline diamond cutters to machine features into the heat shield for that craft.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
And if anyone is wondering why the big main fuel tank is rusty looking, that *IS* it, IIRC it's not rust but the material the thing is actually made of. They are not going to paint it or coat it because that adds thousands of pounds of weight to the rocket.

Is that transparent aluminum?

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Am I missing something? Is this thing unmanned?

A dog, a monkey, what?

Somebody who doesn't identify as a human?

Wonder if it can get off the pad without an abort

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Wonder if it can get off the pad without an abort

Whuh?

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Wonder if it can get off the pad without an abort

Whuh?

First launch, higher odds of a scrub, is what I think he meant.

Yup

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
And if anyone is wondering why the big main fuel tank is rusty looking, that *IS* it, IIRC it's not rust but the material the thing is actually made of. They are not going to paint it or coat it because that adds thousands of pounds of weight to the rocket.

Is that transparent aluminum?

No. It’s Great Stuff!

Just like the spray foam insulation they used on the Space Shuttle’s External Tank. It was painted on the Shuttle’s first two missions because NASA was worried UV would deteriorate the foam. It turned out to not be a problem, so they quit painting it to save weight.

So just beyond the moon now equates to "deep space"?

I've been watching too many sci-fi shows.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
So just beyond the moon now equates to "deep space"?

I've been watching too many sci-fi shows.

Well, it's "thousands of miles beyond the Moon". So, it counts as deep. Lol.

Guess that makes Voyager 1 and 2 deep deep deep deep deep really deep obscenely deep space

NASA has a full time staff of 5 who do nothing but write hyperbole for every mission.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Guess that makes Voyager 1 and 2 deep deep deep deep deep really deep obscenely deep space

NASA has a full time staff of 5 who do nothing but write hyperbole for every mission.

How else do you think they get funding?

I am deep into knowing the history of how Artemis came to be. It is a very sad story of government waste and a rocket designed by congress. Knowing what I know I can only cry and smash my head into the keyboard. Artemis is basically an enhanced space shuttle launch system with a bigger fuel tank, and bigger solid rocket boosters, and using Orion to replace the shuttle as the crew vehicle. Unlike the shuttle, the SRB and the main engines will be thrown into the ocean after each use. The main engines are actually ones taken off of the shuttles at retirement plus the remaining inventory which is why there can only be 4 missions. This is such a sad waste of money. No new engines RS-25 (SSME space shuttle main engine) will be built.

Unfortunately, this single mission to send an unmanned Orion capsule around the moon will cost us Americans more than $4.1 Billion, and it is at least 10 years late. There is a plan to do at least 4 of these launches for a total cost of at least $16.4B! and for what?? The net benefit of Artemis will be little more than the Apollo program. We are still not going to the moon to stay.

If and when SpaceX gets the BFR off the pad it will eclipse the capabilities of Artemis at a fraction of the cost per launch.

engine section built down the road from me. I drive past NASA Michoud a number of times a week

Received an invite to watch a RS-25 engine test at Stennis Space Center on the MS gulf coast several years ago. Impressive amount of power from just one engine. Roughly 8 minutes of the ground shaking and the exhaust made a small cloud which condensed and began to rain.

As I understand it, the test frame protrudes deeper in the ground than it does above.