Artemis I Close Flyby of the Moon (Scheduled for Monday November 21st at 7:15 AM Eastern time)

View: https://youtu.be/BvWtNx3VOUA

View: https://twitter.com/nasa_orion/status/1593648864271163394


Mission Time: 2 days, 10 hrs, 6 min
Orion is 190,433 miles from Earth, 128,193 miles from the Moon, cruising at 1,586 miles per hour.
P: (-180177, -69772, -21358)
V: (-1217, -929, -412)
O: 49º, 51.6º, 10.9º
What's this? http://www.nasa.gov/feature/track-nasa-s-artemis-i-mission-in-real-time #TrackArtemis
 
Now that the SLS has successfully flown it has dethroned the Saturn 5 as the most powerful rocket to have flown, 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff vs. 7.5 million pounds of thrust.
 
'Bah! Humbug!' say the Etonians.


They've been consistently opposed to any government-funded human spaceflight, so no news there really. Still, it's worth pointing out that pork does fly after all.

But Hell, at least something's happening.
 
Detailing the damage to the launchpad.

View: https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1593742075408760833


Sarafin, on LC-39B damage from launch: did anticipate some amount of damage from the launch. Includes blast doors on elevators that were removed by pressure wave, so no working elevators on the tower.
View: https://twitter.com/joroulette/status/1593742697965277185


Per source, the pad damage exceeded mission management’s expectations. Elevator blast doors were blown right off, various pipes were broken, some large sheets of metal left laying around.
 
View: https://flic.kr/p/2nZZQaq


Orion's Optical Navigation Camera Captures Earth
On the second day of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission, Orion used its optical navigation camera to snap black and white photos of planet Earth. Orion uses the optical navigation camera to capture imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances, providing an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness as a method for determining its position in space for future missions under differing lighting conditions.
 
I have just come back from the NASA website and Orion is due to go around the Moon on Monday at 7:15am EST. So it looks like I was wrong in saying that Orion might get to the Moon early.

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/schedule.html

Remember it's going to be slowing down from TLI until about 90% of the way to the Moon, when lunar gravity overtakes Earth gravity and it starts to accelerate again.
A pretty fascinating place, close from EML-1 but not the same.

Another fascinating thing Jules Verne got right (or at least partially right, TBH) in his twin epic novels. When the Apollo-Orion-shaped Columbiad manned bullet reaches there, the three astronauts briefly experience microgravity. There, but not elsewhere - that's the mistake.

Also a bit further in the novel Michel Ardan ponders about EVA (yes, as in Extra Vehicular Activity) using a modified diving suit - perhaps borrowed from Captain Nemo 20 000 Leagues under the sea ?
Unfortunately Barbicane instantly shoots down the idea saying "with the pressure it would be either as stiff and rigid as knight armor, or you'd simply explodes and die". NASA solved that using lower pressure, 5 psi rather than 14.7 psi (from memory). A pity Jule Verne didn't dug the idea further, Michel Ardan would have had a Ed White / Alexei Leonov Crowning Moment of Awesomeness. Apollo 15 / 16 / 17 crews did such EVAs to retrieve stuff from the SIM bay.
 
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Just found this news article on the BBC News Website saying that NASA expects humans to live on the Moon in this decade, that would be good going for NASA and the Artemis program in general if they were to succeed considering the constant delays and overspends that went on before Artemis 1 launch on Wednesday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63688229
 
View: https://youtu.be/nUozQWAg0wE


[[[HEADPHONES ON]]] Crank the volume on this incredible floating point audio from inside the pad and 3.5 miles [5.6 km] away from the most powerful rocket to ever launch from Kennedy Space Center, SLS!!! 4K slow motion captured on ZCam's and BlackMagic 12K Ursa and Studio 4K's.

NASA launched the Orion spacecraft to a distant retrograde lunar orbit atop the Space Launch System (SLS) for its maiden launch known as Artemis 1. Launched from Launch Complex 39B, at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, the Artemis I mission will certify both Orion and the SLS Block 1 rocket for crewed spaceflight.

Check out our Prelaunch Preview to learn more about this mission! https://everydayastronaut.com/artemis-i-sls-block-1/

Audio and Video brought to you by: NASA, Tim Dodd, Cooper Hime, Andrew Taylor and Ben Stineman from Everyday Astronaut & John Pisani and Andrew Keating from Cosmic Perspective

00:00 - Engine Startup [NASA Cam 808]
01:01 - Tight Shot Inside Pad 39B
01:59 - Looking Down Mobile Launch Tower
02:37 - Behind The Scenes Reactions
04:24 - Ursa 12K Tracking at 600mm [Realtime]
05:30 - ZCam E2-F6 Tracking at 800mm [Realtime]
08:34 - ZCam E2-F6 Tracking at 800mm [Slow-Mo]
10:19 - Booster Separation Slow Motion CG
 
Just found this news article on the BBC News Website saying that NASA expects humans to live on the Moon in this decade, that would be good going for NASA and the Artemis program in general if they were to succeed considering the constant delays and overspends that went on before Artemis 1 launch on Wednesday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63688229

With lunar gravity 1-6th of Earth, lunar lava tubes have grown to gargantuan sizes without collapsing. According to very serious calculations, lunar lava tubes could be THREE MILES WIDE.
Earth largest lava tubes: 30 m diameter
Mars largest lava tubes: 300 m diameter
Moon largest lava tubes: 3000 m diameter

And indeed, LRO, Kaguya and Chandrayaan data showed this


100 miles long lava tubes, 3 miles wide. This, folks, is mind blowing. What's more, every single kg of lunar regolith polished out of the cave interior will be 45% oxygen by weight.


A very comfortable 17°C, average.

What's not to like ? Except the low gravity, perhaps. But such huge caves could house rotating O'Neill cylinders... hence, artificial gravity.
 
Weren't there supposed have been a number of go-pro video-cameras mounted on Artemis 1?
 
If they are going to land on the moon again with people, it will be for one reason, to make money. Astronauts will erect a shack, deploy solar panels, a microwave relay station, check the circuits, turn it on and leave. The power will be beamed to Earth. If they want astronauts to stay, it will require 10 supply launches a day, every day.
 
Weren't there supposed have been a number of go-pro video-cameras mounted on Artemis 1?
Orion capsule and service module have a number of cameras on them, is that what was being thought of?

There are 24 cameras on the rocket and spacecraft – eight on SLS and 16 on Orion – to document essential mission events including liftoff, ascent, solar array deployment, external rocket inspections, landing and recovery, and capture images of Earth and the Moon.
 
USSF Was Almost ‘No Go’ for Artemis Moon Launch—Had to Replace a Faulty Switch
Curses…foiled again. ;)

As for the go pros—they—like the crowd—we’re probably blown away.
 
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Weren't there supposed have been a number of go-pro video-cameras mounted on Artemis 1?
Orion capsule and service module have a number of cameras on them, is that what was being thought of?

There are 24 cameras on the rocket and spacecraft – eight on SLS and 16 on Orion – to document essential mission events including liftoff, ascent, solar array deployment, external rocket inspections, landing and recovery, and capture images of Earth and the Moon.

There were supposed to be a number of cameras mounted on the SLS itself covering various parts of the rocket's first and second stages probably with the SRBs too.
 
View: https://twitter.com/nasa/status/1594075766840516610


Just days from reaching the Moon, the @NASA_Orion spacecraft captured this selfie while flying through space.

The #Artemis I mission is preparing us to bring astronauts to the Moon. go.nasa.gov/3TQ8BUX
View: https://twitter.com/jimfree/status/1594119261513207808


We polled GO today to send @NASA_Orion on a powered fly-by approximately 80 miles above the surface of the Moon! Tune in to coverage of the maneuver on Monday, Nov 21 at 7:15 AM ET on nasa.gov/live.
 
Artemis I – Flight Day Four: Testing WiFi Signals, Radiator System, GO for Outbound Powered Flyby

On Saturday, Nov. 19, the Mission Management Team polled “go” for Orion’s outbound powered flyby past the Moon. NASA will cover the flyby live on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and the NASA app starting at 7:15 a.m. EST Monday, Nov. 21. The burn is planned for 7:44 a.m. Orion will lose communication with Earth as it passes behind the Moon from 7:25 a.m. through 7:59 a.m., making its closest approach of approximately 80 miles from the surface at 7:57 a.m.

During flight day four, flight controllers moved each solar array to a different position to test the strength of the WiFi signal with the arrays in different configurations. The Integrated Communications Officer, or INCO, tested the WiFi transfer rate between the camera on the tip of the solar array panels and the camera controller. The goal was to determine the best position to most efficiently transfer imagery files. Teams learned that having multiple cameras on at once can impact the WiFi data rate, and therefore, future solar array wing file transfer activities will be accomplished from one solar array wing at a time to optimize transfer time.

The Emergency, Environmental, and Consumables Manager, or EECOM, tested Orion’s radiator system. Two radiator loops on the spacecraft’s European Service Module help expel excess heat generated by different systems throughout the flight. Flight controllers are testing sensors that maintain the coolant flow in the radiator loops, switching between different modes of operation and monitoring performance. During speed mode, the coolant pumps operate at a constant rate. This is the primary mode used during Artemis I. Flow control mode adjusts the pump speed as needed to maintain a constant flow through the system. The flight test objective is to monitor system performance and the accuracy of flow sensors to characterize the stability of this mode of operation. Each loop is monitored in flow control mode for 72 hours to provide sufficient data for use on future missions.

As part of planned testing throughout the mission, the guidance, navigation, and control officer, also known as GNC, performed the first of several tests of the star trackers that support Orion’s navigation system. Star trackers are a navigation tool that measure the positions of stars to help the spacecraft determine its orientation. In previous flight days, engineers evaluated initial data to understand star tracker readings correlated to thruster firings.

Engineers hope to characterize the alignment between the star trackers that are part of the guidance, navigation and control system and the Orion inertial measurements units, by exposing different areas of the spacecraft to the Sun and activating the star trackers in different thermal states.

Just after 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 19, Orion had traveled 222,823 miles from Earth and was 79,011 miles from the Moon, cruising at 812 miles per hour. You can track Orion via the Artemis Real-Time Orbit Website, or AROW.

Overnight, engineers in mission control will uplink large data files to Orion to better understand how much time it takes for the spacecraft to receive sizeable files. On flight day five, Orion will undergo its third planned outbound trajectory correction burn to maneuver the spacecraft and stay on course to the Moon.

Learn more about the console positions in mission control and the additional test objectives planned throughout the mission.

Author Leah Cheshier
Posted on November 19, 2022 6:55 pm
Categories Artemis 1, Artemis I, Orion, Orion SpacecraftTags Artemis, Artemis I, Orion spacecraft

 
Going beyond the Moon I’ve seen mention of a flyby of Venus suggested for the Artemis program rather than Mars. Well you have launch windows that occur more frequently for Venus compared to Mars, plus the flight time is less to Venus than Mars.
 
Going beyond the Moon I’ve seen mention of a flyby of Venus suggested for the Artemis program rather than Mars. Well you have launch windows that occur more frequently for Venus compared to Mars, plus the flight time is less to Venus than Mars.

That would be an interesting side mission Flyaway, going to Venus instead of Mars. I wonder what NASA would make of it, and also would it be manned or unmanned? since we are talking about sending a rocket towards the influence of the sun where there is more risk to getting hit by solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
 
Going beyond the Moon I’ve seen mention of a flyby of Venus suggested for the Artemis program rather than Mars. Well you have launch windows that occur more frequently for Venus compared to Mars, plus the flight time is less to Venus than Mars.

Issue with a flyby is what is there to gain from the mission that an unmanned probe couldn’t gain? When you have boots on the ground an astronaut could perform a lot more research than a probe. When it is from the orbit I am not so sure other than the prestige of sending someone on an interplanetary mission. The most important knowledge gained might be long term effects of radiation on the human body outside of the Van Allen Belt.
 
Going beyond the Moon I’ve seen mention of a flyby of Venus suggested for the Artemis program rather than Mars. Well you have launch windows that occur more frequently for Venus compared to Mars, plus the flight time is less to Venus than Mars.

That would be an interesting side mission Flyaway, going to Venus instead of Mars. I wonder what NASA would make of it, and also would it be manned or unmanned? since we are talking about sending a rocket towards the influence of the sun where there is more risk to getting hit by solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
Well there was the proposed Apollo Applications manned Venus mission.

 
Going beyond the Moon I’ve seen mention of a flyby of Venus suggested for the Artemis program rather than Mars. Well you have launch windows that occur more frequently for Venus compared to Mars, plus the flight time is less to Venus than Mars.

Issue with a flyby is what is there to gain from the mission that an unmanned probe couldn’t gain? When you have boots on the ground an astronaut could perform a lot more research than a probe. When it is from the orbit I am not so sure other than the prestige of sending someone on an interplanetary mission. The most important knowledge gained might be long term effects of radiation on the human body outside of the Van Allen Belt.
If you’re testing out the impact on both vehicle and crew of an interplanetary mission then it’s better to test shorter before going longer.
 
Going beyond the Moon I’ve seen mention of a flyby of Venus suggested for the Artemis program rather than Mars. Well you have launch windows that occur more frequently for Venus compared to Mars, plus the flight time is less to Venus than Mars.

That would be an interesting side mission Flyaway, going to Venus instead of Mars. I wonder what NASA would make of it, and also would it be manned or unmanned? since we are talking about sending a rocket towards the influence of the sun where there is more risk to getting hit by solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
A Mars mission is going to need enhanced radiation protection/ a storm shelter anyway, I highly doubt NASA would skip it just because the chance was "lower" than with a Venus flyby. It's possible they could use an unmanned Venus flyby to test/demonstrate an upgraded "Orion+" or "Orion Block II" intended for the Mars missions, prove that it's duration and radiation shielding are good enough. But I've seen no official comments in that direction.
 
Going beyond the Moon I’ve seen mention of a flyby of Venus suggested for the Artemis program rather than Mars. Well you have launch windows that occur more frequently for Venus compared to Mars, plus the flight time is less to Venus than Mars.

Issue with a flyby is what is there to gain from the mission that an unmanned probe couldn’t gain? When you have boots on the ground an astronaut could perform a lot more research than a probe. When it is from the orbit I am not so sure other than the prestige of sending someone on an interplanetary mission. The most important knowledge gained might be long term effects of radiation on the human body outside of the Van Allen Belt.
If you’re testing out the impact on both vehicle and crew of an interplanetary mission then it’s better to test shorter before going longer.

Agree to disagree but I’d rather have the Venus mission deploy a long duration atmosphere probe (drone plane or dirigible) than a manned flyby.
 

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