Artemis Moon Program

[publiusr]

With Orion and Starship having re-entry troubles--the best performing part of Artemis is SLS

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has just uploaded a new video concerning Artemis III, the SLS contract and the GAO's annual report:

Artemis is on uncertainty watch as questions about the future linger. The long-term outlook for SLS production is uncertain because there's no deal yet for a new contract and NASA isn't commenting on negotiations. The near-term outlook for Artemis III is uncertain with only two years to go before Axiom, Orion, SLS, and Starship all need to be either ready to launch or already launching. Two years isn't that long a time, and if NASA wants to go a different route for the mission, is there enough time to plan and prepare for something else?

While we're counting all the question marks for those subjects, the Government Accounting Office released their annual assessment of NASA projects, which includes several useful notes and provides additional context to recent updates.

All that is covered in this video, along with a new SLS Block 1B render that finally shows an all-white EUS.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro

00:31 SLS production contract uncertainty continues

04:56 Boeing apparently not interested in NSSL Phase 3 a long time ago

06:59 Is a LEO alternative for Artemis III really possible in 2026?

12:29 Publication of GAO's annual assessment of NASA major projects

19:43 All-white Exploration Upper Stage debut in public graphics

20:45 Thanks for watching!

 

[Michel Van]

According ars Technica

Collins will likely end its participation in the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS contract.
Leaving only AXIOM Space as provider for xEVAS Suits
Unclear how far the SpaceX EVA suit will replace Collins in xEVAS, contract.

NASA’s commercial spacesuit program just hit a major snag

"Unfortunately Collins has been significantly behind schedule."

arstechnica.com

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has uploaded his second quarterly update report Artemis II, III and IV:

This video updates what is known about the current status of NASA Artemis II, III, IV assembly, planning, and preparations at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2024. The update goes over the status of Exploration Ground Systems, Orion, and Space Launch System programs as they work to complete upgrades and resolve issues before Artemis II.

The minimal public updates about the current status for the Artemis III lunar landing mission are examined, along with what was updated in the last quarter about the Artemis IV Gateway assembly and lunar landing mission

.Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro

00:54 Artemis II status

09:21 Artemis II big picture

10:33 Artemis III outlook at the quarter

12:00 Artemis III status

19:48 Artemis III big picture at the quarter

20:34 Artemis IV status

26:27 Artemis IV big picture

27:45 Thanks for watching!

 

[Flyaway]

NASA Announces its Artemis II Backup Crew Member for Moon Mission

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has just put out a video concerning the build history of the Artemis II first-stage:

This is a deep dive video into the production history of the Space Launch System Core Stage for NASA's Artemis II mission. The stage is finally ready to delivery to the Kennedy Space Center launch site in the next couple of weeks and here we look back at how all the structures and parts were assembled into the 212-foot long centerpiece of the SLS rocket.

In addition the assembly itself, we look at the significant disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hands-on work on the stage was halted for months in 2020 and supply chain effects are still being felt today.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

For an even deeper dive into the details of assembly, test, and production, here are links to most of the contemporaneous reports I filed for NASASpaceflight.com over the last five years on the Core Stage-2 build:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...sembling-second-sls-core-stage/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...lans-second-sls-engine-section/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ing-nasa-future-sls-production/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...good-progress-opening-missions/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...second-sls-core-stage-progress/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...21/07/sls-maf-update-july-2021/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...7/boeing-second-sls-core-march/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...allation-artemis-ii-core-stage/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/...

https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ht.com/2023/10/a-ii-core-stage/&v=6hAnjrKxQEA

00:00 Intro
00:55 Overview of the Core Stage-2 build
02:37 Back to the beginning
03:34 Early assembly in 2017-2019
07:44 COVID hits in March 2020 and shuts down production
10:14 Completion dates start to slip in 2021 from COVID supply chain effects
14:15 Final assembly delays after engine section mate in March 2023
17:23 Thanks for watching!

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has uploaded a new video with the latest news concerning Gateway, SLS and Artemis II:

This video catches up on another slow Artemis news week as NASA gets ready to ship the Artemis II SLS Core Stage to its launch site. There were a few pictures released, but not much in the way of details.

A backup NASA astronaut for Artemis II was named, to go along with one for the Canadian Space Agency. NASA astronaut Andre Douglas joins CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons in training with the four prime crew members, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, but it's rare for backup crew members to fly.

A new picture of the Gateway HALO module structure was published, along with a couple of renders of the SLS Block 1B vehicle now updated to show its white EUS. NASA also posted a few more images of final shipping preps for Core Stage-2 and there are some interesting background and details to be gleaned from the imagery itself.

At the end there's time in this short update to take a look at the big picture again, with many big questions that go along with it.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
00:44 Astronaut Andre Douglas named as NASA backup crew member for Artemis II
02:00 Artemis II Orion vacuum testing status
02:38 Gateway HALO module structure testing
03:20 NASA slowly updating SLS Block 1B renders with white EUS
04:14 Final preparations for shipping Artemis II Core Stage
07:53 Big picture status
10:31 Thanks for watching!

 

[Rhinocrates]

It's cooler to say 'I'm a Fremen' than 'I wear a diaper.'

Scientists design spacesuit that can turn urine into drinking water

Creators hope prototype, modelled on Dune ‘stillsuits’, could be used before 2030 in Nasa’s Artemis programme

www.theguardian.com

Astronauts could drink their own urine with water-recycling spacesuit

When astronauts go on a spacewalk, their urine is collected by what is essentially a large diaper before being thrown away, and they have less than a litre of drinking water available - but a new kind of spacesuit could solve both issues

www.newscientist.com

 

[Forest Green]

Me not daft, me not silly, me drink water from my willy.

 

[southwestforests]

Our little city has long been getting its water from the river Missouri where all the catfish pee.

Amusing to observe people's facial expressions when you tell them that right after they went "Ewww gross" about water recycling in spaceflight.

 

[Flyaway]

View: https://youtu.be/dXNXPO0cUKU

 

[BlackBat242]

Our little city has long been getting its water from the river Missouri where all the catfish pee.

Amusing to observe people's facial expressions when you tell them that right after they went "Ewww gross" about water recycling in spaceflight.

And all of the cattle, deer, etc etc that pee and poo in the tributaries of the Mighty Mo all the way to the Rocky mountains.

That's why there is water treatment before it goes into the water mains.

 

[Rhinocrates]

And all of the cattle, deer, etc etc that pee and poo in the tributaries of the Mighty Mo all the way to the Rocky mountains.

That's why there is water treatment before it goes into the water mains.

WC Fields said that he never drank water because it rusted pipes and fish made love in it.

 

[southwestforests]

Always wanted a good book about the Furute,



Bought misspelled one end of June. Is copyright 2023. Is print on demand at Amazon.

Amazon.com

Artemis Resource Utilization: The Future Begins Paperback – November 29, 2023
by Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried (Author)
This book picks up where the three following books left off;
The Artemis Lunar Program: Returning People to the Moon,
The Search for Water on the Moon: Landers and Rovers in the 21st Century, and,
Artemis Base Camp: The First Step
While they described the Artemis Program, they only touched on the fact that NASA would have to explore and discover water ice and develop the capabilities to extract water, oxygen and minerals. They did not fully describe what would be required to actually accomplish this. Just how will the crews find and extract these resources and process them into useful products?

Oh, and Google finds that furute is a word,

古手, ふるて, furute - Nihongo Master

disused article,ex-soldier,retired official - Meaning of 古手, ふるて, furute. See complete explanation and more examples and pronunciation.

www.nihongomaster.com

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has just uploaded a short video recapping the Artemis II first-stage rollout:

A quick recap of rollout of the Artemis II SLS Core Stage to begin the journey to its launch site in Florida. It's going to take a little longer to go through the information from today, but in this video I go through what we saw of the rollout, some NASA images that Public Affairs released later in the day.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
00:50 Recap of the rollout
05:42 Thanks for watching!

​

 

[martinbayer]

And all of the cattle, deer, etc etc that pee and poo in the tributaries of the Mighty Mo all the way to the Rocky mountains.

That's why there is water treatment before it goes into the water mains.

The Earth's global water cycle is a natural planet wide wastewater treatment system.

 

[BlackBat242]

The Earth's global water cycle is a natural planet wide wastewater treatment system.

Yes... involving water reaching lakes and oceans before evaporating (leaving all the crap behind) and raining down on land elsewhere.

Much of that falls where it is again contaminated, but some falls on mountains and porous flat land elsewhere, and is absorbed by soil and porous rock, which filter the contaminants as the water passes through.

This clean water is either pumped up via human activity and piped off to be used... or comes out naturally in places where the surface is lower than the water-bearing soil/rock. If not taken up within a very short distance, the afore-mentioned wildlife, plus surface run-off water, recontaminates it.

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss uploaded another video concerning Artemis II, SLS Michoud tour impressions and the Gateway:

In a week with a lot of Artemis II news, there was also a peek at how assembly of the Artemis III and IV hardware is progressing. The SLS Core Stage for Artemis II is finally on its way to the launch site, signaling that launch preparations are getting closer. The stage rollout ceremony on July 16th at Michoud Assembly Facility also brought a brief opportunity to speak with Artemis II astronauts and NASA leadership.

We were also given a tour of the MAF factory after the second Core Stage had left the building that day, giving some attention to Boeing's production of stages for Artemis III and IV, and in this video I'll start going through some of the takeaways from that.

Maxar also announced at the end of the week a milestone in production of the Gateway Power and Propulsion Element...even if a launch date is still anyone's guess.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
00:33 Core Stage-2 Rollout Pictures and Notes
02:55 Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman on the new backup crew member
03:55 Artemis II News and Notes
05:49 When will Artemis II stacking begin?
09:01 Post-rollout Michoud SLS factory tour
09:52 Core Stage-3 production takeaways from tour
13:00 Core Stage-4 production takeaways from tour
15:52 Limited EUS production takeaways
18:03 Artemis V Orion pressure vessel in assembly at MAF
19:22 Other Artemis news and notes for the week
20:10 Maxar installs final propellant tank in PPE
21:07 Thanks for watching!

 

[Flyaway]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GExG_Knh7uA

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has put out another video concerning the Artemis II first-stage:

As Exploration Ground Systems takes ownership of the SLS Core Stage for Artemis II and looks ahead to launch processing possibly later this year, this video takes probably the last long look at its production at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Completion of the stage marks the end of an era, as production is now split between New Orleans and KSC.

NASA released some last imagery of activities at MAF over the last month, which serve to fill out the history of the build in a more comprehensive way.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
01:00 Assembly complete, the stage moves to Building 110 for final delivery preps on July 6
06:33 The stage switches to the overland transporters with the help of a crane lift on July 11
11:45 Thanks for watching!

This is the last complete first-stage to be done at Michoud as all proceeding first-stages will have final assembly done at the VAB at KSC, Cape Canaveral.

 

[southwestforests]

Towboats are an interest, so I really enjoy this,

KSC-20240723-PH-JBS01_0048 by NASA Kennedy, on Flickr

EDIT:

Also like these posted yesterday,

KSC-20240724-PH-JBP02_0001 by NASA Kennedy, on Flickr


KSC-20240724-PH-JBP01_0034 by NASA Kennedy, on Flickr

 

[Flyaway]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816163374369055144

View: https://twitter.com/nasagroundsys/status/1816163374369055144

That’s a wrap!

Core stage II is officially hard down in the Vehicle Assembly Building at @NASAKennedy, meaning it is no longer supported by the self-propelled modular transporters, and is fully resting on the skid beams. This concludes offload and transport operations!

 

[NMaude]

I just stumbled across this short video about the Boeing EUS (To be introduced on Artemis IV):

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has posted a new video concerning the Artemis II first-stage at the VAB and Congress's SLS questions:

Even as the SLS Core Stage for Artemis II now waits at the launch site to be stacked for the mission, the changing makeup of Congress is leading to new questions about the future of NASA's launch vehicle. The agency's Pegasus barge delivered Core Stage-2 to Kennedy Space Center on July 23rd and the next day the SLS sustainer stage was rolled into the Vehicle Assembly Building.

In this video, I'll cover the delivery events, some of the news reported by media after interviews at KSC, at take the latest look at the big picture for the Artemis II schedule.

There's a couple of news and notes items to cover, and also this new watch item about the future of SLS, as the Senate appropriations bill signals maybe a different point of view. The report accompanying the bill refers to a NASA Inspector General report from last October again questioning SLS costs, and this time the Senate seems willing to pursue that line of questioning and maybe even an analysis by NASA of commercial heavy-lift options in the next decade.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
00:55 Artemis II Core Stage now in the VAB waiting for stacking
05:02 The big picture for Artemis II after the latest SLS delivery
09:34 Some other news and notes about ESM-3 and future Pegasus SLS deliveries
11:16 Senate appropriations has questions for NASA about the future of SLS
15:15 Thanks for watching!

External links:
SpaceflightNow news coverage of Core Stage-2 offload at KSC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBDTIa8tKlE&t=0s
• Watch live: NASA's Artemis 2 moon roc... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBDTIa8tKlE&t=0s
Stephen Clark's news reporting about Core Stage-2 KSC arrival:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07...

 

[TomcatViP]

LM vision for Artemis Moon base Alpha. Plenty of goodies.

View: https://youtu.be/7KbK6MpFvWw?si=q3uH69sjSjNeRAkU


Notice surface ejecta mitigation wall around the landing pads (I would say that´s insufficient)

 

[southwestforests]

Notice surface ejecta mitigation wall around the landing pads (I would say that´s insufficient)

That drone they chose for background "music" got on my nerves so fast I didn't notice much of anything before dumping that worthless waste of a video.

 

[publiusr]

Space: 1999’s theme was more lively

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has new Artemis update video out concerning Artemis II and apparently the Gateway is too heavy to launch:

The Artemis news this past week was delivered by NASA watchdogs, with a Government Accounting Office audit of the initial Gateway elements published at the end of July. Yes Gateway still has weight issues, but this video takes a longer look at the breadth of information in the report and the useful context it provides about technical progress and schedule realities

.NASA did release more imagery of the recent delivery of the SLS Core Stage for Artemis II and we look at some of the details in those stills and edited video. With the biggest piece of SLS now at the launch site, it's worth taking an early look at how Orion and SLS will be put together for launch over the next year or so.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel had a few notes about outstanding Artemis II issues that need to be worked out before stacking can begin, and there's more to consider about the Senate appropriations bill and the questions those Senators have about long-term SLS costs given the caps on spending that the House of Representatives insisted on beginning last year.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
00:58 GAO releases informative audit of Gateway status
08:30 Early preview of Artemis II stacking
17:37 More takeaways from Senate appropriations questions about SLS costs
23:55 More historical imagery released from last full SLS Core Stage build in New Orleans
26:57 Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel quarterly meeting notes
28:18 Thanks for watching!

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has a new update on the SLS programme:

Another week where the news is coming from NASA government watchdog, this time the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG). In this video, I'll go over a report OIG issued about NASA's management of the SLS Block 1B upgrade that is in development and will first fly on the Artemis IV lunar landing and Gateway assembly mission.

While the title refers to NASA management, the report focuses on Boeing, the prime contractor for the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), the primary Block 1B upgrade. OIG was critical of Boeing's quality management and the experience of the workforce at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) factory in New Orleans where EUS will be built.

Interestingly, the OIG report uses a Core Stage production anomaly that I am very familiar with to illustrate Boeing quality control problems. OIG provided the root cause for the welding anomaly, but there's more to that story and more to the EUS history, too.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
01:18 Summary of the OIG report and NASA response
04:08 Additional context for the LOX tank weld issue
06:48 Some historical perspective on "changing mission dates"
11:10 If only OIG could do this more often...
12:17 More details on the main points in the OIG report
15:03 A note about Artemis IV critical paths in the report
16:14 News and notes
18:15 A quick look ahead to possible Artemis II milestones before summer ends
19:49 Thanks for watching!

​

On another note, @overscan (PaulMM) , when will the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) thread be unlocked? It has been six months since it was locked.

 

[Flyaway]

View: https://youtu.be/-ZkYj6sub0U

On November 10, 2022 NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, successfully demonstrated a cross-cutting aeroshell -- a type of heat shield -- for atmospheric re-entry. Video of the mission along with highlights and analysis of LOFTID’s cutting-edge performance, descent and landing technology can be seen here.


Learn more at https://www.nasa.gov/mission/low-earth-orbit-flight-test-of-an-inflatable-decelerator-loftid/

 

[TomcatViP]

A long lasting dream that became true:

 

[Flyaway]

A Practiced Escape

In preparation for NASA’s Artemis II crewed mission, teams at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida practice getting out of the emergency escape, or egress, basket on Aug. 9, 2024. The baskets, similar to gondolas on ski lifts, are used in the case of a pad abort emergency to enable astronauts and other pad personnel a way to quickly escape from the mobile launcher to the base of the pad and where waiting emergency transport vehicles will then drive them away.

 

[Grey Havoc]

NASA presented the Lunar Terrain Vehicle for Artemis
under contract to three companies:

Intuitive Machine Moon Racer (with subcontractor Boeing, Michelin, Northrop-Grumman)
Lunar Outpost Lunar Dawn (with Subcontractors Lockheed-Martin, General Motor, Northrop-Grumman, Goodyear, MDA)
Venturi & Astrolab FLEX (with Subcontractors Axiom Space, Odyssey Space Research)

The winner has to do: development, build and bring the LTV to Moon !
LTV not only transport Astronauts during Artemis missions,
it also has to work as unmanned rover up to 10 years on Lunar surface !

Also from back in April (pre-Toyota annoucement):

NASA announces companies set to build the next lunar rover

At $4.6 billion, this Moon malarkey is getting expensive

www.theregister.com

 

[southwestforests]

Also from back in April (pre-Toyota annoucement):

NASA announces companies set to build the next lunar rover

At $4.6 billion, this Moon malarkey is getting expensive

www.theregister.com

The following bit from them,

The Apollo LRV was developed in 17 months.

Read this book published July 2021 and note the personal cost of that short development which was extracted from the people involved,

 

[Grey Havoc]

NASA Opens Submissions for 2025 Human Lander Challenge Targeting Cryogenic Solutions

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 14, 2024 - NASA's Human Lander Challenge (HuLC) is now accepting submissions for its second year. As part of NASA's Artemis campaign, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon and prepare for future Mars mis

www.spacedaily.com

Cesium Unveils Comprehensive 3D Moon Terrain Dataset

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 16, 2024 - 3D geospatial company Cesium has introduced Cesium Moon Terrain, a detailed and easily accessible 3D dataset of the moon. Developed to aid NASA's Artemis mission and other space agencies world

www.spacedaily.com

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has a new SLS update video out:

While the government auditing bodies are finding areas that need to improve and there are questions about what capabilities and mission objectives will be achievable in the near future, NASA and its contractors are also simultaneously making progress towards the next Artemis missions they want to fly. In this video, I'll go through some of that progress.

Ahead of the next NASA Advisory Council Exploration committee meeting in two weeks, SLS is processing packages of flight hardware for Artemis II, III, and IV that should be out for delivery to Kennedy Space Center in the coming weeks. The adapter that connects the SLS stages is one of those packages and by next month, after it arrives at KSC, all the Artemis II SLS hardware that needs to be stacked first will be ready and waiting.

The other packages will head to Boeing's Core Stage engine section build area at KSC and when they arrive there will be two units to finish for Artemis III and IV. There was also the first clues about what Blue Origin is planning for their Artemis V lunar landing system, with details about a test flight to land a prototype of their lunar lander on the Moon next year. If Blue Origin can pull that off, they might beat SpaceX and the first Starship prototype to the surface of the Moon and possibly to the Moon altogether.

And at the end is the current outlook for Artemis II and Artemis III given what's known and not known today.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
00:40 EGS completes another round of ground systems testing, ISVV-1
04:49 SLS making plans for a triple shipment of hardware for Artemis II, III, and IV
09:12 High level lunar landing test flight plan for Blue Moon prototype spotted
13:31 Next NASA Advisory Council HEO committee meeting at the end of August
13:58 Current outlook for Artemis II and III
19:22 Thanks for watching!

 

[southwestforests]

Phillip Sloss has a new SLS update video out:

I guess it might be slightly off topic to mention that my brain initially read
"While the government auditing bodies are ..."
as
"While the government audulting bodies are ..."
but I'm going to mention it anyway.

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has just uploaded a new status video concerning Artemis II and III hardware shipments to the KSC:

More Artemis II and Artemis III hardware is on the way to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will eventually launch, but the questions about how preparations are going and outstanding issues remain unresolved. The SLS Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter for Artemis II and the Orion European Service Module for Artemis III are traveling by sea and should arrive at KSC in September.

But when the next milestones in preparation for those two missions might occur are to be announced. This video runs through the hardware, the deliveries, and the questions that remain swirling about Artemis II and III.

The potential for more delays to Artemis III led NASA to plan to extend the LVSA support contract through the rest of the decade if it comes to that, and I consider what that might mean here, too.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

Stephen Clark's story for Ars Technica:https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ore-stacking-artemis-ii-rocket/&v=fqZwlHAICPo
Jeff Foust's story for Space News:https://spacenews.com/sls-contract-ex...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...s-at-additional-artemis-delays/&v=fqZwlHAICPo

00:00 Intro
00:59 Artemis II LVSA begins shipment to KSC for launch
05:13 Artemis II VAB preps continue...
08:15 ...but SLS stacking schedule for Artemis II remains uncertain
11:51 ESM-3 begins its shipment to KSC from Germany
15:38 LVSA contract extension would enable support the rest of the decade
20:14 Thanks for watching!

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has uploaded a new video the current status of Artemis II and schedules along with the OIG audit of the ML-2:

There's a lot of Artemis news to cover in this video, starting with an update from the NASA Exploration Ground Systems program on Artemis II status and schedules. Leadership for the NASA Exploration directorate briefed the NASA Advisory Council that same morning with more context about upcoming Artemis II decisions that need to be made on heatshield options and vehicle stacking.

And we're seeing progress and milestones for Artemis II, III, and IV at the same time that the Inspector General for the space agency reports on issues they found with the Mobile Launcher-2 project. So that's more of the mixed messaging: the OIG report details cost and schedule overruns for the ML that will enter service beginning with Artemis IV simultaneously with completion of Orion and SLS flight subassemblies that are currently "out for delivery.

"We'll be digesting the new information and context over the next few weeks, but we'll start here.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
00:38 EGS senior manager Cliff Lanham talks to the podcast about Artemis II status
02:08 Mobile Launcher-1 emergency egress system testing update
03:11 Status of other ML-Pad 39B verification and validation testing
06:36 Readiness of Artemis II SLS Boosters for stacking
07:38 Artemis II ICPS status
10:13 Readiness of SLS Core Stage for Artemis II stacking
14:20 Timing of NASA decision on when to start Artemis II stacking
17:48 Artemis II takeaways from NASA Exploration public report in NASA Advisory Council meeting
21:31 OIG reports on Mobile Launcher-2 cost and schedule compliance issues
26:19 News and notes, VAB High Bay 2, SLS triple delivery pickup in New Orleans
29:50 Thanks for watching!

 

[NMaude]

Phillip Sloss has a new update concerning Artemis II:

The arrival this past week of new Orion and SLS flight hardware at Kennedy Space Center for Artemis II, III, and IV is a reminder of the uncertain launch schedule. This video covers those deliveries, of the Artemis II SLS Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter, Artemis II Orion European Service Module, and SLS Core Stage engine section hardware for Artemis III and IV.

Artemis II is scheduled for launch only one year from this month, and most of the SLS hardware for Artemis II is now in and around the Vehicle Assembly Building. In this video, we also cover plans and preparations for the launch campaign in the second part of an interview with Exploration Ground Systems senior vehicle operations manager Cliff Lanham.

Meanwhile, the next milestones for that newly-delivery hardware are known in general, but when those and other Artemis III milestones will happen is harder to see. We go over the cloudy forecast and other Artemis III takeaways from the late August NASA Advisory Council meeting here, too.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
02:13 A week of Orion and SLS flight hardware deliveries to KSC
03:00 ESM-3 arrives in Orion final assembly at KSC
04:21 Core Stage engine section hardware packaged for shipment at MAF
06:45 Offloading SLS triple shipment from Pegasus at KSC
09:12 EGS senior manager Cliff Lanham talks to the podcast about Artemis II launch plans
10:13 Improving launch availability with contingency pad access capability
18:36 Artemis II pad flow from rollout to launch
20:35 Integrating the astronaut crew ingress of Orion into the launch countdown
24:05 Artemis III takeaways from NASA Exploration public report in NASA Advisory Council meeting
25:12 "At least" one uncrewed HLS lunar landing demonstration?
25:53 Outlook for the future remains cloudy only two years from Artemis III launch date
27:55 Thanks for watching!