EM-5/Artemis 5 Orion European Service Module updates and discussion

[eeergo]

Artemis IV's ESM has departed TAS Turin after structural assembly on its way to Airbus Bremen for final integration... and the ESM for Artemis V is now under the spotlight in Italy!


Hardware for the first four crewed Moon missions of the XXI century is now in advanced stages of production! Let's get some launched


https://mobile.twitter.com/JimFree/status/1549460209310916608

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/thales_alenia_s/status/1599736251967733760

While @NASA_Orion is about to make its closest approach to the Moon🌕, the backbone of the fifth @esa European Service module, the one that will serve @NASAArtemis mission V, is getting ready to depart from @Thales_Alenia_S in #Turin, to continue its integration phase in #Bremen.

[eeergo]

How fast they grow

[Vahe231991]

How fast they grow

Quite surprising to see the ESM for the Orion spacecraft to be used in the Artemis 5 mission getting ready to be shipped to Bremen ready for final integration just six months after the ESM component of the Orion spacecraft earmarked for the Artemis 4 mission left for the Airbus facility in Bremen.

[Hog]

How fast they grow

Quite surprising to see the ESM for the Orion spacecraft to be used in the Artemis 5 mission getting ready to be shipped to Bremen ready for final integration just six months after the ESM component of the Orion spacecraft earmarked for the Artemis 4 mission left for the Airbus facility in Bremen.

IOW-It's quite surprising to see Arty-5's ESM getting ready to be shipped to Airbus-Bremen for final integration just 6 months after the ESM for Arty-4 left for the same facility.

Why's it "quite surprising?"

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/esaspaceflight/status/1624039898662445057

The spirit of #Artemis V.
A first look at the #European Service Module that will power @NASA_Orion and deliver four astronauts as well as the second @esa module to @NASA_Gateway : ESPRIT
▶ https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/02/Spirit_of_Artemis_V

[FutureSpaceTourist]

A selection of more images published by ESA

[Vahe231991]

How fast they grow

Quite surprising to see the ESM for the Orion spacecraft to be used in the Artemis 5 mission getting ready to be shipped to Bremen ready for final integration just six months after the ESM component of the Orion spacecraft earmarked for the Artemis 4 mission left for the Airbus facility in Bremen.

IOW-It's quite surprising to see Arty-5's ESM getting ready to be shipped to Airbus-Bremen for final integration just 6 months after the ESM for Arty-4 left for the same facility.

Why's it "quite surprising?"

Artemis 4 and 5 are years away, so the contractors for the Orion spacecraft probably chose to manufacture the Orion module for Artemis 5 and ship it to Airbus-Bremen not too long after the Orion module for Artemis 4 because they didn't want to hold their breath waiting for Artemis 5.

[woods170]

How fast they grow

Quite surprising to see the ESM for the Orion spacecraft to be used in the Artemis 5 mission getting ready to be shipped to Bremen ready for final integration just six months after the ESM component of the Orion spacecraft earmarked for the Artemis 4 mission left for the Airbus facility in Bremen.

IOW-It's quite surprising to see Arty-5's ESM getting ready to be shipped to Airbus-Bremen for final integration just 6 months after the ESM for Arty-4 left for the same facility.

Why's it "quite surprising?"

Artemis 4 and 5 are years away, so the contractors for the Orion spacecraft probably chose to manufacture the Orion module for Artemis 5 and ship it to Airbus-Bremen not too long after the Orion module for Artemis 4 because they didn't want to hold their breath waiting for Artemis 5.

It's much simpler than that. Airbus is under contract to construct six flight ESMs, regardless of Artemis 4 being five years or ten years away. Same for the ESMs for Artemis 5 and 6. Airbus will construct those now, because the production line is up-and-running and Airbus gets paid when they complete production milestones.
The fact that some of those ESMs will be sitting in storage for undisclosed amounts of time is not Airbus' problem.

[hektor]

Wrong. NASA is putting a lot of pressure on ESA/Airbus to deliver the ESMs per a yearly cadence, starting in 2024 for ESM-4. Bill Nelson came personally to Bremen to pass the message.

[woods170]

Wrong. NASA is putting a lot of pressure on ESA/Airbus to deliver the ESMs per a yearly cadence, starting in 2024 for ESM-4. Bill Nelson came personally to Bremen to pass the message.

Yes, I know about the pressure on ESA, and by extension Airbus. THAT however does not change the fact that the ESMs for Artemis 4 and 5 will sit in storage for years.
ESM 4 is scheduled for completion in early 2026, not 2024. But it won't fly until 2028, at the very earliest. ESM 5 is scheduled for completion in early 2027, but won't fly until late 2029/early 2030 at the very earliest.

And please, don't give me the "Artemis will fly annually after Artemis 3" fluff. Because that is a load of BS. The funding to do so is simply not there, as indicated by NASA OIG and GAO.

So, if NASA keeps up this pressure they will have a small fleet of 3 ESMs sitting ready in a storage facility at the Cape, by the time Artemis 3 finally makes it to the lunar surface.

[hektor]

What do you mean by scheduled for completion.

The only thing ESA communicates about is shipment date to KSC and it is currently 2024. Now the ESM when shipped is not complete since it travels without its solar wings for instance.

Maybe yearly cadence is a lot of BS but this is the framework in which ESA and Airbus are producing the ESMs.

[pochimax]

https://twitter.com/karman_spacedef/status/1653461611938713602

https://twitter.com/NASA_SLS/status/1653819121786650626

[jacqmans]