Author Topic: Artemis II : Updates and Discussion Thread : NET April 2026  (Read 116649 times)

Offline Hadley Delta

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From an Artemis II updates thread:

NASA Announces its Artemis II Backup Crew Member for Moon Mission

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NASA has selected astronaut Andre Douglas as its backup crew member for the agency’s Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.

Douglas will train alongside NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

I'm surprised that one astronaut is serving as backup for three astronauts. Don't the three prime astronauts have different jobs to do and get different training? How can the backup be trained properly for three jobs?
Since there is no landing and no visit to the Gateway Station,  there is probably not that heavy of a workload expected on this flight.

If for some reason Reid needed to be replaced, I wonder if Douglas would automatically take his place, or Glover would move up to commander.

Offline Vultur

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Does anyone have a sense of the timeline for a decision on the A2 Orion heat shield?

Offline sdsds

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Does anyone have a sense of the timeline for a decision on the A2 Orion heat shield?

NASA said: “In late April, NASA chartered an independent review team which includes experts outside the agency to conduct an independent evaluation of the investigation results. That review, scheduled to be complete this summer, ensures NASA properly understands this condition and has corrective actions in place."

I believe that team is led by Paul Hill, former NASA Flight Director and current (?) member of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, and Hill will keep to the schedule. The autumnal equinox will occur on 22 September 2024 at 12.44 UTC.
« Last Edit: 09/14/2024 12:31 am by sdsds »
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Offline Vultur

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Hmmm, that does not leave much time. But I guess completing the review this summer doesn't mean immediate public announcement...

Is the lack of public announcement a bad sign?

Offline catdlr

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Phillip Sloss Report:

Artemis II alternatives for Orion heatshield issue

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Sep 18, 2024
NASA has a big decision ahead about what to do with the Orion heatshield on its Artemis II spacecraft.  While we're waiting for that decision to be made and then to be announced, there are a couple of alternatives to the longstanding week and a half crewed test flight to circumnavigate the Moon a year from now in September 2025.

If NASA decides not to fly Artemis II as currently planned, this video goes over those two alternatives, which would keep the four astronaut crew from launching with the current heatshield.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
01:59 Background on the history of the heatshield issue from Artemis I
03:31 One alternative: delay Artemis II, wait for a new, modified heatshield replacement
05:28 Another alternative: fly the current hardware on an uncrewed mission
07:14 What mission profile would NASA fly on another uncrewed mission?
08:08 Implications of another uncrewed mission and risks of the different alternatives/options
10:14 A look at the big picture for Artemis II ahead of a decision
12:58 Thanks for watching!

It's Tony De La Rosa, ...I don't create this stuff, I just report it.

Online JSz

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Also pictured are André Douglas and Jennifer Gibbons, the backup Artemis II astronauts:

https://twitter.com/ShuttleAlmanac/status/1837262663824593349

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First photo Ive seen of the #ArtemisII crew with backups included. @astro_reid @AstroVicGlover @Astro_Christina @Astro_Jeremy backups @Astro_AndreD @Astro_Jenni
« Last Edit: 09/21/2024 07:58 am by JSz »

Offline catdlr

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The weekly Phillip Sloss Report:

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Waiting for Artemis II Orion heatshield decision, Starship sidetracked by regulations power play?



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Sep 22, 2024
As more of the Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II stands around or lies around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the wait for a decision by NASA leadership on Orion base heatshield options continues.  While we're waiting and that continues, we're getting some reminders that the NASA and private industry workforce continues to develop and build hardware for subsequent flights.

In this video, I'll go over some test hardware that is helping to certify the rest of the Orion spacecraft to fly its first crew on Artemis II and the status of ground hardware validation testing, which is wrapping up to be ready to stack SLS when there's a decision.

There's also some overt politics and a power play between SpaceX and U.S. federal regulators that is escalating; in the video, I continue to wonder if regulatory compliance will another obstacle for Starship lunar lander development for Artemis III.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

00:00 Intro
01:14 Orion environment test article to finish crew-rating abort certifications
04:26 Exploration Ground Systems validation testing expected to wrap up soon
07:42 Artemis III Orion crew module adapter ahead of Service Module mate
09:42 A look at the big picture, starting with Artemis II
13:56 Artemis III big picture
15:38 Thanks for watching!
It's Tony De La Rosa, ...I don't create this stuff, I just report it.

Offline Vultur

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Summer is now officially over by anyone's measure. I wonder when we'll hear the results of the heat shield review?

Offline ddspaceman

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Getting in and out of the @NASA_Orion spacecraft: one of the many important skills to learn for the #Artemis II crew before heading to the Moon.

https://twitter.com/NASAArtemis/status/1838319807319462291

Offline ddspaceman

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Recent @NASAArtemis II Training in Space City  🚀✨

Between emergency egress training, sessions inside the Orion Mission Simulator, and flights in the T-38, the #Artemis II crew has been busy preparing for their lunar mission.

https://twitter.com/NASA_Johnson/status/1839301147296936342

Offline catdlr

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Cross-Post

Phillip Sloss Report Artemis Quartly Report

NASA Artemis II, III, IV Quarterly Update #3
It's Tony De La Rosa, ...I don't create this stuff, I just report it.

Offline ddspaceman

NASA Artemis
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Last week @Astro_Reid welcomed home NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, spent a night shift in mission control, and finished his fourth survival training in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at @NASA_Johnson. The training prepares astronauts in the event they need to eject from a T-38 for rescue.

https://twitter.com/NASAArtemis/status/1841149958579220822

Offline ddspaceman

NASA Artemis
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The #Artemis II crew upholds their civic duty! In this very unique weekly update, @Astro_Reid describes how he served on jury duty last week and is back to his regularly scheduled programming—crew training—this week.

https://twitter.com/NASAArtemis/status/1843386029941616933

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/artemis-ii-almost-certainly-will-miss-its-september-2025-launch-date/

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It’s increasingly unlikely that humans will fly around the Moon next year
It's not just Orion's heat shield; the mission's ground systems are running out of time.

ERIC BERGER – 17 OCT 2024 20:24

Don't book your tickets for the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission next year just yet.

Offline Proponent

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Is it maybe time for a poll on what will become of Artemis II? To span the range of possibilities, I'm thinking the poll would need to encompass all combinations of

* Flying with or without a crew

* With the original heat shield or a substantial modification thereof

* Trajectories including
  - The original trajectory
  - The original trajectory modified to reduce stress on the heat shield (a non-skip entry)
  - Non-circumlunar

* Other alterations of the original plan

* Will never fly

Offline DanClemmensen

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Is it maybe time for a poll on what will become of Artemis II?
With the most recent Ars article, it's now fairly confused, because we now have EGS delays competing with the Orion heat shield for last place.

Separately, I'm confused about what we mean by "Artemis II". Does this mean the second flight of the SLS/Orion stack regardless of mission? What if NASA elects to call the second mission "Artemis 1.5" or something so mission with the current plan of record is called "Artemis II" even if it is the third flight?

Offline Coastal Ron

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Is it maybe time for a poll on what will become of Artemis II?
...
Separately, I'm confused about what we mean by "Artemis II". Does this mean the second flight of the SLS/Orion stack regardless of mission? What if NASA elects to call the second mission "Artemis 1.5" or something so mission with the current plan of record is called "Artemis II" even if it is the third flight?

Not sure why you should be confused, since this thread just mirrors whatever NASA is calling the next mission. Here is the NASA webpage for it even:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

If NASA changes the name of the mission, then we'll change it here to eliminate confusion. But until they change the name, it is Artemis II.
If we don't continuously lower the cost to access space, how are we ever going to afford to expand humanity out into space?

Offline sdsds

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Please, any name other than "1.5." The ghosts of CxP linger still.

The options presented look complete to me, or at least they span the option space well enough.
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Online Athelstane

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https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/artemis-ii-almost-certainly-will-miss-its-september-2025-launch-date/

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It’s increasingly unlikely that humans will fly around the Moon next year
It's not just Orion's heat shield; the mission's ground systems are running out of time.

ERIC BERGER – 17 OCT 2024 20:24

Don't book your tickets for the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission next year just yet.

Excerpt:

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NASA also has yet to provide any additional information on the status of its review of the Orion spacecraft's heat shield. During the Artemis I mission that sent Orion beyond the Moon in late 2022, chunks of charred material cracked and chipped away from Orion's heat shield during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Once the spacecraft landed, engineers found more than 100 locations where the stresses of reentry damaged the heat shield.

As Ars reported in September, the space agency faces a critical decision on whether to fly the heat shield as is, or make modifications.

An independent review team has completed an assessment of NASA's work on the heat shield, but NASA has not publicly commented on these results or its decision moving forward. In response to questions from Ars this week about a decision on whether to take corrective action, an agency spokesperson said, "The Artemis I heat shield investigation process is still underway, so NASA has not made any decisions yet."

This is the only recent statement of any kind from NASA about the Orion heat shield assessment. And it's unsettling that here we are, on October 17, less than a year before Artemis II's nominal launch date, and NASA still is unwilling to say anything publicly about where things stand. The old adage is "no news is good news," but here that seems very likely to be the opposite.

Offline Hadley Delta

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The situation is similar to the delay in making what seemed to be the inevitable decision to return Starliner without crew. The longer they hold off, the likelier it is that the problems cannot be overcome in time.

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