The backup Artemis II crew are:- Andre Douglas (1st mission),- Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons (1st mission, Canada).In-water training, meanwhile, has been attended by:- Victor Glover (Artemis II, 2nd mission),- André Douglas (1st mission),- Deniz Burnham (1st mission),- Luca Parmitano (3rd mission, Italy/ESA).Will these four (because I am not counting Glover assigned to AII) constitute the crew of Artemis III? Or at least part of it?
A massive crane lifts the launch vehicle stage adapter 250 feet into the air on Thursday, April 3, 2025, to prepare integration onto the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage in High Bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During launch and ascent, the launch vehicle stage adapter provides structural support and protects avionics and electrical devices within the upper stage from extreme vibrations and acoustic conditions. The Artemis II test flight will take a crew of four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, helping confirm the foundational systems and hardware needed for human deep space exploration.Date Created:2025-04-03
Apr 8, 2025 ✪ Members first on April 4, 2025Reviewing the work completed by NASA and its Artemis partners during the first quarter of 2025 on preparations and planning for the Artemis II, III, and IV missions.Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.Links to social media posts:https://x.com/jeff_foust/status/1884700023063024047https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1892621691060093254https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1892627928921329862https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1895598258225106984Links to stories referenced:https://www.reuters.com/world/us/key-nasa-officials-departure-casts-more-uncertainty-over-us-moon-program-2025-02-19/00:00 Intro00:20 Quarter in review: three major themes03:54 Artemis II status and outlook08:00 Artemis III status and (cloudy) outlook23:52 Artemis IV status and outlook35:02 Artemis V and beyond37:15 Thanks for watching!
Apr 20, 2025Preparations for NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby mission lead this week's recap. Stacking of the SLS vehicle in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center is almost complete, and the last element to be lifted for a while, the in-space second stage, is now standing in the transfer aisle.I'll go over that and also continue reviewing last week's budget news, NASA Administrator nomination hearing in the Senate, and where those intersect. Big picture, if Congress wants to beat China back to the Moon and use Orion and SLS to help do that, then there will be even more focus on when Artemis III can fly...assuming the White House agrees, which remains a big question.Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.Links to stories referenced:https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/trump-white-house-budget-proposal-eviscerates-science-funding-at-nasa/https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/isaacmans-golden-age-of-science-discovery-on-shaky-ground/https://spacenews.com/white-house-proposal-would-slash-nasa-science-budget-and-cancel-major-missions/https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/04/11/nasa-science-budget-cuts-trump/https://spacenews.com/maryland-congressmen-vow-to-block-proposed-nasa-science-budget-cuts/https://spacenews.com/bipartisan-caucus-criticizes-proposed-nasa-science-budget-cuts/https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/white-house-may-seek-to-slash-nasas-science-budget-by-50-percent/Like the video? Consider buying me a coffee to support my work and the channel.https://buymeacoffee.com/philipslossOr, join the channel for additional members-only content: / @philipsloss 00:00 Intro00:50 Artemis II update, beginning with SLS LVSA hard mate to the Core Stages03:07 ICPS moves to the VAB for stacking04:53 Artemis II Orion Stage Adapter seen in Huntsville recently05:32 Status of Artemis II Orion spacecraft final assembly07:58 B-roll video released of Artemis II SLS Core Stage lifting and mating activities in March10:10 Political news and notes, more takeaways from Jared Isaacman's hearing before Congress23:47 A look at the big picture, all eyes on Artemis III, assuming it isn't cancelled27:24 What's next in April28:01 Thanks for watching!
Apr 27, 2025Soon-to-be NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman was clearer about his views on the future of SLS for Artemis in his confirmation hearing than Senators, and in this video I'll start going through his written responses to questions for the record. Isaacman is ready to retire SLS after Artemis III, but it's not so clear about Congress, given all the attention on the "one and done" lunar landing race with China.I'll go through takeaways from questions about the NASA Science budget being crushed, cancellation rumors, and how much influence Elon Musk will retain inside NASA going forward. While the politics continues to overhang the future, I'll also go through updates on the Artemis II RS-25 engine changeout, Mobile Launcher-2 construction, Boeing SLS production, and some pictures of things that aren't under "double secret ITAR probation."Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.Links to stories referenced:https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/trump-white-house-budget-proposal-eviscerates-science-funding-at-nasa/https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/isaacmans-golden-age-of-science-discovery-on-shaky-ground/https://spacenews.com/white-house-proposal-would-slash-nasa-science-budget-and-cancel-major-missions/https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/04/11/nasa-science-budget-cuts-trump/https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2025/04/21/nasa-budget-cuts-trump/83083256007/Like the video? Consider buying me a coffee to support my work and the channel.https://buymeacoffee.com/philipslossOr, join the channel for additional members-only content: / @philipsloss 00:00 Intro01:31 The Artemis II big picture plan to accelerate launch date06:09 Core Stage RS-25 engine removal and replacement work in progress07:58 More takeaways from recent news about next NASA Administrator and budget11:51 Jared Isaacman is ready to move on from SLS, but what about Congress?16:09 Isaacman responds to more, written questions from Senators for the record19:26 Boeing provides an SLS production update and NASA provides images to illustrate29:10 Other news and notes, beginning with the next Mobile Launcher-2 umbilical tower module added29:46 EUS Green Run test stand preparations update30:08 An Orion docking module (test article) sighting32:18 Thanks for watching!
NASA and the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) signed an agreement May 2 for KASA to fly a CubeSat on NASA’s Artemis II test flight next year. K-Rad Cube will use a dosimeter made of material designed to mimic human tissue to measure space radiation and assess biological effects at various altitudes across the Van Allen radiation belts, a critical area of research for human presence at the Moon and Mars.NASA is working with several international space agencies to fly CubeSats on the mission. The collaborations provide opportunities for other countries to work alongside NASA to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign.CubeSats are shoebox-sized payloads that are a relatively cost-effective way to potentially expand knowledge of the space environment and enable CubeSat providers to continue to refine development and integration of hardware for missions in space. They will ride to space inside a structural adapter that connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the upper stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and be deployed in high Earth orbit after the upper stage detaches from Orion and the spacecraft is safely flying free on its own a safe distance away from the stage.
According to Naraspace on the 9th, K-RadCube is a 12U (20cm x 20cm x 30cm) cube satellite that will be loaded onto the rocket for the Artemis 2 mission to observe the space radiation environment in the High Elliptical Orbit (HEO). The satellite will be loaded with a scientific payload for radiation measurement developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, and is scheduled to be launched in April next year.
May 4, 2025After a week of high-visibility Artemis II milestones, President Trump and Elon Musk released the skinny budget request for Fiscal Year 2026 on Friday, May 3rd, which made official the long-rumored intent to cancel those Artemis programs and more. In this video, I'll go through the milestones and the initial takeaways from the limited, but key details in the budget request outline.Now that we have confirmation of the administration's plan, the attention shifts to whether Congress agrees with the Artemis reset. And while we're waiting for that, there's time to start considering all the implications of the new plans. I'll also cover an update to Jared Isaacman's nomination and continuing work on Artemis III SLS hardware, which could be the last to fly.
May 4, 2025Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.Links to articles referenced:https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/11/space-policy-is-about-to-get-pretty-wild-yall/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/key-nasa-officials-departure-casts-more-uncertainty-over-us-moon-program-2025-02-19/https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/white-house-may-seek-to-slash-nasas-science-budget-by-50-percent/https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-nasa-mars-space-travel-d3978a7bhttps://www.legislativeprocedure.com/blog/2025/4/15/how-congress-considers-rescission-billshttps://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/nasa-just-swapped-a-10-year-old-artemis-ii-engine-with-one-nearly-twice-its-age/"EGS Spacecraft Offline Ops: Getting Orion ready for Artemis II"Part 1: • https://youtube.com/watch?v=a7DaykZLVn8Part 2: • https://youtube.com/watch?v=ccbMc_cOeMg00:00 Intro02:08 Lockheed Martin finishes Artemis II Orion assembly, hands spacecraft over to EGS05:03 Artemis II SLS ICPS stacked after Core Stage engine 4 replacement installed08:10 Artemis II near-term recap and outlook09:37 Most Artemis programs terminated in Fiscal Year 2026 budget request13:28 Boeing moves SLS Core Stage-3 LOX tank to get ready for foam insulation application15:55 New budget and China race bring more attention to Artemis III program delivery dates16:20 Will the new commercial Artemis IV be ready to support lunar landing as a backup option?16:57 Isaacman nomination advances from committee to the full Senate21:23 Thanks for watching!
The @NASA_Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission is now in the fueling facility at @NASAKennedy. The @NASAGroundSys teams will load the propellants the spacecraft and crew will need to carry out their 10-day journey. https://go.nasa.gov/3YzrRv8
This has probably been discussed before, but since the launch is, I think months away, is it really necessary to fuel the hyperbolic fuels so early? Of course, I guess the alternative is to roll the thing to the pad, then send it back to the VAB for loading, and then roll back to the pad.
Quote from: mike robel on 05/07/2025 09:11 amThis has probably been discussed before, but since the launch is, I think months away, is it really necessary to fuel the hyperbolic fuels so early? Of course, I guess the alternative is to roll the thing to the pad, then send it back to the VAB for loading, and then roll back to the pad.Does it matter? They're storable, so it shouldn't be much of an issue.
..and hopefully Congress will not agree to major cuts...I dont want to live under a Red Moon...
