Artemis III (EM-3) UPDATE thread - 2025

[Vahe231991]

Even as the SLS rocket for Artemis 1 nears completion and is only four months away from launch, I thought it would be a good idea to create a new thread for the Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 missions because the SLS rockets for those missions are in their early stages of assembly.

https://twitter.com/ThePrimalDino/status/1412592175087554564
https://twitter.com/NASA_SLS/status/1412063725964730370
https://mobile.twitter.com/NASAArtemis/status/1394755927648227334
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/next-generation-of-orion-spacecraft-in-production-for-future-artemis-missions

[Broken_Soap]

I would argue that each of these missions deserves each own discussion thread, having them lumped together is only a temporary solution.
Perhaps Artemis 2 could have it's own thread already, Artemis 3 is probably a bit too far in the future for now though.

[eeergo]

Created an update thread for EM-2: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54249.new#new

Artemis-III's elements are still in early construction so they arguably can stay in their respective Orion and SLS Development threads for now?

[Khadgars]

I'd love to see latest progress on the LH2 tank for Artemis II and weather LH2 tank for Artemis III is still planning on using the original Artemis I tank.

[Vahe231991]

A new update regarding construction of the SLS hardware for the Artemis 2 mission:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/07/sls-maf-update-july-2021/

[Vahe231991]

Created an update thread for EM-2: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54249.new#new

Artemis-III's elements are still in early construction so they arguably can stay in their respective Orion and SLS Development threads for now?

An update on fabrication of the components for the Artemis III, including the Orion capsule:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/next-generation-of-orion-spacecraft-in-production-for-future-artemis-missions

[kdhilliard]

...  Pretty much as we expected, curious though what part of Artemis III would need federal judge?

That's clearly a reference to the Blue Origin / HLS suit, as HLS is integral to Artemis III.

[Khadgars]

...  Pretty much as we expected, curious though what part of Artemis III would need federal judge?

That's clearly a reference to the Blue Origin / HLS suit, as HLS is integral to Artemis III.

Ah right, forgot about that.

[ncb1397]

If HLS gets held up, Artemis III will likely be something different than the landing. Maybe a lunar orbital flight (with or without gateway).

[Eric Hedman]

If HLS gets held up, Artemis III will likely be something different than the landing. Maybe a lunar orbital flight (with or without gateway).

If the Gateway is deployed and Artemis III is ready to fly and HLS is not, I would expect they would go to the Gateway.

[DanClemmensen]

...  Pretty much as we expected, curious though what part of Artemis III would need federal judge?

That's clearly a reference to the Blue Origin / HLS suit, as HLS is integral to Artemis III.

Ah right, forgot about that.

If NASA's Artemis HLS gets held up due to the lawsuit, then by the time an Artemis HLS lands on the Moon, They will find a purely commercial Starship HLS sitting there waiting for them. Elon didn't really care about the Moon, but Jeff has now gotten his attention with the lawsuit.   Funding might be similar to dearMoon.

[Khadgars]

...  Pretty much as we expected, curious though what part of Artemis III would need federal judge?

That's clearly a reference to the Blue Origin / HLS suit, as HLS is integral to Artemis III.

Ah right, forgot about that.

If NASA's Artemis HLS gets held up due to the lawsuit, then by the time an Artemis HLS lands on the Moon, They will find a purely commercial Starship HLS sitting there waiting for them. Elon didn't really care about the Moon, but Jeff has now gotten his attention with the lawsuit.   Funding might be similar to dearMoon.

Except as you stated, SpaceX wasn't interested in the moon.  I don't see them developing Lunar Starship without NASA contract.

[DanClemmensen]

...  Pretty much as we expected, curious though what part of Artemis III would need federal judge?

That's clearly a reference to the Blue Origin / HLS suit, as HLS is integral to Artemis III.

Ah right, forgot about that.

If NASA's Artemis HLS gets held up due to the lawsuit, then by the time an Artemis HLS lands on the Moon, They will find a purely commercial Starship HLS sitting there waiting for them. Elon didn't really care about the Moon, but Jeff has now gotten his attention with the lawsuit.   Funding might be similar to dearMoon.

Except as you stated, SpaceX wasn't interested in the moon.  I don't see them developing Lunar Starship without NASA contract.

SpaceX started their HLS project in late 2018 (start of initial contract proposal effort), and I doubt they stopped work for the GAO protest or for the lawsuit as that is inconsistent with their corporate philosophy. I base this on how they continue to build in Boca even while the environmental review is ongoing, and on Tesla's Factory developments in Germany, Texas, and Fremont in advance of final approvals (different company, same philosophy).  A NASA "stop work order" stops NASA. It doesn't stop SpaceX if SpaceX wants to spend their own money. When I said "Jeff got Elon's attention" I meant that Elon may decide to retaliate against Jeff by starting up a lunar landing space tourism service. It's clear that SpaceX is already doing space tourism (Inspiration 4) and that they intend to do more using Starship (dearMoon), and Starship will dramatically reduce the per-seat cost, driving Blue and Virgin out of the business.

[Vahe231991]

A new link regarding the latest progress in the fabrication of components for the Artemis 2, Artemis 3, and Artemis 4 missions:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/10/orion-update-oct-2021/

[Vahe231991]

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/11/orion-spacecraft-production/

[Conexion Espacial]

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1483459973027926016

[DanClemmensen]

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1483459973027926016

Note that the Astrobotic Peregrine flight was originally supposed to be the first CLPS flight, but will launch on Vulcan Centaur. Depending on who is commenting, the payload is delayed or the Vulcan is delayed. With no inside information, I'm willing to believe that both are delayed.

In the mean time Intuitive Machines' little Nova-C lander is being lauched on an F9 and is now planned to be the first CLPS flight. Hope it works. As far as I know, the last US unmanned lander to reach the Moon was Surveyor 7, in 1968.

[Phil Stooke]

'As far as I know...'

You are correct!  Also, the last robotic lunar lander before the modern era was Luna 24 in 1976.  Since then we have had Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander crash and SpaceIL's Beresheet crash, but all 3 Chinese landing attempts succeed.

This year will be busy. 

[XRZ.YZ]

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/1-18-2022_heo-integrated-nac_lueders-free1.pdf

[cplchanb]

Looks like they all but confirmed that the moon landing will happen mid to late 2025 at the earliest since the space suit is scheduled to be complete q1 2025