are they gonna land on the moon or are they just gonna go around the moon before starting more missions where the astronaunts finally land on the moon since the 1970s
Swing around the Moon then use its gravity to slingshot the astronauts back home. There's no Lunar Lander on this mission.
And it's not nearly as dangerous as Apollo 8 was: Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit without a LM; if the SPS engine had failed, Borman, Anders, and Lovell would have had no backup ride home.
Artemis II, by contrast, never leaves a free-return trajectory, so unless something goes seriously wrong with the TLI burn, such that it doesn't put them on a free-return, they won't need a backup ride home (and if that were to happen, a backup ride home probably wouldn't be of any help).
Artemis II, by contrast, never leaves a free-return trajectory, so unless something goes seriously wrong with the TLI burn, such that it doesn't put them on a free-return, they won't need a backup ride home (and if that were to happen, a backup ride home probably wouldn't be of any help).
Artemis II is a lunar flyby. Artemis III next year will stay in Earth orbit and test the lunar lander and EVA suits. The first landing is slated to be with Artemis IV in early 2028, followed by Artemis V late in the year.
Artemis program - Wikipedia
Come to think of it, they presumably chose "Artemis" as a counterpart to "Apollo" (as the namesake Greek deities were twin siblings), but then it's odd that they're numbering the missions with Roman numerals this time when Apollo missions used Arabic numerals.
I learned today that they're not even going to land on the moon. So disappointing.
Now, there is an Andy Weir novel called Artemis that I might read later this year.
The cool bit is they are going to go around the moon and use the gravity to get back to Earth. That's very Star Trek to me.
Finally, I really like this YouTube channel. This is a cool one on the moon.
Now, there is an Andy Weir novel called Artemis that I might read later this year.
The cool bit is they are going to go around the moon and use the gravity to get back to Earth. That's very Star Trek to me.
Finally, I really like this YouTube channel. This is a cool one on the moon.
Actually, Apollo 8, 10, 11, and (if I remember right) 12 used free-return trajectories (up until lunar orbit insertion). Apollo 13-17 used a translunar coast trajectory that wasn't quite a free-return, and that's why Lovel, Haise, and Swigert needed to use the LM descent engine to get them back on a free return (in addition to relying on the LM batteries to keep the life support working). Incidentally, Gene Kranz once remarked that he wished he'd actually said, "Failure is not an option," like his slightly fictionalized version (played by Ed Harris, who'd played John Glenn in The Right Stuff) in the movie.
Artemis II is coming up on TLI now. About all that's visible on the video feed is lots and lots of lens flare.
Now a large limb of Earth, with lots and lots of space.
And the TLI burn has begun. . . . . . . . . . and the burn is reported as good.
Back to the subject of free-return trajectories: Jules Verne's fictional crew was on a free-return, which was damn good for them, since (1) it allowed for a sequel, and (2) if they'd actually landed, the remainder of their natural lives would have been (as Hobbes would put it) "isolated, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Artemis II is coming up on TLI now. About all that's visible on the video feed is lots and lots of lens flare.
Now a large limb of Earth, with lots and lots of space.
And the TLI burn has begun. . . . . . . . . . and the burn is reported as good.
Back to the subject of free-return trajectories: Jules Verne's fictional crew was on a free-return, which was damn good for them, since (1) it allowed for a sequel, and (2) if they'd actually landed, the remainder of their natural lives would have been (as Hobbes would put it) "isolated, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
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“There’s nothing routine about going to the moon.”
-Tom Hanks, Apollo 13 movie
Everything has had to be reinvented. This isn’t reflying old tested hardware. An all up mission with a landing would probably be suicidal. This is exciting. They’ll be the fastest humans and the farthest from earth beating the Apollo 13 record (with TLI done that’s a give .. they can’t NOT go that far now)
Even with the dodgy image quality, it was thrilling to see the Earth visibly receding in the view from the spacecraft.
And I love the detail that the translunar injection burn is also the Earth deorbit burn, because the trajectory will just carry them all the way around the Moon and right on track for re-entry back at Earth with no further burns needed. Orbital mechanics is nifty.
And I love the detail that the translunar injection burn is also the Earth deorbit burn, because the trajectory will just carry them all the way around the Moon and right on track for re-entry back at Earth with no further burns needed. Orbital mechanics is nifty.
Nifty, but damned counterintuitive at times. Lots of having to go up to go down, or go down to go up. Buzz Aldrin could practically do orbital rendezvous calculations in his head, and it was the subject of his doctoral dissertation.
Larry Niven featured this in The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring, about humans living in a habitable gas torus orbiting a neutron star. They had a ditty, "East takes you out. Out takes you west. West takes you in. In takes you east. Port and starboard bring you back." That is, thrusting in the direction of orbital motion (east) accelerates you and raises your orbit (out), but a wider orbit has a longer period so you fall behind (west); and conversely, thrusting against orbital motion (west) decelerates you so gravity pulls you into a lower orbit, but a lower orbit is faster so you pull ahead (east). And thrusting perpendicular to the orbital plane (port or starboard) just tilts your orbit, so you eventually cross back through the plane. Reading those books repeatedly in high school/college really helped me internalize orbital mechanics.
We should consolidate the Artemis threads into a forum marked 'post 2025 spaceflight'
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If the Orion spacecraft cockpit were offset by 35 degrees we'd already be on Page 10.
Both make me sad.
