In 2011, Congress authorized NASA to create the next-generation space vehicle capable of going to the moon, Mars, and beyond. The vehicle known as Orion will be launched by a mega-rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and after a couple of earth orbits, it will blast toward the moon. While in lunar orbit, Orion will be put through its paces for about three weeks. It will then return to earth for an old-fashioned splash down in the ocean.
As for breakthrough science, there isn’t much there. Nevertheless, given the massive delays and cost of the program — $95 billion by 2025 — it better go off without a hitch. This is NASA’s primary space vehicle for at least the next decade, and congressional — and scientific — critics are just waiting to take shots at it.
CNN:
The big event, which will see NASA’s Orion crew capsule launch atop a gargantuan new rocket called the Space Launch System, or SLS, is expected to kick off on August 29 between 8:33 a.m. ET and 10:33 a.m. ET. After liftoff, it’ll be a few days before the capsule reaches its path around the moon, but there should be plenty of updates to follow during the spacecraft’s 42-day mission.
NASA will be airing the whole thing online and will host a virtual watch party along with several other online rendezvous put on by space-focused organizations. But if you’d rather get decked out in your space-themed paraphernalia, pop some popcorn, and join in on the in-person festivities, we’ve got a state-by-state rundown of the major events across the country that you can attend. (Just keep in mind, there’s still a pandemic going on.)
NASA allowed various groups and organizations to sign up to host official watch parties and offered up educational information for teachers.
NASA will go back to the moon and will take its woke culture with it.
NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.
The agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit. There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon. After approximately a week exploring the surface, they will board the lander for their short trip back to orbit where they will return to Orion and their colleagues before heading back to Earth.
It’s very sad when you think about NASA’s heyday during the 1960s. The job got done, and it didn’t matter if it was a man, woman, black, or white.
If the very best person for the job is chosen, who gives a damn what color they are or what sex? The only people who care about that are people uninterested in the advancement of science and human development and only interested in carving notches on their race and sex belts.
And it’s why NASA is starting to fall behind countries like China.
I wish Artemis 1 well anyway. I doubt if the Orion spacecraft will be the first space vehicle that returns to the moon. The Chinese may get their first. But any kind of sustained presence for the U.S. in space is going to require a vehicle like Orion, so we should wish the mission success as well as the manned missions in the near future.
Source: PJ Media
