Looks like we are, indeed, going back to the moon. (Page 1/2)
Raydar AUG 17, 10:06 PM
Maybe I've had my head in a dark place, but this is the first I've heard about this, except in very general terms. To say I applaud this is a huge understatement.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new moon rocket arrived at the launch pad Wednesday ahead of its debut flight in less than two weeks.

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket emerged from its mammoth hangar late Tuesday night, drawing crowds of Kennedy Space Center workers, many of whom were not yet born when NASA sent astronauts to the moon a half-century ago. It took nearly 10 hours for the rocket to make the four-mile trip to the pad, pulling up at sunrise.

NASA is aiming for an Aug. 29 liftoff for the lunar test flight. No one will be inside the crew capsule atop the rocket, just three mannequins swarming with sensors to measure radiation and vibration.

The capsule will fly around the moon in a distant orbit for a couple weeks, before heading back for a splashdown in the Pacific. The entire flight should last six weeks.

The flight is the first moonshot in NASA’s Artemis program. The space agency is aiming for a lunar-orbiting flight with astronauts in two years and a lunar landing by a human crew as early as 2025. That’s much later than NASA anticipated when it established the program more than a decade ago, as the space shuttle fleet retired.

Article

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-17-2022).]

Patrick AUG 18, 01:23 AM
But, but, but... we were never there.



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MidEngineManiac AUG 18, 06:49 AM
Alice beat everyone there.
maryjane AUG 18, 09:16 AM


We shall see.
NASA's Artemis has already slipped schedule quite a bit.
Politics awakened.......again


quote
The Artemis program began in December 2017 as part of successive efforts to revitalize the U.S. space program. NASA's stated short-term goal for the program is landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon; mid-term objectives include establishing an international expedition team, and a sustainable human presence on the Moon.

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2.5 AUG 18, 12:12 PM
I heard it was unmanned though, but some mannequins are going at least.
Not sure why that is the case.

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 08-18-2022).]

Raydar AUG 18, 06:08 PM

quote
Originally posted by 2.5:

I heard it was unmanned though, but some mannequins are going at least.
Not sure why that is the case.




Kind of like crash test dummies. They have the technology now to analyze all the environmentals to the Nth degree. (Including radiation, as well as biometrics.) I think it's probably not a bad idea.

All of the previous programs had unmanned flights, to work the bugs out.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-18-2022).]

cvxjet AUG 19, 12:05 AM
I hope we get there.....a lot of opportunities for advanced science and manufacturing....Although high cost to GET THERE from Earth, once established, we can send ore and other materials to Earth cheaply.....Zero gravity (In orbit) offers some interesting possibilities; Think of making an alloy- but you run into trouble mixing different weight metals because they rapidly separate....Zero G they would not.....TRW back in the 80s had several alloys that would be stronger/lighter AND non-corroding- one alloy would be TEN times stronger than anything we now (Then) have.


A) Back in 1968, my uncle had given me a telescope for Christmas- I had it set up looking at the moon- just as it came over the radio that they were "Firing the rocket" I saw a flash just to the dark side of the terminator. I really do believe they were there...

B) The USS Hornet aircraft carrier was modified to pick up astronauts during the Apollo missions- including picking up the Apollo 11 capsule and crew. It is now a museum ship at NAS Alameda...I have taken quite a few neighbors and friends on tours of her (I always have to tell them that the Escalator (From flight deck to hanger deck) was added specifically for the astronauts- operational Navy Aircraft carriers do NOT have Escalators. (Note; I was stationed on the USS Coral Sea from 1979 to 1982)
blackrams AUG 19, 07:43 AM

quote
Originally posted by cvxjet:

I hope we get there.....a lot of opportunities for advanced science and manufacturing....Although high cost to GET THERE from Earth,



I have full confidence we'll get there and I really don't care about the cost. If needed, take money out of some of the Entitlement Programs, I'd consider that to be an investment versus a give away program.

------------------
Rams

Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun.........

maryjane AUG 19, 10:52 AM

quote
(I always have to tell them that the Escalator (From flight deck to hanger deck) was added specifically for the astronauts- operational Navy Aircraft carriers do NOT have Escalators. (Note; I was stationed on the USS Coral Sea from 1979 to 1982)



Maybe not current 'operational carriers', but others beside Hornet did, to carry geared up pilots from ready room to flight deck.

Lexington and Essex class carriers had them. I've seen the one on Lexington. (I was stationed TAD on CV-16 in 1976 at Pensacola)
Kitty Hawk, Yorktown, Forrestal, Ticonderoga, Constellation, Intrepid, Wasp, Midway, Saratoga, Bon Homme Richard, all had them. Some came that way from the shipbuilder, others had them added in the late 40s thru the mid 50s when flight crew ready rooms were moved to below the hangar dek..
Lexington escalator:

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-19-2022).]

82-T/A [At Work] AUG 19, 12:10 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:


Maybe not current 'operational carriers', but others beside Hornet did, to carry geared up pilots from ready room to flight deck.

Lexington and Essex class carriers had them. I've seen the one on Lexington. (I was stationed TAD on CV-16 in 1976 at Pensacola)
Kitty Hawk, Yorktown, Forrestal, Ticonderoga, Constellation, Intrepid, Wasp, Midway, Saratoga, Bon Homme Richard, all had them. Some came that way from the shipbuilder, others had them added in the late 40s thru the mid 50s when flight crew ready rooms were moved to below the hangar dek..
Lexington escalator:







Hahah... that's hilarious. I can't remember where I saw these, but I guess it was on the Lexington. I guess I just assumed it was added when it became a tourist ship, hahah.