Space Launch System - Orion

[Beati Dogu]

NASA are positive speed demons compared to Blue Origin.

[MartG]

SRB assembly is underway

[Eric Mc]

Head for heights is obviously a job requirement when working in the VAB.

[Beati Dogu]

I hear that it’s so tall and the Florida atmosphere so humid sometimes, they they get clouds forming inside the building occasionally.

[Eric Mc]

So I've heard - but I've never seen a photo of this phenomenon. Is it genuine?

[Beati Dogu]

I believe so. The condensation can drip down like rain sometimes it seems.

[Beati Dogu]

NASA is doing the wet dress rehearsal of the SLS core stage at the moment.

So filling it up with liquid hydrogen and oxygen and doing everything they would do on a launch, up to T-30 seconds from actually lighting the engines.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/12/sls-tankin...

[rxe]

Talksteer said:

It's high stakes because they've managed to create a billion dollar first stage.

Compare and contrast with SpaceX starship, if it explodes we have another ready in two weeks approach.

To be honest, the Spacex approach would be to nail a nose cone on it and then launch it after passing the “filling up” test.

[AW111]

rxe said:

To be honest, the Spacex approach would be to nail a nose cone on it and then launch it after passing the “filling up” test.

But it failed the "filling up" test.

Ground equipment issue.

[Chester35]

Is the hot fire still on for 21st Dec?

[Flooble]

Seems unlikely, they scheduled two weeks from WDR to Static Fire. With the second WDR attempt taking place next week, two weeks to analyse the data before the static fire would mean doing the hot fire between Christmas and New Year. Assuming they have the staff to do the analysis and prep work - lots are going to be taking vacation surely (even Americans get some vacation time and federal employees are probably as well off as those of us in the UK for paid leave!)

[MartG]

Ars Technica article - "The Orion spacecraft is now 15 years old and has flown into space just once"

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/six-years-...

[Beati Dogu]

The Artemis 2 mission, which will be the first manned flight with SLS / Orion is now going to include a Canadian astronaut. That'll make Canada only the second country to ever send an astronaut to deep space.

Over a 10 day period they'll circumnavigate the Moon and circle out further than Apollo did, setting a new deep space record. Upon return it'll splash down in the Pacific.


https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-explo...

[Eric Mc]

And then get cancelled?

[MartG]

I'll be very surprised if the Artemis missions don't slip even further, with the first manned flight not until 2025

[Eric Mc]

I'll be surprised if it even makes that date.

[annodomini2]

https://www.space.com/nasa-sls-megarocket-green-ru...

Starship will be in regular service before SLS leaves the pad

[Flooble]

Not necessarily; Bridenstine (who has championed smaller Commercial providers, eventually) is presumably now going to be replaced with a Biden appointee (who is going to, one would imagine, be happier with Big Government approaches).

[annodomini2]

Flooble said:

Not necessarily; Bridenstine (who has championed smaller Commercial providers, eventually) is presumably now going to be replaced with a Biden appointee (who is going to, one would imagine, be happier with Big Government approaches).

NASA are not directly paying for Starship.

Now SpaceX may lose some of their NASA business, but being the only US based provider capable of putting US crew on the Space station, cutting that would be political suicide.

[Eric Mc]

SpaceX got the space station manned supply contract under Obama. It was Obama who launched the Commercial Crew Project in 2011 which effectively placed the design of manned spacecraft for space station resupply missions in the hands of private companies.

Orion (and the original Constellation programme of which it was part) stems from 2004 and was instigated under George W Bush..