Artemis II Orion service and crew modules slotted together at last
(2023/10/24)
- Reference: 1698155107
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/10/24/artemis_ii_orion_modules/
- Source link:
NASA is confirming that the Orion crew and service module for the Artemis II mission were successfully joined together.
The actual event happened last Thursday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after months of hardware installations and tests, [1]NASA said last night.
The module integration paves the way for a power-up test, followed by altitude chamber testing that simulates conditions in the vacuum of deep space. A fully connected spacecraft is scheduled to fly three [2]astronauts from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) around the moon and back over the course of 21 days in 2024.
The long march to Tiangong
China is preparing for its own manned mission this week as the Shenzhou-17, alongside a Long March-2F carrier, was transferred to its launching area on Thursday.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) [3]declared all equipment was in working condition and various test would follow.
The Shenzhou-17 will carry three astronauts to China's Tiangong space station where they will spend six months. The current inhabitants will phase out after five months onboard as the first Chinese civilians in space.
A launch date for the mission has not been formally announced. Speculation is "soon."
The crew module comes from Lockheed Martin as prime contractor and will house the four astronauts in a pressurized space about the size of two minivans, or 330 cubic feet (9.3 m 3 ). Two of the seats stow away once released from the Space Launch System (SLS). Before you squirm, note that this is downright luxurious compared to Apollo, whose command module was only 210 cubic feet (6 m 3 ), although it only accommodated three inhabitants.
The astronaut hotel and laboratory in the sky nestles into the service module and will be topped with the launch abort system (LAS). The LAS also has Lockheed Martin as its prime contractor, and is there to carry the crew back to safety should the launch or ascent go awry.
[4]
The service module comes from the European Space Agency and Airbus, supplying air, electricity and propulsion, powering Orion on the journey around the moon. It also provides rigidity to the overall structure and absorbs vibrations during launch and protects hardware from space debris.
[5]
[6]
It features a solar array that unfolds to a span of 62 feet (18.9 meters), along with 33 engines, and four tanks that hold over 8,000 liters of fuel.
For launch, it attaches to an adapter that connects it to the SLS.
[7]
[8]Youtube Video
[9]Moonstruck Modi wants lunar Indian crew by 2040
[10]Engineers pave the way for building lunar roads with Moon dust
[11]NASA names astronauts picked for next Artemis Moon test flight
[12]The Moon or bust, says NASA, after successful SLS/Orion test flight
Orion is powered by two Honeywell vehicle management computers (VMC) and protected with a mammoth heat shield. At 16.5 feet (5 meters) in diameter, it's the largest ablative heat shield in the world.
The service and crew module will eventually separate when it is time to re-enter Earth atmosphere. At that time, 12 reaction control system thrusters on the crew module will guide the return while a series of 11 parachutes slow the module down from 25,000 mph (40,000kph) to around 20 mph (32kph).
The Artemis II mission is a crewed version of Artemis I, which took place in 2022. Next comes Artemis III, which will land astronauts on the Moon in 2025, should all go to plan. The next three Artemis missions span all the way out to 2030 and take crews to such exotic destination as the first planned extraterrestrial space station known as the Gateway. ®>
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2023/10/23/artemis-ii-orion-crew-and-service-modules-joined-together/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/03/nasa_artemis_ii_crew/
[3] https://en.cmse.gov.cn/xwzx/202310/t20231019_54487.html
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZTfqKCCqGG57Ui2H97JXVwAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[8] https://youtu.be/X2oi69o6zCk
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/18/india_crewed_moon_mission/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/12/lunar_roads_material/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/03/nasa_artemis_ii_crew/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/09/nasa_sls_rocket_orion_test/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The actual event happened last Thursday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after months of hardware installations and tests, [1]NASA said last night.
The module integration paves the way for a power-up test, followed by altitude chamber testing that simulates conditions in the vacuum of deep space. A fully connected spacecraft is scheduled to fly three [2]astronauts from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) around the moon and back over the course of 21 days in 2024.
The long march to Tiangong
China is preparing for its own manned mission this week as the Shenzhou-17, alongside a Long March-2F carrier, was transferred to its launching area on Thursday.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) [3]declared all equipment was in working condition and various test would follow.
The Shenzhou-17 will carry three astronauts to China's Tiangong space station where they will spend six months. The current inhabitants will phase out after five months onboard as the first Chinese civilians in space.
A launch date for the mission has not been formally announced. Speculation is "soon."
The crew module comes from Lockheed Martin as prime contractor and will house the four astronauts in a pressurized space about the size of two minivans, or 330 cubic feet (9.3 m 3 ). Two of the seats stow away once released from the Space Launch System (SLS). Before you squirm, note that this is downright luxurious compared to Apollo, whose command module was only 210 cubic feet (6 m 3 ), although it only accommodated three inhabitants.
The astronaut hotel and laboratory in the sky nestles into the service module and will be topped with the launch abort system (LAS). The LAS also has Lockheed Martin as its prime contractor, and is there to carry the crew back to safety should the launch or ascent go awry.
[4]
The service module comes from the European Space Agency and Airbus, supplying air, electricity and propulsion, powering Orion on the journey around the moon. It also provides rigidity to the overall structure and absorbs vibrations during launch and protects hardware from space debris.
[5]
[6]
It features a solar array that unfolds to a span of 62 feet (18.9 meters), along with 33 engines, and four tanks that hold over 8,000 liters of fuel.
For launch, it attaches to an adapter that connects it to the SLS.
[7]
[8]Youtube Video
[9]Moonstruck Modi wants lunar Indian crew by 2040
[10]Engineers pave the way for building lunar roads with Moon dust
[11]NASA names astronauts picked for next Artemis Moon test flight
[12]The Moon or bust, says NASA, after successful SLS/Orion test flight
Orion is powered by two Honeywell vehicle management computers (VMC) and protected with a mammoth heat shield. At 16.5 feet (5 meters) in diameter, it's the largest ablative heat shield in the world.
The service and crew module will eventually separate when it is time to re-enter Earth atmosphere. At that time, 12 reaction control system thrusters on the crew module will guide the return while a series of 11 parachutes slow the module down from 25,000 mph (40,000kph) to around 20 mph (32kph).
The Artemis II mission is a crewed version of Artemis I, which took place in 2022. Next comes Artemis III, which will land astronauts on the Moon in 2025, should all go to plan. The next three Artemis missions span all the way out to 2030 and take crews to such exotic destination as the first planned extraterrestrial space station known as the Gateway. ®>
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2023/10/23/artemis-ii-orion-crew-and-service-modules-joined-together/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/03/nasa_artemis_ii_crew/
[3] https://en.cmse.gov.cn/xwzx/202310/t20231019_54487.html
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZTfqKCCqGG57Ui2H97JXVwAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZTfqKCCqGG57Ui2H97JXVwAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZTfqKCCqGG57Ui2H97JXVwAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://youtu.be/X2oi69o6zCk
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/18/india_crewed_moon_mission/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/12/lunar_roads_material/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/03/nasa_artemis_ii_crew/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/09/nasa_sls_rocket_orion_test/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Is the minivan an approved Reg unit of volume?
Jan 0
Is that a British Mini Van or a USA minivan? How many grapefruits?
Could it **bring back our Dabsy**7?
Re: Is the minivan an approved Reg unit of volume?
Flocke Kroes
I was more concerned by the imperial to metric conversion errors.
Re: Is the minivan an approved Reg unit of volume?
Atomic Duetto
Yep, two minivans with nine thousand three hundred and thirty three cubic metres of internal space (1,934m3) sounds suspiciously more like a TARDIS.
Unless they confused it with a pair of Starship (payload est. 1,000m3 ?) which are likely cheaper (?) and reusable (eventually/allegedly/don’t hold your breath). They could take the Orion crew module as carry on
Luckily it’s not the Mars Climate Orbiter
Re: Is the minivan an approved Reg unit of volume?
MyffyW
Agree, I think somebody at the El Reg eyrie needs to check their Maths. 9000m3 is positively roomy :-)
Re: Is the minivan an approved Reg unit of volume?
SW
I expect it's using the European convention on numbering which has the comma in place of the decimal point. Still catches me out and i live in the EU
Excited
Eclectic Man
I remember watching Neil Armstrong step onto the lunar surface in 1969. I had been allowed to stay up especially, and had a bed made up for me on the sofa in the lounge. Watched it all, turned off the TV and went to sleep. I do hope I get to see the next Moon landing.
Good luck to all concerned.
To boldly go .....
..... where someone has already gone before.
The sad thing is that the people who actually get to land on the Moon were not alive the last time that someone else walked there.