Artemis II is not safe to fly

Post by TheBlight » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:17 PM UTC

withinboredom wrote: post #254

rbanffy wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> test the new heat shield which will replace the Artemis II design in an unmanned re-entry as well. NASA desperately needs more options. They shouldn't need to expend an SLS to launch an uncrewed Orion with a test heatshield on a trajectory equivalent to a moon return. They should be able to launch that on top of a Falcon Heavy. A Falcon Heavy can launch 63 tons to LEO and a fueled Orion plus service module weights…

I'd prefer if we just wrote off space-x and pretend they don't exist.

Post by hluska » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:18 PM UTC

chadd wrote: post #292

I'm literally guest lecturing at a Harvard class tomorrow on systemic failures in decision making, using the Columbia and Challenger disasters as case studies, and changed my slides last night to include Artemis II because it could literally happen again. This broken safety culture has been around since the beginning of the Shuttle program. In 1980, Gregg Easterbrook published "Goodbye, Columbia" in The Washington Mo…

Post by Waterluvian » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:19 PM UTC

ballooney wrote: post #307

Waterluvian wrote: post #305

Hypothetical to wrap my head around scope: Say we had a spacecraft that was 100% capable of launching from Earth, orbiting the moon, and landing back on Earth, but it also had the docking equipment to be compatible with ISS. Could I decide, while orbiting the moon, that I'd rather dock with the ISS instead? Is that at all feasible or is it one of those, "we're not lined up for any of this. It's basically impossible."…

You’d need a load of additional propellant to insert yourself into the same orbit as the ISS on your return, which would have an exponential effect on the amount of propellant needed in the first place to get all this lot out to the moon. It would be a different vehicle.

Post by Waterluvian » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:22 PM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #268

bertylicious wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure the other astronauts are really looking forward to fly with a person showing signs of suicidal ideation.

Suicide ideation and someone willing to take massive risks for something awesome are very different things

Post by extraduder_ire » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:26 PM UTC

antonvs wrote: post #138

bayindirh wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

James May of Top Gear has flown with a U2 spy plane once [0][1]. When they reached to the edge of space, May said "If everybody could do that once, it would completely change the face of global politics, religion, education, everything". I can't agree more. Another thing I believe needs to be watched periodically is Pale Blue Dot [2]. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-COlil4tos [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch…

I think you overestimate the effect that would have on the kind of people that most need that sort of humility. Look at what happened with William Shatner and Jeff Bezos when they came back from space. Shatner started to say something about what an impactful experience it was, but Bezos cut him off and was like “Woo! Partay!” and switched his attention to a magnum of champagne.