Are there any big technological advances from this program?
Right now all I can think of is the toilet. Which is not a small thing by the way.
Artemis II is competency porn
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Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#12[flagged]
It sent humans around the moon and back though. Can't say that about those other "advancing" programs yet. Little humility here goes a long way.
Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#13I can't stop thinking about this article while reading this: https://idlewords.com/2026/03/artemis_ii_is_not_safe_to_fly....
Clearly in retrospect they made the right call to go ahead though. The heat shield held up fine. Arguably NASA played it extremely safe this time round, high first orbit, no direct TLI, no lunar orbit that you can't come back from if the engines don't fire back up. I think they're very aware of the poor quality of modern manufacturing they're working with, which is why it's all the more impressive that everything wen…
That NASA’s budget is so influenced by politics is why they can’t take the rapid iteration process of SpaceX - NASA can never fail in public. Any failure (even launch delays, as happened with Challenger) gets blown out of proportion and fuels the risk of further budget cuts, which push them to a “safer”, incremental, but very costly process of refining what is already proven rather than researching the less proven technology.
Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#14I didn’t follow the mission much as it occurred, but it’s striking to me how much I understand what the author means. Feels like the first event in many, many years that doesn’t amplify the feeling of being in the absurdist nightmare timeline. Artemis II felt like a 2013 event, not a 2026 event!
Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#15Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#16Are there any big technological advances from this program?
Right now all I can think of is the toilet. Which is not a small thing by the way.
They might have found a way of having two versions of Outlook and at least one of them working.
A lot of it is relearning what was forgotten after the Apollo and shuttle programs. The technologies changed so much it’s a whole new spacecraft that looks like what existed only because that’s the best possible shape.
Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Clearly in retrospect they made the right call to go ahead though. The heat shield held up fine. Arguably NASA played it extremely safe this time round, high first orbit, no direct TLI, no lunar orbit that you can't come back from if the engines don't fire back up. I think they're very aware of the poor quality of modern manufacturing they're working with, which is why it's all the more impressive that everything wen…
That NASA’s budget is so influenced by politics is why they can’t take the rapid iteration process of SpaceX - NASA can never fail in public. Any failure (even launch delays, as happened with Challenger) gets blown out of proportion and fuels the risk of further budget cuts, which push them to a “safer”, incremental, but very costly process of refining what is already proven rather than researching the less proven te…
Exactly this
Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#18I will still wait for the heat shield analysis. Doing a crewed flight was not what I would have done - I’d use a Falcon Heavy to put one or more dummies through different trajectories to make sure we have enough experimental data to extensively model the shield behaviour, especially in non-nominal entries.
Falcon Heavy cannot carry Orion.
Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#19I can't believe the comments here.
"I could have done it better, it's not a big deal, oh, they had women and non white people on board, what even is the shareholder value of this mission, oh it was almost done 50 years ago..."
These people went literally to the moon and back. Furthest anyone has ever been. That's an achievement.
I know things suck right now. Even more reasons to appreciate what is possible with technology.
I agree with the premise of this article. This achievement is inspiring and re-assuring that competency brings results. The alternative is way too depressing AND it mostly is our reality right know.
Re: Artemis II is competency porn
#20Are there any big technological advances from this program?
Artemis II is basically a test mission for Orion. And while flippantly Orion isn't doing anything that Apollo didn't do first, it definitely does it with a lot more margin, more living space, more safety and redundancy, and an actual toilet instead of gross poop bags you had to manipulate your waste into.