Artemis

Dakota Tebaldi

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I'm really glad I had the day off because for the several hours now of this lunar flyby both the astronauts and the science team on Earth have been absolutely nerding out over lunar geology to a sickening level and as a geology nerd myself I'm living for it. 😁
 
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Dakota Tebaldi

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Casey Pelous

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Being a little less optimistic maybe at this point, but I gotta say how I feel about this sort of thing in general:

The original lunar module that landed on the Moon could only hold two people, a very small amount of equipment, and barely enough fuel to take off again. It was really about exactly perfect for its job, and I really think there's a possibility that there just isn't a practical, viable way to land something bigger and heavier with more people on it. I think the next lunar lander that actually works is going to have to be not much bigger than the original LEM was.

A lot of people don't like to think that way. When it comes to futurism and space travel especially there's a lot of really wild assumptions that people take for granted and inviolate - like, "in the future the technology will be better, so of course we'll inevitably be able to launch bigger and bigger rockets and land bigger things with more people on the Moon and then Mars". When you suggest that the physics is too prohibitive right now and might remain that way even in the future, they tend to dismiss that with "the science WILL be better, we WILL learn how to do it, it's JUST a matter of time, period". Like, some people will get mad at you for even suggesting it might not turn out that way.
Yeah.

That Rocket Equation doesn't have much wiggle room and there isn't going to be a giant leap in fuel chemistry.
 

Dakota Tebaldi

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Yeah.

That Rocket Equation doesn't have much wiggle room and there isn't going to be a giant leap in fuel chemistry.
Yeah and it's like that across the board really - in physics too. Science is always discovering new stuff across the board of course and a lot of it is exciting, but major discoveries that just really totally change the boundaries of what is possible, like to the point it would need to in order for us to progress the way some imagine we are going to, are very very rare these days.

IMO the "biggest" discoveries these days are being made in biology and biochem.
 
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Noodles

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SO MANY ROUND, SPHERICAL THINGS FLOATING IN SPACE. CHECKMATE, FLAT EARTHERS.
I can hold a baseball next to a frisbee.
 

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Noodles

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Is this a new aspect of frisbee golf?
Its Frisbee baseball now, because golf is boring. One player throws the frisbee, the other tries to knock it down with a baseball.
 

Casey Pelous

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Its Frisbee baseball now, because golf is boring. One player throws the frisbee, the other tries to knock it down with a baseball.
Do you still have to play it really stoned?
 

Noodles

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Ok, I cannot believe we derailed the cool space thread.

[Gently places the train back on the tracks]
 
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Free

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Ok, I cannot believe we derailed the cool space thread.
We did not derail it. We paused it while the Artemis II crew returns to Earth. It's a long trip back.
 
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Veritable Quandry

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The Artemis Crew has reached 48 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. Attempts to play the ABC Road Sign Game failed when no one could find "Q" on the signs they passed.
 
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Noodles

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The Artemis Crew has reached 48 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. Attempts to play the ABC Road Sign Game failed when no one could find "Q" on the signs they passed.
They would be in trouble if Q showed up.

Trouble, or maybe just a wacky adventure where they get to be Robin Hood.

 

Casey Pelous

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I really think we all understand the importance of space toilets. Maybe it is just me, but I don't think you need a PhD in Celestial Mechanics to wrap your head around it, so to speak.

But, if you were puzzled ....

The importance of space toilets, explained

:confusedcat:
 
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Why can't they just hold it in during the trip? That's what my dad would tell me to do. And if it was good enough for my dad...
 
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Dakota Tebaldi

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Artemis returns tomorrow!

There hasn't been much flashy news since the flyby, but they've spent the last two days testing more systems and gadgets aboard Orion and will be spending most of today preparing and resetting the capsule for tomorrow's re-entry. They've got to put a whole lot of stuff away, tie some other stuff down, and break out and install the seats again - all that kinda stuff. Then they gotta get their spacesuits on and that takes a bit of time too.

Splashdown is expected at 8:07pm Eastern time. The mission livestream will still be going as it has been for the entire mission, but a separate officially-designated coverage stream of the re-entry and splashdown begins at 6:30pm and will have presentations and commentary much like the launch and the flyby. That stream is here:


But the existing livestream will probably be showing the same content, to there's no need to switch if you have that one saved.
 
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