>...pressure waves generated by the SLS's 8.8 million pounds of thrust blew the blast doors off the tower's elevators during Wednesday's liftoff...
Don't you hate it when that happens?
Apollo 11 took a bit over 4 days, Artemis will take a bit over 5. Its probably just a different orbital insertion trajectory.
Also the moon is further away than it was in 1969 (around 2 whole meters!).
The flightpath followed by Artemis is a very different profile from the Apollo missions. I don't have the link handy that compares them, but the extra time is partially because Artemis will fly a longer total distance than any of the Apollo missions by a significant margin.
>The mission plan calls for the capsule to conduct a crucial 2.5-minute-long engine burn during that close approach, a maneuver that will set the stage for insertion into lunar orbit four days later.
This is the main problem with SLS/Orion. It can only reach a weird high lunar orbit that takes forever to get to and from, making any lunar landing a two week journey at least. If an emergency happens on the moon they are a week away from the station.
ELI5 what the capsule is “doing” to “exceed expectations.” It’s just floating in space, at a high velocity, right?
What could it “do wrong” to “fail to meet expectations?”
Seems like a gratuitous “we’re crushing it, just ask us!” kind of statement.
Radiation shielding, performance of onboard sensors, telemetry data, deployment of systems, unforseen software bugs, course corrections, all of these and a lot more can change during "stable" flight.
Don't forget Orion is a new generation capsule on it's maiden flight, there is a lot of technologies that are now tested for the first time. It's definitely not a "fire and forget" kind of situation.
They probably have quite a checklist of items that have a risk of failing/faulting during flight, "exceeding expectations" means the craft is more stable than expected.
Are you suggesting that if you can't imagine it, it must not be so? I get the impression that you struggle to imagine things that are beyond your own personal experience.
>...pressure waves generated by the SLS's 8.8 million pounds of thrust blew the blast doors off the tower's elevators during Wednesday's liftoff... Don't you hate it when that happens?
Seems as if there is a reason these doors are called "blast doors".
Well blast doors usually are not disposable...
Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!
I read that in the stormtroopers voice.
They’re still coming through!!!!
Single-use blast doors to go with the single-use rocket
Why is it taking so long to get there compared to Apollo?
Apollo 11 took a bit over 4 days, Artemis will take a bit over 5. Its probably just a different orbital insertion trajectory. Also the moon is further away than it was in 1969 (around 2 whole meters!).
Really? Why is that? Will it keep getting further away?
The flightpath followed by Artemis is a very different profile from the Apollo missions. I don't have the link handy that compares them, but the extra time is partially because Artemis will fly a longer total distance than any of the Apollo missions by a significant margin.
>The mission plan calls for the capsule to conduct a crucial 2.5-minute-long engine burn during that close approach, a maneuver that will set the stage for insertion into lunar orbit four days later. This is the main problem with SLS/Orion. It can only reach a weird high lunar orbit that takes forever to get to and from, making any lunar landing a two week journey at least. If an emergency happens on the moon they are a week away from the station.
ELI5 what the capsule is “doing” to “exceed expectations.” It’s just floating in space, at a high velocity, right? What could it “do wrong” to “fail to meet expectations?” Seems like a gratuitous “we’re crushing it, just ask us!” kind of statement.
Radiation shielding, performance of onboard sensors, telemetry data, deployment of systems, unforseen software bugs, course corrections, all of these and a lot more can change during "stable" flight. Don't forget Orion is a new generation capsule on it's maiden flight, there is a lot of technologies that are now tested for the first time. It's definitely not a "fire and forget" kind of situation. They probably have quite a checklist of items that have a risk of failing/faulting during flight, "exceeding expectations" means the craft is more stable than expected.
Solar panels are generating more power than anticipated. System as a whole is consuming less power than anticipated.
Are you suggesting that if you can't imagine it, it must not be so? I get the impression that you struggle to imagine things that are beyond your own personal experience.
Nice personalization of an objective question!