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Well no, this is exactly what they did during the lunar landing missions. Land; look around a little; leave experiments. A shorter mission means less of those expensive resources need to be taken to keep the crew alive.
Artemis 1 is unmanned, though. Makes perfect sense to extend as far as possible.
And in fairness, a whole lot of Apollo was focused on extending the stay on the lunar surface. Apollo 11 was on the surface for less than 24 hours. Apollo 17 extended that to 75 hours. (Landing to lift-off.)
Nah, Every launch is a scientific one, since launches require great engineering with precision and accuracy in which the experience and knowledge gained will be used to build future spacecraft.
It is a national defense even if simple-minded people can't see it. The Chinese have landed on the far side of the moon and plans to build a base on the moon. The USA has better catch up or be left behind. It is both military and economic competition.
It is true that NASA overspends on some projects. That's why companies like SpaceX and others exit to offer cheaper alternatives.
If I have a say in how my tax money is spent, 80% of it would go to NASA.
I once believed that, too.
After a little research, I had to change my mind.
Government has a "secret rule" - grow or die. In other words, never stop looking for ways to spend more, tax more, borrow more, hire more because the alternative is a short career and no wealth and power.
So I am a bit more cynical about the never ending expansion of government. "Homeland Security" - "TSA" - "Space corps" - - - Why is it that no existing bureaucracy can do the job?
Because government is not in the job of "solving problems". If that was the case, what happened to the "War on Poverty" in the 1960s - 70s? We have more poor folks than ever before. Remember "Federal Housing Projects"? (copied from USSR's Khrushchevyovka?) Failure - failure - failure. And we're stuck paying their bills.
(Don't dare suggest that the CAUSE of most problems is the -looks both ways- THE GOVERNMENT, ITSELF.)
One of the satellites being carried on board the Artemis I mission is NEA Scout, or Near Earth Asteroid Scout. This is a low cost cubesat that will unfold into an 86-square meter solar sail and use it to rendezvous with a nearby asteroid. NEA Scout includes a camera, so we should get some good shots during the fly-by.
Successful fueling test yesterday although they had two hydrogen leaks, one at the same disconnect that caused the problem before. They were able to seal both so we are looking good for another possible launch attempt next Tuesday. Man, this is one complicated rocket system.
Successful fueling test yesterday although they had two hydrogen leaks, one at the same disconnect that caused the problem before. They were able to seal both so we are looking good for another possible launch attempt next Tuesday. Man, this is one complicated rocket system.
Even if it does launch on the 27th, they’re gonna have to redesign the seals. Can’t have this drama every time there’s a launch!
Didn't want to clutter up the forum with a new thread but we have astronauts sitting on the pad launching in 30 minutes to the ISS. Had an Atlas go up yesterday and a SpaceX crew Dragon today and another SpaceX on Friday. Busy launch week at the Cape.
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