Just received a link from NASA on the Artemis one mission. I thought it was informative and very cute.
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moonikin-comic/#campSending the Orion capsule around the moon sounds like a pretty decent test to me as opposed to the risk of live astronauts in low earth orbit. Will have instrumented manikins onboard with one dressed in a spacesuit. If everything is "nominal" then that ought to be a pretty good test of systems without risking live humans. Thing that caught my eye was the booster(s) are rated at 8.8 million pounds of thrust. The Saturn V did 7.6 million pounds of thrust. With that much power, that would be a cool launch to watch "live" (at a safe distance of course). I'd expect it would roar with a sound like a Saturn V or more unless technology has cut down the sound footprint of a rocket. Hold onto your hats folks. Kurt
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moonikin-comic/#campSending the Orion capsule around the moon sounds like a pretty decent test to me as opposed to the risk of live astronauts in low earth orbit. Will have instrumented manikins onboard with one dressed in a spacesuit. If everything is "nominal" then that ought to be a pretty good test of systems without risking live humans. Thing that caught my eye was the booster(s) are rated at 8.8 million pounds of thrust. The Saturn V did 7.6 million pounds of thrust. With that much power, that would be a cool launch to watch "live" (at a safe distance of course). I'd expect it would roar with a sound like a Saturn V or more unless technology has cut down the sound footprint of a rocket. Hold onto your hats folks. Kurt
