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I know there is a lot of controversy and thoughts around the Artemis program/SLS but I personally am extremely excited for it all. I missed all of the Apollo mi

I know there is a lot of controversy and thoughts around the Artemis program/SLS but I personally am extremely excited for it all. I missed all of the Apollo missions and while there was some exciting things going on the last 10 years, the next 10 look like they will be absolutely thrilling. I cant wait to see the SLS launch and the moon missions come along. Launches from private companies (SpaceX, RKLB, Astra, etc) are also exciting, and I cant wait to see the options for rocket launches increase over the next few years.

n8cpdx 5y ago
I’m excited about the next 10 years, mostly because of commercial crew and similar programs. SLS is a death trap and an exorbitant expense. If we wanted to roll the dice with American lives, we could play Russian roulette and save $1,000,000,000 each time. Or we could just send a bunch of astronauts to the chair. With the fabulous savings, we could fund social programs, or multiple launches of commercial equivalents. The one aspect of our space program I have a really hard time with is the unnecessary death that’s involved. I remember watching the astronauts die in 2003 and don’t want to see it again. The safety issues and poor engineering are even more offensive to me than the idea of spending $1,000,000,000 per launch, and additional ~$n,000,000,000 to build the accessories. Edit, forgot the link: https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/sls-is-cancellation-too-good/ https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/sls-is-cancell...
- thebigman433 5y ago
  What are the major safety concerns with SLS? Thats something I havent seen written much. It seems like it would have extremely standard safety features, especially since you can jettison the capsule now (unlike the shuttle). Im excited about commercial crew for sure, but something about it actually being done by NASA makes me more excited. Private launches are cool and great, but it doesnt quite scratch the same itch imo
  - wolf550e 5y ago
    Your itch scratching costs $4.1B per launch according to NASA OIG: "We also project the current production and operations cost of a single SLS/Orion system at $4.1 billion per launch for Artemis I through IV, although the Agency’s ongoing initiatives aimed at increasing affordability seek to reduce that cost." source: https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-22-003.pdf https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-22-003.pdf
mrjangles 5y ago
Well I got bad news for you. SLS will probably never fly, and it will definitely never reach the moon. NASA pretty much accepted this publicly when they gave SpaceX the contract to have Starship fly itself to the moon and pick up the astronauts once there.

n8cpdx 5y ago

I’m excited about the next 10 years, mostly because of commercial crew and similar programs. SLS is a death trap and an exorbitant expense. If we wanted to roll the dice with American lives, we could play Russian roulette and save $1,000,000,000 each time. Or we could just send a bunch of astronauts to the chair. With the fabulous savings, we could fund social programs, or multiple launches of commercial equivalents. The one aspect of our space program I have a really hard time with is the unnecessary death that’s involved. I remember watching the astronauts die in 2003 and don’t want to see it again. The safety issues and poor engineering are even more offensive to me than the idea of spending $1,000,000,000 per launch, and additional ~$n,000,000,000 to build the accessories. Edit, forgot the link: https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/sls-is-cancellation-too-good/ https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/sls-is-cancell...

thebigman433 5y ago
What are the major safety concerns with SLS? Thats something I havent seen written much. It seems like it would have extremely standard safety features, especially since you can jettison the capsule now (unlike the shuttle). Im excited about commercial crew for sure, but something about it actually being done by NASA makes me more excited. Private launches are cool and great, but it doesnt quite scratch the same itch imo
- wolf550e 5y ago
  Your itch scratching costs $4.1B per launch according to NASA OIG: "We also project the current production and operations cost of a single SLS/Orion system at $4.1 billion per launch for Artemis I through IV, although the Agency’s ongoing initiatives aimed at increasing affordability seek to reduce that cost." source: https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-22-003.pdf https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-22-003.pdf

mrjangles 5y ago

Well I got bad news for you. SLS will probably never fly, and it will definitely never reach the moon. NASA pretty much accepted this publicly when they gave SpaceX the contract to have Starship fly itself to the moon and pick up the astronauts once there.