The Stars My Destination: Artemis II Splashdown

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Destination Moon
10 April 2026: Wiseman, Glover, Koch, & Hansen conducted a third & final trajectory correction burn shortly before jettisoning the E.S.M., which subsequently burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. The Integrity entered the atmosphere travelling at 24,664 miles per hour, just shy of Apollo 10's record of 26,791 M.P.H. set in 1969. After the heat shield erosion seen on Artemis I, Artemis II bypassed the skip entry blamed for the unusual heating of Artemis I's heat shield & re-entered the atmosphere at a steeper direct trajectory.

The Integrity splashed down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of San Diego, California at 5:07 P.M. Pacific Dayight Time. There were frustrating communications problems between the intrepid foursome & the Navy recovery team, but eventually divers reached the Integrity & attached the floatation collars & rafts necessary to extract Wiseman, Glover, Koch, & Hansen. The astonauts were individually winched up to hovering helicopters & flown to the recovery ship U.S.S. John P. Murtha (LPD-26). The Integrity was winched into the John P. Murtha's well deck & secured for transport to the Naval Base San Diego & then back to the Kennedy Space Center fora thorough post-flight examination & data retrival.

After the Artemis II mission, the astronauts met with the President of the United States in the Oval Office & made numerous other event & media appearances, the traditional post-Moon press tour last seen during the Apollo era. All four were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on 28 August. In September, Jeremy Hansen (age fifty) retired from being a Canadian Space Agency astronaut & both Reid Wiseman (age fifty) & Victor Glover (age fifty) retired from being National Aeronautics & Space Administration astronauts. Only Christina Koch (age forty-seven) remains an active-duty astronaut & potential Moonwalker.

From December 1972 until April 2026, only twenty-four persons had made the voyage from the Earth to the Moon (three of them twice). With Artemis II, four new names are added to that list, which now stands at twenty-eight persons. In the years to come, more names will be added to the twelve to have walked on the Moon. What a time to be alive!

Bonus! Destination Moon Song o' the Day: Artemis II
Phillip Phillips, "Home" from The World from the Side of the Moon (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Artemis Program
2014
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXI: The 10th Anniversary of Exploration Flight Test-1
2022
Artemis I Launch
Artemis I Orbit
Artemis I Splashdown
The 1st Anniversary of Artemis I
2026
Artemis II Launch
Artemis II Flyby

Welcome back to the good Earth, Artemis II!

Ex Luna, scientia.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis II Splashdown

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Stars My Destination: Artemis II Flyby

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Destination Moon
3-9 April 2026: During the flight toward the Moon, the Integrity conducted only one of three planned trajectory correction burns. Wiseman, Glover, Koch, & Hansen tested their Orion Crew Survival Suits & maneuvered the Integrity to gather additional spacecraft handling data. They also had much publicized trouble with the zero-gravity toilet, the issue seemingly being urine freezing in the vent lines. Similar minor problems were encountered throughout the Space Shuttle era.

The quartet approached to within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface & set a new record for the farthest distance humans have flown from Earth, 252,756 miles, surpassing Apollo 13's record from 1970. During the forty minute communications blackout, when the Moon blocked any signals to or from Mission Control on Earth, they ate maple leaf cream cookies that had been packed by the Canadian Space Agency.

Wiseman, Glover, Koch, & Hansen proposed names for two previously unnamed craters: Integrity, after their Orion Crew Module, & Carroll, after Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll Wiseman, who died from cancer in 2020. The names are unofficial until approved by the International Astronomical Union. After emerging from behind the Moon, the intrepid foursome witnessed & photographed a solar eclipse. They conveyed their impressions & observations about the Moon to scientists back on Earth, the human mind & senses being the most exquisite scientific instruments aboard the Integrity.

The Artemis II astronauts shared a call with their N.A.S.A. & E.S.A. colleagues flying on the U.S. Orbital Segment of the International Space Station: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, & Sophie Adenot of Crew-12 & Chris Williams of Soyuz MS-28. The veteran astronauts of Artemis II—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, & Christina Koch—had all flown on long-duration Expeditions to the I.S.S.; only Jeremy Hansen never visited the orbital laboratory.

Two correction burns on flight days seven & nine refined the Integrity's trajectory back toward atmospheric re-entry. A small helium leak on the European Service Module led to the cancellation of manual flight maneuevers, though it was not serious enough to endanger the crew. Helium is not a fuel burned during Orion operations, but is used to pressurize the fuel lines & facilitate the smooth delivery of fuel to the thrusters.

Bonus! Destination Moon Song o' the Day: Artemis II
Glenn Miller, "Moon Love" from the Glenn Miller's 50 Finest compilation (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Say you'll be mine when the Moon disappears…"

Commentary: During the Earthbound leg of the Integrity's voyage, the crew revealed a double-sided version of their mission patch, the reverse side swapping the positions & sizes of the Earth & the Moon, & lacking the crew names.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Artemis Program
2014
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXI: The 10th Anniversary of Exploration Flight Test-1
2022
Artemis I Launch
Artemis I Orbit
Artemis I Splashdown
The 1st Anniversary of Artemis I
2026
Artemis II Launch

Thank you for the "Moon joy," Artemis II!

Ex Luna, scientia.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis II Launch

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Destination Moon
1-2 April 2026: Commander Reid Wiseman (N.A.S.A.), Pilot Victor Glover (N.A.S.A.), Mission Specialist 1 Christina Koch (N.A.S.A.), & Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen (C.S.A.) lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center's LC-39B aboard the Orion Integrity (CM-003 & E.S.M.-2) atop a Space Launch System rocket.

Wiseman was a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Soyuz TMA-13M for Expeditions 40 & 41), Glover was also a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Crew-1 for Expeditions 64 & 65), & Koch was also a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Soyuz MS-12 [launch]/MS-13 [landing] for Expeditions 59, 60, & 61); Hansen was a rookie.

The Artemis II mission had no direct parallel to any Apollo mission, but was comparable to elements of several:

Apollo 7 was the first crewed flight of the Apollo Command & Service Module & Artemis II was the first crewed flight of the Orion Crew Module/European Service Module. Apollo 7 spent eleven days in low Earth orbit before returning to Earth, while Artemis II spent one day in high Earth orbit before heading toward the Moon.

Apollo 8 was the first flight of the Apollo C.S.M., crewed or uncrewed, beyond low Earth orbit & Artemis II was the first crewed flight of the Orion beyond low Earth orbit, though an uncrewed Orion (CM-002) had earlier flown around the Moon on Artemis I. Apollo 8 made ten orbits of the Moon, while Artemis II flew a free return trajectory, only completing half an orbit around the Moon.

Apollo 8 was also the only flight of an Apollo C.S.M. around the Moon without a Lunar Module & Artemis II is scheduled to be the only flight of an Orion around the Moon without either of the two Human Landing System landers currently in development (the Starship H.L.S. from SpaceX & the Blue Moon Mark 2 from Blue Origin).

Apollo 13 flew a free return trajectory after a malfunction disabled the C.S.M. Odyssey, while Artemis II flew on a free return trajectory according to plan, with the Orion Integrity working just fine.

Wiseman, Glover, Koch, & Hansen a day spent checking out the Integrity & her systems in an elliptical high Earth orbit. The quartet demonstrated "proximity operations" with the spent Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage third stage; in October 1968, Apollo 7 had conducted similar maneuvers with its spent S-IVB second stage as a target. On the second day of the flight, Artemis II used the E.S.M.'s main engine to conduct the first crewed trans-lunar injection since Apollo 17 in December 1972. Artemis II was on its way to the Moon.

Bonus! Destination Moon Song o' the Day: Artemis II
They Might Be Giants, "Destination Moon" from John Henry (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"By rocket to the Moon,
By airplane to the rocket,
By taxi to the airport,
By front door to the taxi,
By throwing back the blanket,
Hanging down the legs…"

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Artemis Program
2014
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXI: The 10th Anniversary of Exploration Flight Test-1
2022
Artemis I Launch
Artemis I Orbit
Artemis I Splashdown
The 1st Anniversary of Artemis I

Godspeed, Artemis II!

Ex Luna, scientia.

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: Artemis II

Destination Moon
Republica,"Ready to Go" from Republica (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commenatry: At 6:35:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (5:35:12 P.M. Central Daylight Time at Mission Control), Artemis II lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center with Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist 1 Christina Koch, & Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen aboard the Orion C.M. Integrity atop a Space Launch System (S.L.S.) rocket. Godspeed, Artemis II!

The Explorers' Club, № MLXI

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 10th Anniversary of Exploration Flight Test-1
5 December 2014: An uncrewed & unnamed Orion capsule lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket; E.F.T.-1 was the inaugural flight of an Orion capsule, with a dummy service module; after two orbits, the Orion re-entered the atmosphere, simulating a Moon return; Orion CM-001 splashed down in the Pacific & was recovered by the U.S.S. Anchorage.

Commentary: The second flight of an Orion capsule would not follow for almost eight years, until Artemis I, 16 November-11 December 2022.

Ad astra per aspera.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis I

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 1st Anniversary of Artemis I
One year ago to the day, 16 November 2022, Artemis I lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, an uncrewed, unnamed Orion C.M. atop a Space Launch System (S.L.S.) rocket: the first flight of the S.L.S. launch vehicle, only the second flight of an Orion capsule, & the first flight of a man-rated spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit (L.E.O.) since Apollo 17 in December 1972, almost fifty years earlier.

Over the next twenty-five days, the Orion completed two flybys & half of one distant retrograde orbit of the Moon, returned to Earth, successfully re-entered the atmosphere, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 5 December, & was recovered by the U.S.S. Portland.

"We are going!" Artemis I was only the beginning: The first crewed flight of an Orion, Artemis II, is currently scheduled for November 2024. An S.L.S. launched an Orion into L.E.O. & beyond the Moon for the first time, 16 November 2022, one year ago today.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Artemis I
Liftoff & the Road to Artemis I
Artemis I Launch
Artemis I Orbit
Artemis I Splashdown

Ex Luna, scientia.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis I Splashdown

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Destination Moon
11 December 2022: The Orion Crew Module separated from the European Service Module & conducted a non-ballistic atmospheric entry, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico's Baja California peninsula, & was recovered by the U.S.S. Portland. A principal objective of Artemis I was to test the Orion's heat shield. An Orion's heat shield was previously tested during the return from low Earth orbit at the end of Exploration Flight Test-1, eight years earlier on 5 December 2014.

Evaluation of all phases of the Artemis I mission is ongoing: the Kennedy Space Center's ground operations, procedures, & equipment; the Johnson Space Center's flight operations, procedures, & equipment; the performance of the Space Launch System (S.L.S.) launch vehicle; & the Orion spacecraft, both the Crew Module which was fished out of the Pacific by the crew of the Portland & the European Service Module which burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. To paraphrase Doctor Joe Kerwin, Skylab 2 astronaut & Apollo 13 capsule communicator (CAPCOM): Farewell, E.S.M., & we thank you.

The S.L.S. core stage for Artemis II, the first crewed flight, is scheduled to be transported from N.A.S.A.'s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as March 2023. The launch vehicles for Artemis III, the first crewed Moon landing, & Artemis IV, the second crewed Moon landing & a Gateway space station construction flight, are already being built.

Artemis I was only the beginning. "We are going!"

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: Artemis I
The Phenomenauts, "Welcome Back" from Re-Entry (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Artemis I
Liftoff & the Road to Artemis I
Artemis I Launch
Artemis I Orbit

Ex Luna, scientia.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis I Orbit

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Destination Moon
21 November-5 December 2022: Artemis I passed within eighty-one miles of the Moon's surface, before entering a distant retrograde orbit (D.R.O.) that carried the Orion capsule to a distance of two hundred sixty-eight thousand five hundred sixty-three miles (268,563 mi) from the Earth, surpassing the farthest-distance record for a crew-rated spacecraft set by Apollo 13 in 1970. (The Apollo 13 trio aboard the Odyssey & the Aquarius still hold the farthest-distance record for a crewed spacecraft.)

The Artemis I Orion's D.R.O. is one of the signals that the Artemis Program is not just a latter-day repetition of the Apollo Program. That is not a slight; I revere Apollo. One does not need to be a long-time reader of The Secret Base to realize that I revere Apollo. I invite the curious & open-minded to peruse our copious Apollo posting from last month/last year, December 2022, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 17 & to look back at the triumph of Apollo. But Apollo was a crash program & as such was unsustainable. We absolutely could have pushed on with the Apollo hardware beyond Apollo 17. The surface of the Moon is roughly the size of the African continent & we landed twelve men at six sites, venturing no farther than five miles from any of those sites; additionally, all the Apollo landing sites were on the Near Side of the Moon; no human has ever set foot on the Far Side of the Moon; so, there is absolutely much more to discover about the Moon. No one would accept that twelve men at six sites, for a total of twelve days, would be sufficient to explore all of Africa. But with the goal "of landing a man on the moon & returning him safely to Earth" achieved, we lacked the will to keep going, let alone to go further.

A D.R.O. is a inherently stable orbit & was considered for the forthcoming Lunar Gateway space station, which will serve as a base camp & staging ground for Artemis Moon landing missions: Orion capsules will dock with the Gateway & the Moonwalkers will then transfer to a Starship Human Landing System spacecraft for descent to & ascent from the lunar surface. As it happens, the Gateway is now planned to be placed in a near-rectilinear halo orbit (N.R.H.O.) instead of a distant retrograde orbit, but an N.R.H.O. like a D.R.O. is another stable orbit, meant as a permanent home for the Gateway. We are going back to the Moon, back to stay. The four years between Apollo 8 (December 1968), the first lunar orbital flight, & Apollo 17 (December 17), the final lunar landing, were a Golden Age, but after Apollo 17 we didn't go back for forty-nine years eleven months, until Artemis I. Artemis is going to establish a long-term—dare one hope semi-permanent?—presence on the Moon.

Artemis missions, in the years to come, will explore new & challenging regions of the Moon such as the south pole, where orbital robotic probes have revealed the surprising presence of ice in permanently-shadowed craters. Astronauts, both American & international, will learn to discover & exploit in situ resources, learning the techniques & refining the tools necessary for exploring deep space, beyond low Earth orbit (L.E.O.). We have not left L.E.O. in fifty years; the Moon, through the Artemis Program, will be where we will learn how to explore other worlds, Mars & eventually the rest of the Solar System. We will bring both knowledge & material resources back to Earth, but most importantly we will learn more about ourselves, about what we can accomplish through discipline, determination, & cooperation. We will learn to dream again. Looking around at the nihilism in which our culture is drowning, it is obvious to everyone that we need to learn again how to look to the future with hope instead of dread. Artemis I is where we begin.

And the truth is that I had one eye on an ancient & timeless clock, hung uselessly in heaven; whose very name has passed into a figure for such bemused folly. In the true sense of an ancient phrase, I was moonstruck. A lunar landscape a scene of winter moonlight had inexplicably got between me & all other scenes. If any one had asked me I could not have said what it was; I cannot say now… It was not an adventure; it was a vision.
—G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men (1912)

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: Artemis I
Ian Whitcomb, "Moonstruck" from Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Artemis I
Liftoff & the Road to Artemis I
Artemis I Launch

Ex Luna, scientia.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis I Launch

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Destination Moon
16 November 2022: Artemis I lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center's LC-39B, an uncrewed Orion capsule (Crew Module [C.M.] & European Service Module [E.S.M.]) atop a Space Launch System (S.L.S.) rocket. This was the first flight of the S.L.S. launch vehicle & the first flight of the combined C.M. & E.S.M. Orion spacecraft. Artemis I was the second flight of an Orion capsule, after 2014's Exploration Flight Test-1 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket. This was the first time N.A.S.A. had launched a human-rated spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

"The Stars My Destination" posts will always pay more attention to crewed spaceflights than uncrewed spaceflights. For example, we gave more time to the first crewed flight of a SpaceX Crew Dragon, the Demo-2 mission in 2020, than to the uncrewed Demo-1 mission in 2019, even though Demo-1 was a necessary test flight before Demo-2; we will pay more attention to the first crewed flight of a Boeing Starliner, the Crewed Flight Test (currently scheduled for 2023), than we did to either the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-1 in 2019 or Orbital Flight Test-2 in 2022. We will surely give more coverage (& more prompt coverage) to the crewed Artemis II mission (currently scheduled for 2024) than to Artemis I. Yet all that said, & even as an uncrewed mission, Artemis I is special.

For fifty years, since the return of Apollo 17 in December 1972, we—Mankind generally & the American space program specifically—have not ventured beyond low Earth orbit. We had not gone beyond what we already knew. Yes, there is much important, even vital work to be done in low Earth orbit. The Space Shuttle, for all its unfulfilled promise, succeeded in making outer space more accessible than it had ever been before. Our space stations—N.A.S.A.'s Skylab, the Soviets' several Salyuts & Mir, & the International Space Station—have taught us, are still teaching us how to live & work in space, & how to foster cooperation & collaboration across international boundaries so that when we go into deep space we can go, in the immortal words of Apollo 11, "for all Mankind."

We are going. We are exploring again. Artemis I is only the beginning.

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: Artemis I
Frank Sinatra, "Fly Me to the Moon" from It Might As Well Be Swing (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Artemis I
Artemis I Liftoff

Ex Luna, scientia.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day!

Saint Nicholas Day
The Aquabats!, "Santa Claus's Party!" from the I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas Too! E.P. (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Commentary!: Welcome to Christmas with the R.B.D.S.O.T.D.! I'm pretty severe in wanting to observe Advent & standing athwart the ever-earlier celebration of Christmas. On Catholic Twitter this year, the discourse was about starting to listen to Christmas music ever before Hallowe'en, not just before Thanksgiving. Humbug, I say! But even I am willing to compromise. For those new to The Secret Base, this is the schema: secular Christmas music during Advent, from Saint Nicholas Day 'til Christmas Eve (6-23 December), except on the Sundays of Advent, then sacred Christmas music throughout Christmastide (24 December 2022-8 January 2023).

"Come on, everybody,
To Santa Claus's party!
You may be sure both rich and poor
Are welcome at Santa's door…"

This year, the secular Christmas music will coincide with our celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 17, the ultimate Moon landing of that golden age &, as of this writing, still the most recent Moon landing. (Artemis I has been great, but we are still years away from the first planned Artemis Moon landing mission, Artemis III.)

The R.B.D. Moonshot Song o' the Day: Artemis I

The Phenomenauts, "All Go for Launch" from For All Mankind (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Wayback Machine Tour of the Road to Artemis I
6 April 2021 | 7 April 2021 | January 2022 | August 2022 | September 2022

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: Artemis I

Better Late Than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Republica, "Ready to Go" from Republica (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"Baby, are you ready to go?…"

The answer, manifestly, is no. Further launch attempts within the curent launch window were cancelled this morning when today's launch was scrubbed. It is important to take as much time as is necessary to ensure the safest possible launch, but in the cold light of back-to-back scrubs it is clear this launch attempt was really more of a second wet dress rehearsal; the ground crew at the Kennedy Space Center is not even remotely ready to launch the Space Launch System rocket (S.L.S.). Even if the persistent hydrogen leaks can be fixed at the launch pad, which has the benefit of allowing the system to then be checked at cryogenic temperatures, it will be necessary to return the Artemis I S.L.S. to the Vehicle Assembly Building to replace range-safety equipment which has only a three-week certification.

I fear we shan't see another launch attempt (which I hope will not be a third wet dress rehearsal) until the late October window. "We are going!," but not for weeks, possibly not even for months.

Ad astra per aspera.

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: Artemis I

Potshot, "Don't Fail to Ride" from Dance to the Potshot Record (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: This morning's first attempt to launch the colossal S.L.S. rocket (Space Launch System, which is as dull & uninspiring a name as humanly possible) on the Artemis I mission was scrubbed due to a problem with one of the four engines in the Core Stage, the giant burnt orange central section. The next potential launch window is on Friday, 2 September, but we won't know if a Friday launch is feasible (I suspect not, & fear that the S.L.S. will have to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for partial disassembly) until after a review meeting tomorrow afternoon.

"We are going!," but not today. Ad astra per aspera.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis I

Today's new episode of Houston, We Have a Podcast, the podcast of the Johnson Space Center (originally, the Manned Spacecraft Cebnter), is pretty dry & matter of fact, which I appreciated: Houston, We Have a Podcast-link. Artemis is exciting enough on its own merits, it doesn't need artificial hype. I'm not aware of a specific target date for the launch of Artemis I, though certainly no earlier than March or April.

Semper exploro.

The Stars My Destination: Artemis III & Soyuz MS-17

Yesterday, N.A.S.A. announced the selection of SpaceX as the constructor of the Human Landing System (H.L.S.) to ferry astronauts to & from the surface of the Moon beginning with 2024's Artemis III mission. The H.L.S. Starship beat out more Apollo Lunar Module-like H.L.S. concepts from Dynetics & Blue Origin. I'm inherently leary of Starship's single-stage architecture & not encouraged by the rate at which Starship prototypes keep exploding upon landing during test flights over Texas, but I see little option but to trust that the eggheads at N.A.S.A. know what they're doing. SpaceX has done a bang-up job with the Dragon 2 capsule (in both Crew & Cargo variants) & the Falcon 9 rocket. Starships keep exploding & the Super Heavy rocket has yet to fly, but there are goods reasons to think these systems will eventually be as reliable as the Crew Dragon-Falcon 9 combination, which is set to ferry the Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station (I.S.S.) next week.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Human Landing System
Frank Sinatra, "Fly Me to the Moon" from It Might As Well Be Swing (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

We are now halfway through a busy April of crew rotation aboard the I.S.S. Last Week, two Russian cosmonauts & an American astronaut blasted off to & arrived at the station aboard Soyuz MS-18 (the Yu.A. Gagarin, the first indication I've ever seen that the Russians name their capsules) & today a different trio of two cosmonauts & an astronaut landed safely in Kazahkstan aboard the Soyuz MS-17 (the Favor). Next week, the Crew-2 mission of four astronauts—two Americans, one Japanese, & one European—is set to launch to the I.S.S., withe the Crew-1 mission of four astronauts—three Americans & one Japanese—set to return the week after next. Two down, two to go. What a time to be alive!

The Stars My Destination: Artemis I

A new video from the National Aeronautics & Space Administration: "Artemis I: NASA’s Plans to Travel Beyond the Moon"

The Stars My Destination: Artemis I

There was a drop test today for a Structural Test Article of the Orion capsule. There have recently been a series of tests of the Space Launch System's (S.L.S.) core stage, specifically the RS-25 rocket engines. Here's hoping everything remains on track for Artemis I, an uncrewed flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (consisting of the Crew Module & the European Service Module, analogs of the Apollo Command Module & Service Module) & the S.L.S. booster (consisting of the RS-25-powered core stage & two five-segment Solid Rocket Boosters) into Lunar orbit & then the safe return of the Orion Crew Module back to Earth. Artemis I is scheduled to launch no later than November 2021.

We're going back to the Moon, this time to stay. Let's get excited, people!

Semper exploro.

The Stars My Destination | The Glorious Dead

The anniversaries of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration's three greatest tragedies are clusted together within a five-day period: Apollo 1 on 27 January (1967), the Challenger on 28 January (1986), & the Columbia on 1 February (2003). Here are a pair of recent videos from N.A.S.A. honoring those who gave the last full measure of devotion:

"N.A.S.A. Remembers Fallen Heroes"

"N.A.S.A. Day of Remembrace at Arlington National Cemetery"

These tragedies happened almost with a fearful symmetry: There were nineteen years between the Apollo 1 & Challenger disasters (1967-1986) & seventeen years between the Challenger & Columbia disasters (1986-2003), for an average of a fatal accident every eighteen years. It's been eighteen years since the loss of the Columbia. However, the United States did not launch an astronaut into space for nine years (2011-2020)—a longer lull than that between the end of Apollo & the advent of the Space Shuttle (1975-1981)—fully half of the expected interval, which surely throws off the baleful average.

That said, N.A.S.A. is again launching astronuats through contract with SpaceX (Crew Dragon) & expects soon to be launching astronauts through contract with Boeing (Starliner). N.A.S.A.'s own uncrewed Artemis I mission is scheduled for this year—the Orion capsule atop a Space Launch System rocket—with the crewed Artemis II & Artemis III missions planned by 2024. Let us hope that the lessons of the past have been learned & that no more astronauts nor cosmonauts will need to be added to our roll of honor.

Meanwhile, we here at The Secret Base continue our celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 14, the third successful Moon landing, running through 9 February.

The Stars My Destination

Code Name: CHAOS
Alan Shepard initiated the tradition of American astronauts naming their spacecraft, his Mercury capsule's name Freedom 7 signifying American freedom in opposition to Soviet tyranny, & the seven astronauts of N.A.S.A.'s Astronaut Group 1, the "Mercury Seven" or "Original Seven." This tradition waned during Project Gemini, as we shall see in future episodes of "The Explorers' Club," but waxed again during Project Apollo, as we've already seen.

The reusable Space Shuttles were named, presumably by N.A.S.A. management, since those craft had multiple flight crews; it is unknown if the Orion capsules' names will be chosen by their crews or by N.A.S.A. management. Of course, N.A.S.A. has complicated matters by reusing names among multiple spacecraft: the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia & the Space Shuttle Columbia OV-102, the Apollo 15 Command Module Endeavour & the Space Shuttle Endeavour OV-105, & the Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger & the Space Shuttle Challenger OV-099. The aforementioned Orion capsule, which isn't a single vehicle but a class (of which several are currently planned) shares its name with the Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orion.

We have yet to see if SpaceX's single-use Crew Dragon capsules, scheduled to begin ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station this month—27 May, three weeks from today, if all goes to plan—will be named; if so, let us hope they are better named than SpaceX's autonomous spaceport drone ships, which have profoundly unfortunate names. Boeing's reusable Starliner capsule set to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station beginning next year has been named Calypso.

I am charmed by the naming schema for Blue Origin's rockets: New Shepard for a suborbital booster & New Glenn for an orbital booster, referencing Alan Shepard's suborbital flight aboard the Freedom 7 & John Glenn's orbital flight aboard the Friendship 7.