The Artemis Program | A recreation of the Artemis and Orion lunar programs from Eyes turned skywards | 1995 - 2010

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

On 5/10/2022 at 2:44 PM, ra4nd0m said:

Same here. It's summer session time for all students across the world so good luck and don't catch too many retakes!)

Ah thanks. British exams are much different though ha, they’re many times harder than the American equivalent, and they’re taken 2 years earlier. We also don’t get retakes either. I’ll be fine though, I’m get good grades and I’ve been preparing all year for this. I’m just exited to return to Artemis after

[Jacktical]

1 hour ago, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

Ah thanks. British exams are much different though ha, they’re many times harder than the American equivalent, and they’re taken 2 years earlier. We also don’t get retakes either. I’ll be fine though, I’m get good grades and I’ve been preparing all year for this. I’m just exited to return to Artemis after

I feel you with exams, got my mocks in a few months haha

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

Hey everyone, just thought I’d give you an update. As it stands, I have like a week and a half left of exams, then I’m free. Once that’s over, I’ll be waiting for Rogerwang86’s new Altair to come out, as he’s making an ETS version. After, that, missions should start again

[towermom9]

@AmateurAstronaut1969 hey uhh random question but is there like version of ksp and a modlist for this recreation? also what is the mod that adds the robotic arm in the station?

On 4/24/2022 at 11:44 PM, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

                                           Freedom Expedition 32 - 30th September 1996
                                                                                                                          It's a test...still a test!

Crewed Block V

After the successful launch of Artemis 1 back in March, the Apollo block V system has been fully fully crew rated and verified. Before crewed flights for the Artemis program begin,  a full manned test of the block V must be done.  Expedition 32 will carry the new Apollo spacecraft to Freedom, along with a block IV mission module for a 2 week test flight.

The crew chosen to fly on the new spacecraft are:

- Commander, Michael Lawson - A veteran of the Freedom program, and his last spaceflight

- Pilot, Natalie Duncan - The first woman to graduate NASA's pilot training scheme

The crew will use their two weeks aboard Freedom to film the movie ''The dream is alive'' using an IMAX camera system brought up aboard the Crew module

The crew board their Saturn M02, ready to launch in a matter of hours

Liftoff!

Passing through Max-Q

''Expedition 32, you are go for staging!''

''Copy that Houston''

Successful staging

Nominal orbital insertion, prepare for spacecraft separation

Block V spreads it's wings

Mission module extraction

After 15 hours, Block V approaches Freedom

Docking confirmed

After 14 days, the crew wrap-up filming and depart from the Station

Mission module jettison

Apollo preforms it's deorbit burn and prepares for SM separation

Gasses begin to compress around the CM and generate heat

Drogue chute deployment

Mains drawn

The crew splashdown safely only 2 kilometres from the target zone, close to the coast of Hawaii

 

Apollo Block V is now certified for Crewed flight, a major step in the Artemis program. Block V spacecraft will soon replace Block IV spacecraft, transporting crew to both Freedom and the moon!

(p.s. english is not my first language)

Edited June 21, 2022 by towermom9

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

On 6/21/2022 at 8:12 AM, towermom9 said:

@AmateurAstronaut1969 hey uhh random question but is there like version of ksp and a modlist for this recreation? also what is the mod that adds the robotic arm in the station?

(p.s. english is not my first language)

Robotic arm is HabTech

sorry I’m not publishing a mod list, it’s too much effort because I have probably over 100

for version, I use 1.11.2, it’s the most stable for me

[Jacktical]

2 hours ago, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

Robotic arm is HabTech

sorry I’m not publishing a mod list, it’s too much effort because I have probably over 100

for version, I use 1.11.2, it’s the most stable for me

How did your GCSEs go?  

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

21 hours ago, Jacktical said:

How did your GCSEs go?  

Great thanks man. I'm an academic person really, so it wasn't too big of a fuss. The real impact was mentally tho, I really didn't expect how stressful and stuff it'd be. I'm good now tho

[Jacktical]

22 minutes ago, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

Great thanks man. I'm an academic person really, so it wasn't too big of a fuss. The real impact was mentally tho, I really didn't expect how stressful and stuff it'd be. I'm good now tho

I feel ya, mocks have been a big change lol

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

   Pegasus first flight - 10th October 1997
Giving wings to the Artemis program

Pegasus ECUS

The ECUS (Exploration Cryogenic Upper Stage) is an essential part of the Artemis program, being the stage which sends all the mission components from LEO to the moon. During it's development, bidding took place between McDonell Douglass, planning for a 6.6m diameter stage, similar to the S-IVB, and Northrop, who recently acquired General Dynamics and was planning on upscaling their Centaur.  McDonell's bid was more expensive, as it required advanced tooling and extra dry mass to produce their inverted bulkhead. Despite it yielding a higher preforming stage, NASA eventually chose Northrop's bid, a 5.5m stage, which was named Pegusas as it gave wings to the Artemis program.

Now, almost half a decade later, Pegasus is preparing to fly, launching partially fuelled on a Saturn M02 and inserting itself into a Heliocentric orbit.

Launch commit and liftoff!

Pegasus pressurisation nominal

We have J-2 chilldown, 43 seconds to sep

We have good indication of Stage Separation

Pegasus is exposed to the vacuum  of space

Nominal orbit achieved, commencing Pegasus separation

After testing systems in LEO, the RL10's ignite to send Pegasus into a Heliocentric orbit

Cuttoff

With it's tanks fully drained, Pegasus cruises into deep space

[ra4nd0m]

So Apollo block V looks very similar to orion capsule while the mission profile is essentially our world artemis just without lop-g. So I assume that crewed missions will be launched atop Saturn H003?

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

On 6/27/2022 at 2:55 PM, ra4nd0m said:

So Apollo block V looks very similar to orion capsule while the mission profile is essentially our world artemis just without lop-g. So I assume that crewed missions will be launched atop Saturn H003?

No, it’s nothing like irl Artemis actually. If you want to read it in detail, check the ETS page here, but since that’s spread over many posts and chapters, I’ll summarise it here.

Launch 1 - Cargo lander + Pegasus, 6 months before main mission

Launch 2 - Pegasus

Launch 3 - Apollo & Lander, rendezvous with Pegasus and go to the moon

Apollo doesn’t wait in NRHO, like irl with Orion, but at L2, where JWST is currently.

[ra4nd0m]

Wow this is crazy! So pegasus is somehow cryogenicaly cooled or they are launched like gemini agena target vehicle? So how does this stack is supposed to look like? Aren't thrust vector will be retrograde relative to crew like in nasa's saturn venus mission proposal? 

 

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

1. Pegasus doesn’t wait long, only a day or so. It’s not too much boiloff.

2. You’ll see in a few posts time the full stack. As we stand, Artemis II will maybe be up tomorrow, Artemis III soon after, and then Artemis IV will be the first landing.

3. Yes, the crews sit “eyes out” like in Apollo Venus or Constellation. It actually isn’t bad for the crew, the G force isn’t too much

8 hours ago, ra4nd0m said:

Wow this is crazy! So pegasus is somehow cryogenicaly cooled or they are launched like gemini agena target vehicle? So how does this stack is supposed to look like? Aren't thrust vector will be retrograde relative to crew like in nasa's saturn venus mission proposal? 

Edited June 29, 2022 by AmateurAstronaut1969

[ra4nd0m]

11 hours ago, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

Pegasus doesn’t wait long, only a day or so. It’s not too much boiloff.

Sooo if crew launch for some reason had been cancelled the Pegasus deorbits itself? Does things such this ever happend in ETS? 

But 6 Rl-10 design is amazing. Something i've done in ksp myself to provide MOAR thrust.)

BTW I think you made a little mistake. Webb sits in L2 point of Sun-Earth system which is approx 1.5 million km away while the moon is only 384k km. So Apollo should wait in L2 point of Earth-Moon system to provide adequate conditions for such a mission.

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by ra4nd0m

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

5 hours ago, ra4nd0m said:

Sooo if crew launch for some reason had been cancelled the Pegasus deorbits itself? Does things such this ever happend in ETS? 

But 6 Rl-10 design is amazing. Something i've done in ksp myself to provide MOAR thrust.)

BTW I think you made a little mistake. Webb sits in L2 point of Sun-Earth system which is approx 1.5 million km away while the moon is only 384k km. So Apollo should wait in L2 point of Earth-Moon system to provide adequate conditions for such a mission.

 

Yes, sorry it’s the earth moon L2. My mistake 

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

Sorry for taking so long between posts, I've had Artemis II done for over a week, I just couldn't be bothered to type it up. It should be up later hopefully

Edited July 5, 2022 by AmateurAstronaut1969

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

 

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by AmateurAstronaut1969
remove accidental post

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

Artemis II - 5th February 1998
The Artemis program test flight

All up testing

Issued in 1993, the contract for the Artemis landers went out to Boeing, having recently acquired the Grumman corporation who designed the LM. The design, as similar to the LM it was, was different in many ways. The descent stage for example had to preform the crewed landings, and cargo landings, meaning it needed it's own flight control computers, attitude control system, gyroscopes etc. This was all relatively straightforward however, the difficult part was the surface habitat.

 The problem was that the 9t of mass allocated for the surface habitat could only get the crew roughly 70 cubic meters of space, a space that would be cramped, need extensive use of multi-use space, and wouldn't allow for anything aside basic occupation.
Figure 1 below shows the Design reference habitat:


However, with recent leaps forward in Kevlar and other such woven composites, a team of engineers proposed reducing the fixed hab space to 60 cubic meters, and rotating it to a squat, vertical cylinder. With that extra mass, they proposed they could create a ''loft'', a deployable inflatable habitat, to be used for crew quarters and wardroom space, with a whole extra 60 cubic meters of space.
Figure 2 below shows this upgraded habitat.

This immediately caught traction with the main Artemis surface team, as it could solve the problems of the Hab. A small subscale demonstrator was created and tested in vacuum chambers in 1997, which proved the design worked in space. With the main design then chosen, the team got to work designing a full flight article for Artemis II, known as the Artemis program test flight.

Late Jan 1998, Artemis II rolls out to launch complex 39

On the pad, Artemis II prepares for liftoff, Feb 5th 1998

Tank pressure nominal

 

Launch commit

Liftoff

The centre core throttles down to reduce the G load during Max-Q and to conserve fuel for once the boosters separate

Good visual indication of S-IG separation

Fairing release, exposing the Cargo lander stack

Stage separation and S-IVC ignition

Separation from the S-IVC, just shy of orbit, leaving Pegasus to complete orbital insertion

This mission carries a docking adapter between the Lander and the Pegasus, something which isn't planned for use on Artemis cargo lander flights. This is in order to test the LPAS (Large Payload Attachment System) which will join the Pegasus and the crew stack on later missions.

In order to test it, the lander and Pegasus will undock, move away different differences and redock with a variety of speeds, lighting conditions and angles, in order to prove the LPAS in space.

Undocking

After a day of repeating this, the lander goes for one final test...

Successful redocking

After verifying the LPAS, Artemis II is cleared for TLI, sending it on a trajectory similar to a Lunar insertion, however it will not be going to the moon.

RL-10 performance nominal

The Pegasus is ow dumped through pyrotechnic separators as it would be during a normal mission

The engineers wait anxiously as the loft begins to inflate

So far, no leakages have been detected

To test a full descent stage burn, the Lander changes it's orbital inclination up and down by 7 degrees, using it's different engine modes - 3 for LOI and descent, 1 for final descent and 2 for if the centre engine fails.

At earth Apogee, the Lander preforms a final burn to send it into the atmosphere, just as the Pegasus did after separation

Arriving at earth after a week of testing alone in orbit, the Engineers have verified the lander and are happy for it to be disposed of.  Particular care was taken to monitoring the loft, and the Artemis surface team are happy with it, letting in little radiation, and holding itself against the vacuum of space incredible well.

Preparing to enter Earth's atmosphere

 

[guest10985]

What mod did you use for the hab?

 

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

13 hours ago, guest10985 said:

What mod did you use for the hab?

 

It’s a Kitbash of lots of mods

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

  Artemis III - 14th-15th June 1998
The greatest test flight

The relay race

 

The first crewed flight of the Artemis program would be Artemis III, consisting of a dual launch profile. On June 14th, a Saturn H03 would carry a Pegasus and the Artemis crew lander into LEO to wait for the crew. A day later, the crew would launch abord a Saturn M02 in their Block V spacecraft, and would rendezvous with the Artemis III stack. After this, the mission will follow a similar profile to Artemis II, with the crew boosting into an elliptical earth orbit using the Pegasus. 

Aboard this mission are some of NASA's best pilots:

- Commander Jack Bailey, first commander of Freedom

- Pilot Chris Valente, an equally experienced Pilot

- Kate Vaughn

- James Green

To preform a thorough testing of the lander, the flight plan calls for Bailey and Vaughn to Pilot it away from the Apollo, and over the next couple of days to change the inclination in short burns by a maximum of 7 degrees, aptly named 'the relay race'.

As Artemis III is a similar mission to Apollo 9 & 10, the crew have kept up the tradition of naming the vehicles comedically. Inspired by the relay race in the mission profile, the crew decide to name their lander 'Roadrunner' and call their Block V 'Wile E. Coyote'

Artemis 3A - June 14th

Artemis 3A preparing to launch from LC-39A

Artemis 3B spectates from LC-39B

Liftoff

Passing through Max-Q

Coming up on booster staging

Fairing jettison

 

Core separation

Pegasus orbital insertion burn

Orbit achieved

Artemis 3B - June 15th

F-1 ignition

Liftoff

Pressurisation nominal, Artemis 3B is go at T+ 1 minute

Go for staging

Guidance is on target, proceed to orbit

Block V separation

 

Wile E. Coyote prepares to rendezvous with Roadrunner  and Pegasus 03

Go for docking

After a few hours of systems checks, the crew prepares to repeat the LPAS dockings that were demonstrated in Artemis II

Redocking

The crew go for another, longer docking

After the LPAS system is fully tested, the crew prepare to relight the Pegasus's engines and boost themselves into a high earth orbit, mimicking a lunar return trajectory.

Pegasus separation

After a day, Jack Bailey and Kate Vaughn board Roadrunner

Under the supervision of Wile E. Coyote, Jack Bailey does a spacewalk from the Airlock to check if it's functioning

Roadrunner uses its RCS to depart, before firing up it's engines 30m later and beginning the relay race

After a day of altering it's inclination back and forth, Roadrunner's descent stage is close to empty

The Ascent stage separates from it's cradle, preparing to light it's Russian S5.92 Hypergolic pressure-fed engines. The Engineers had to look outside of the US in order to get the performance required for the ascent stage, looking to Russia where they had squeezed the absolute maximum out of Hypergols and pressure-fed engines, resulting in an extra 10s or 20s or ISP more than American designs.

Ignition

After another day, Roadrunner rendezvouses with Wile E. Coyote

Docking

The crew does a burn to put them on a trajectory that will land them off the coast of Hawaii, simulating a Lunar return burn

 

Roadrunner is jettisoned, which has been acting as the mission module for the crew 

A couple of hours later, the crew prepare for SM separation

 

Wile E. Coyote reorients itself, preforming the skip reentry first done on Artemis I

First pass

Second pass

Drogues out

Mains deployed

Artemis III splashdown

 

[Angelo Kerman]

Always fun to see ETS-inspired missions play out in KSP!

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

3 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Always fun to see ETS-inspired missions play out in KSP!

Thanks, I enjoy bringing the missions outlined in ETS to life. Like being a descriptive, reading based story, I find it cool to see a representation of what they would have looked and functioned like

[Daelkyr]

What is used for the Pegasus parts? They look amazing.

[Dr_Scrublord]

Wow. How did you get the BDB Apollo pod so shiny? Are you using TextureUnlimited Configs?