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A digression, if I may...

The other night, after almost 50 years, the Saturn V was dethroned as the most powerful rocket ever successfully launched by humanity. I use the word "successfully" because the Soviet N1 rocket actually generated more thrust at liftoff, but all four launch attempts ended in failure. For the first time since Apollo 17, a true moon rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying a spacecraft capable of carrying humans back to the moon.

This Artemis mission is a test flight, so no astronauts are on board the Orion spacecraft. Despite that, it was a spectacular launch. Because the SLS launch vehicle has a higher thrust-to-weight ratio than the Saturn V, it rose from the launch pad much more quickly than it's predecessor. I think it's a bit heavier than the Space Shuttle, but it has more thrust due to an additional RS-25 engine, and more powerful solid rocket boosters.

Watching it rise into the night sky, I was excited, but also a bit melancholy. This was NASA kicking it old-style, so it was very impressive. But it also means that the entire SLS launch vehicle is expended and dropped into the ocean. Of the entire assembly, the only part that is reusable as far as I know is the Orion spacecraft, which makes up a tiny fraction of the overall mass of the stack. I've gotten so spoiled by SpaceX recovering their Falcon boosters that deliberately throwing away hundreds of millions of flight hardware seems strange and incredibly wasteful.

Nevertheless, the launch was successful and spectacular. It marks the first time since the early 70s that a spacecraft capable of carrying humans is going to the moon, and is the first step on humanity's way back to our nearest celestial neighbor. I hope that all of the plans come together and that fresh footprints will be made on the lunar surface sometime in the next few years. And that within my lifetime, humans will finally walk the surface of Mars.

Comments

  1. GaryNovember 22, 2022 at 5:20 AM

    Exciting time indeed. I remember being glued to the TV with my dad for every launch, and watching Neil Armstrong take those first steps. I hope that our return to the Moon, and eventually Mars, will inspire another generation.

    ReplyDelete

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