Ricky

I am hesitant to get ahead of a proper data review, but I understand the space community’s curiosity, especially when imagery can give the impression of a problem. As you would expect, engineers were eager to inspect the heat shield, starting with diver imagery shortly after splashdown and continuing with the review aboard the ship. No unexpected conditions were observed. I suspect when the images are released, it will be pretty obvious the stark difference between Artemis I and Artemis II head shield performance. As to the question specifically, the discoloration was not liberated material. The white color observed corresponds to the compression pad area and is consistent with the local geometry, AVCOAT byproducts, and transitional heating environments. We observed this behavior in arc jet testing and expected it in this compression pad area. We will complete a full data review across all systems, including the thermal protection system, and make the results publicly available.

On the helicopter leaving the ship right now. This planet is impossibly beautiful from every altitude I’ve seen it…surface to 250,000 miles

LANÇAMENTO DA ARTEMIS II VISTO A PARTIR DE UM CESSNA EM 8K! A NASA colocou um Cessna com uma câmera capaz de gravar em 8k@120fps para registrar o lançamento do SLS com a Artemis II. O vídeo vai da decolagem até a separação dos boosters laterais, e a versão em 8k está nas respostas!

Artemis II has reached its maximum distance from Earth. On the far side of the Moon, 252,756 miles away, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy have now traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history and now begin their journey home. Before they left, they said they hoped this mission would be forgotten, but it will be remembered as the moment people started to believe that America can once again do the near-impossible and change the world. Congratulations to this incredible crew and the entire NASA team, our international and commercial partners, but this mission isn’t over until they’re under safe parachutes, splashing down into the Pacific.

The President’s new budget defunding American science and innovation is dead on arrival, just like last year. As NASA astronauts are literally on their way to the Moon, showcasing the tremendous power of American innovation that the President claims to support, the Administration is actively trying to sabotage their mission and the dedicated team at NASA. After last year's full-scale assault on American science and innovation was rejected by a broad, bipartisan, bicameral coalition — Trump has yet again gone along with Russ Vought's misguided goal to demolish our scientific agencies and drive technical leadership to other countries. When will they learn? Congress understands that science is what creates new cures, creates new jobs, and inspires the next generation. And Congress will reject this terrible budget.

@TaylorHose @McOfficialPlays Congrats and Godspeed to the team!!

I just got out of Integrity for the final time before launch. What an incredible journey this has been. Final count is 393 hours inside a Moon bound spaceship!

I'm honestly SHOCKED at how the general public has NO IDEA Artemis II is taking humans out to the moon and will be the furthest humans have ever flown. Every non-space nerd I've talked to has no idea. WE GOTTA GET PEOPLE STOKED!!!! THESE FOUR HUMANS ARE FLYING TO THE MOON!!!

@SecWar Hello there big ass engine

The fight for space is the fight for the future-a fight America will win. Once we unlock America’s innovative spirit, there’s nothing we can’t do. Build fast, Colorado! 🚀

.@SECWAR “Make no mistake: the FIGHT for space is the fight for the future of the world as we know it.”

.@SECWAR gave remarks while visiting Sierra Space in Louisville, Colorado: “On behalf of the entire Department of War, we came here with a simple message: Thank you for what you’re doing. Thank you for having the backs of our warfighters.”

@NASAAdmin This amount of transparency and depth is so comforting to see, thank you!

As an update to my earlier post. - The ICPS helium bottles are used to purge the engines, as well as for LH2 and LOX tank pressurization. The systems did work correctly during WDR1 and WDR2. - Last evening, the team was unable to get helium flow through the vehicle. This occurred during a routine operation to repressurize the system. - We observed a similar failure signature on Artemis I. - The Artemis II vehicle is in a safe configuration, using ground ECS purge for the engines versus the onboard helium supply. - Potential faults could include the final filter between the ground and flight vehicle, located on the umbilical, though this seems least likely based on the failure signature. It could also be a failed QD umbilical interface, where similar issues have been observed. It could also be a failed check valve onboard the vehicle, which would be consistent with Artemis I, though corrective actions were taken to minimize reoccurrence on Artemis II. Regardless of the potential fault, accessing and remediating any of these issues can only be performed in the VAB. As mentioned previously, we will begin preparations for rollback, and this will take the March launch window out of consideration. I understand people are disappointed by this development. That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor. During the 1960s, when NASA achieved what most thought was impossible, and what has never been repeated since, there were many setbacks. One historic example is that Neil Armstrong spent less than 11 hours in space on Gemini 8 before his mission ended prematurely due to a technical issue. A little over three years later, he became the first man to walk on the Moon. There are many differences between the 1960s and today, and expectations should rightfully be high after the time and expense invested in this program. I will say again, the President created Artemis as a program that will far surpass what America achieved during Apollo. We will return in the years ahead, we will build a Moon base, and undertake what should be continuous missions to and from the lunar environment. Where we begin with this architecture and flight rate is not where it will end. Please expect a more extensive briefing later this week as we outline the path forward, not just for Artemis II, but for subsequent missions, to ensure NASA meets the President’s vision to return to the Moon and, this time, to stay.

@EricRWeinstein Wouldn’t this essentially verify that a whole branch of science is under extreme classification? Science (to me) seems like one of things where there exists real potential for outsiders to stumble upon secret discoveries. Do you think this is possible?

An enormous secret is buried here. I have failed to guess it, year after year.

Today, on NASA’s Day of Remembrance, we honor the astronauts of Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia. Honoring our crews isn’t about stepping back from risk, it’s about facing it with clarity. The impact of their lives and their missions is carried by every engineer, every astronaut, and every team working across the agency today, and in the work preparing us to go farther than ever before. Apollo 1: Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee Challenger (STS-51L): Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe Columbia (STS-107): Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon

@phobophobiophi1 @Brian_C_Neumann @DJSnM I get trained to that standard yearly!

@Brian_C_Neumann @DJSnM Do they still teach this? We had to lace wiring looms for our projects by hand when I was in school in the early 90's but I've never encountered it in my professional life. I presumed it was just our elderly tutor teaching us how improvise and overcome austerity.

I once found a NASA document with specifications for aerospace grade knots, noting that granny knots are specifically forbidden on spaceflight hardware.

@latestinspace Yes.

@MattGialich I love Dragonfly..An autonomous ~1,000-pound, radioisotope-powered octocopter flying for years in −290°F temps on Titan is exactly the kind of near-impossible science mission NASA exists to achieve.

@RealJamesWoods We are just getting started.

This is one more Thanksgiving message in timelines filled with thousands. I know I have much to be grateful for, but today I am thinking about the families of the National Guardsmen who were shot yesterday and about friends battling childhood cancer. I am choosing to think less about our differences and the discourse, and more about our shared humanity--and what we can accomplish through some measure of unity. It is the same spirit you see with the astronauts enjoying their holiday meal 250 miles above us on the first stop of a near-infinite journey. Happy Thanksgiving

It was painfully obvious NASA should stop building big rockets on February 6, 2018, with the debut of Falcon Heavy. It became a mockery with the second flight of Starship in Nov. 2023. Now we have New Glenn. Enough already.