The Influence of the Rocket, Rocket Lab to Make it Rain, and the Artemis 2024 mission
ABOUT THIS EPISODE: (from June 23rd)
I have been doing some research into the history of the Space Race, reading up on some recommended books (listed below) and sharing his thoughts on the influence of the rocket on human history.
With the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing coming up on July 20th, we'll be focusing on the comparisons between the Apollo Program and the newly announced Artemis Program to put the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. Alex breaks down the general difference between the two programs and their link to Greek Mythology.
Rocket Lab also has a launch next week of the Electron rocket for the mission #MakeItRain. Spread Love, Spread Science.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-051319a-nasa-artemis-moon-program.html
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-to-partner-with-american-industry-to-supply-artemis-moon-missions
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to Today In Space, the all things space science podcast. For anyone new I am your host, Alex G. Orphanos, science communicator and engineer. My degree is in Aerospace Engineering, with a minor in Jazz Performance. While that may be a strange degree, it gets weirder. I started this podcast 5 years ago to talk about space, and I am not really an expert on a lot of sci-fi or space history. My space interests were in Star Trek, Star Wars, Dragonball Z - which had ALOT of space in it, and I loved rockets. So much so, that when I found out I could go to school to potentially work on the Space Shuttle I applied without even knowing what the industry was really like.
Since I first started the podcast I thought this was a great opportunity, since I wasn’t already an expert nerd on everything space, that means I could learn about it for the first time ad share what I think here, letting us all, hopefully, learn in the process. I am not an expert on the Apollo Program, or the Space Race for that matter. I understand it as an engineer who’s expertise is a direct relation of the space program. I see the effect and understand the magnitude of the Space Race and learned some of the history throughout my degree. Koralev, Goddard, Johnson, Arthur C. Clark, Von Braun, the rocket equation.
But with this anniversary coming up, I wanted to do some homework and share my thoughts as I learn about the history of the Space Race. I grabbed the audiobook ‘Chasing the Moon’ by Robert Stone and Alan Andre. I think we’re going to be do a few episodes on this leading up to the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. I have another book on the Space Race, all recommended by members of the Space Pants Squad on twitter. Thank you. I am currently obsessed with all of the human history events that were tangled up in the eventual race to the Moon.
It’s funny, you hate history in school, or at least I did. I appreciated it, but I didn’t like the act of learning it. Now, I’m basically 30 and LOVE history. I found Dan Carlins podcast Hardcore History on my long drives to my job in CT from Boston. I learned about Gengis Khan, the Persian Empire, the Spartans, and Alexander the Great. And now my obsessive twitch is focused on the Space Race. Wow, what a crazy messed up shit show it was throughout the era of rocket development leading to and during the manned missions to the Moon. World War I, World War II, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and everything else that we could be here for hours talking about how crazy the times were.
All that time you had both people who were passionate about space travel and research and wanted to make it a reality working with those who were trying to use the technology as instruments of war. Each side was working together to develop the technology, while at the same time apparently many did not believe there was any use for rockets or that it was merely a psychological tool in war (which were the thoughts from Americans at the time about the V2 with the Nazi’s after war). Rockets were entangled politically after World War II and operation paper-clip, and while the rocket developed to bring more and more mass into orbit, it was carrying either communication satellites, human beings, or bombs
It’s amazing to think about how the idea and practical use of a projectile could be juggled by the two major super powers at the time who represented two very different ideals. How the rocket was being leveraged by those wanting rockets to conduct science and help the world communicate ideas and others trying to use it to strike fear or help America (or Russia) fight a battle it must win. Both were in play, and somehow through it all we ended up in a time where we can have a space race currently underway where the stakes aren’t as high, but the progress happens nonetheless!
Are we seeing that a war is not needed to get the space industry move forward? It’s truly an amazing time, and all due to the work that was put into achieving one of the most ludicrous things of all time. When the United States planned to go to the moon, the Russians, who were the leaders at the time, were only going into low earth orbit. Going to the moon, bringing combustible fuel to the moons surface and then launching from the moon back to the spacecraft, docking, and then returning to splash land after experiencing a hell-fire of heat reentering the atmosphere - that’s a lot harder than launching into an orbit and then returning for a splashdown.
What I’m trying to say is that I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Pick it up if you’re interested in learning more about the influence of the rocket and the space race. You can get the audiobook from us for free with a free trial of audible by going to audibletrial.com/todayinspace.
Now for some Orbital News
First, let’s talk about the rocket company Rocket Lab, started by Peter Beck and based out of New Zealand. To quote from their mission statement:
“There are endless possibilities for what we can achieve with better access to space, but until now it has been hard to get there.
The satellites of today are getting smaller, doing more and costing less - and thousands of them need to get on orbit. Small satellites have been promised frequent, reliable and affordable dedicated launch for decades. Rocket Lab is delivering on this with a tailored, repsonsive launch service operating right now.”
Rocket Lab is leveraging 3D printing for their rocket engines as a way to save on costs and create rocket engine designs that are not possible the way we traditionally make rockets. Next week, they have another launch, called #MakeItRain which will be the 7th launch of their Electron rocket, which will have 7 payloads on board. Their rocket engine, the Rutherford, will have it’s 70th launch into space
Next, let’s discuss some details of the moon mission NASA has in store for 2024 where the first woman and next man are planned to return to the Moon. We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20th. The 2024 return mission will be called Artemis. And if you know your Greek mythology, Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister. She was incredibly skilled as a huntress and rivaled Apollo in skill, especially in the bow. She hunted a lot with Orion and they were buddies. The Artemis mission sets out to accomplish what Apollo did - land humans on the surface of the moon and return them to Earth safely. But this time the mission architecture will be different, the setup is intended to be a prolonged presence around the Moon.
The Space Launch System will launch the Orion Capsule that will travel to the Moon. The Apollo program launched two spacecraft to the moon for return to earth and travel to the moon. The Command Module and the LEM. The Artemis mission will only launch Orion every mission. In order to allow humans to travel from orbit to the moon, and back again - NASA will need to first construct the Gateway, which in the simplest of terms will be an International Space Station around the Moon. That way, we can send people to the Moon on a regular basis like we do with the ISS. It also allows the human crew more time to get prepared between traveling to the surface, or the travel to get to the station. It allows for more checks and planning than is possible as it was done in the Apollo program. We can also send rovers and landers and crew from the surface of the moon and back more frequently this way.
Based on reports about the current Artemis plans in practicality are showing that NASA has pulled back on how much of the Gateway needs to be completed to accomplish the goal of the 2024 mission date. The Gateway has been a part of NASA’s long term goal for a while now, and while the latest Gateway proposal is much smaller than what they were recommending - I’m very happy to see flexibility on NASA’s part to pick priorities and strategize on making this deadline. 5 years is half the time that Apollo accomplished the task in. Can Artemis really pull this off? If the mission stays true to the name we may actually see the first woman and the next man on the surface of the Moon in 2024. Technology still needs to be developed and tested, and they received funding. I like what I am seeing from NASA strategically in the early stages of a pretty ambitious return to the Moon, for good.
That does it for this episode of Today In Space - next episode I’ll share more of my thoughts on the space race from the book ‘Chasing the Moon’ by Robert Stone and Alan Andre. I’m burning through that audiobook in traffic because I need to escape from being trapped in a car going 20 mph on a highway where the speed limit is 50 mph. It’s gotten really bad here - its unbelievable. But, if you are dealing with city traffic, or need to make better use of that time commuting - get a free audiobook and trial by going to audibletrial.com/todayinspace.
Don’t forget to check out ag3d-printing.com - you can learn about 3D printing, see our current projects like this last one where I had to repair my heated print bed for my Prusa i3 MK2 3D printer. I need that 3D printer to make parts of a certain high temperature material for it’s own upgrade. It’s the only 3D printer I have right now that can do it - 3D printer building another 3D printer. But I had to do some soldering first and test a 3D print to make sure everything worked. You can find it on the website at ag3d-printing.com, on our twitter and instagram @ag3dprinting, and our youtube channel. Subscribe and follow us to learn more!
Follow the podcast @todayinspacepod on twitter and instagram, @todayinspacepodcast on facebook and don’t forget to subscribe to us if you haven’t already on Apple podcasts and Youtube. If you have any questions for us, especially about the Space Race era, the Apollo Program, or the new Artemis program - reach out to us on social media, email [email protected], or in the comments below.
Until next week - be good, spread love, and spread science! Here’s to a fantastic future!
See ya later