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lemmecheckit t1_iztsy4b wrote

Reply to comment by DBDude in Splashdown! NASA's Artemis 1 Orion capsule lands in Pacific to end epic moon mission by glawgii

They beat SpaceX

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purpleefilthh t1_izttl7y wrote

Meanwhile:

Spacex providing crew launches, while NASA alone couldn't.

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DBDude t1_izttmvi wrote

SpaceX already has the ability to do that with Falcon Heavy. They’re just shooting beyond that for a fully reusable trip around the moon.

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lemmecheckit t1_izttt83 wrote

They could do it they just don't want to right?

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DBDude t1_iztvuwv wrote

Don’t need to. Anyone with a sufficiently powerful rocket can recreate this 50+ year-old accomplishment. They want to prove they can do it with 100% reusability.

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happyscrappy t1_izvqxfo wrote

Falcon Heavy is not powerful enough for this mission.

It could do an unmanned-style mission, especially with a smaller payload. But with the power it has it would just take too long to get to the moon and back for humans to put up with. So it can't do this mission.

Which is why it won't be used for Dear Moon. And for the landing it will (or is slated to, Starship might take over) take parts up to the Lunar Gateway. Because it is not an issue if those parts take a long time to get there.

Right now SLS is the only rocket large enough for this mission. Starship will likely change that once it's ready.

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DBDude t1_izwz4am wrote

>Falcon Heavy is not powerful enough for this mission.

I thought he was talking about going around the moon in general. Going around the moon with this payload does require more power.

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sobanz t1_izvonuy wrote

lol, stay mad that something Elon is doing is actively helping nasa.

been enjoying twitter too.

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