![]() In contrast to Apollo’s crowded control panels, which featured hundreds of manual switches and controls designed to be operated by hands in bulky pressure suit gloves, Orion will be fully controllable via just a small number of flatscreen interfaces (similar to SpaceX’s manned Dragon spacecraft) with limited switches. While the longest Apollo mission (Apollo 17) lasted about 12 and a half days, Orion is designed to accommodate spaceflights up to 21 days in length. With a diameter of 16.5 feet (5m about 3 feet or 1m wider than Apollo), Orion’s extra space should come in handy during longer-duration missions. The Orion CM is larger than its Apollo counterpart and can accommodate four astronauts per mission, as compared to Apollo’s three. Its three solid rocket motors can be ignited if a situation arises requiring the astronauts to separate from SLS during launch. Like Apollo’s CSM, Orion will also be topped by a launch escape system that fits over the CM. Lockheed Martin manufactures the spacecraft’s Crew Module (CM), which is coupled with an ESA-built Service Module (SM). Orion was originally designed to be part of NASA’s now-cancelled Constellation Program, which Artemis has since superseded. The Orion spacecraft, which will carry human crews, is analogous to the Apollo Command and Service Modules (CSM). It is built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which also built the Space Shuttle Program’s external tanks. The core stage will hold more than 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of liquid hydrogen and almost 200,000 gallons (757,000 l) of liquid oxygen. Early Artemis flights will use upgraded leftover Space Shuttle Main Engines, or SSMEs, but later flights will use an improved version of this proven, reliable design. The Artemis core stage, in addition to containing liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel tanks, will house four RS-25 engines, while the shuttle’s external tank had no engines of its own and instead powered the shuttle orbiter’s three main RS-25 engines. ![]() The core stage, despite its familiar look, is fundamentally different than the shuttle’s external tank. After these leftover booster components are used up, Northrop Grumman will begin producing new SRB segments for later Artemis misisons. These segments will initially be manufactured from leftover hardware from the shuttle program. The larger SRBs will allow Artemis to send payloads beyond Earth’s orbit - something the shuttle’s SRBs could not do. SLS’ SRBs will consist of five segments each, compared with four segments for the shuttle’s SRBs. Although on the surface, this looks a lot like the Space Shuttle Program’s launch vehicle, which consisted of two SRBs and an external tank, there are several key differences. SLS consists of two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) attached to a central liquid-fueled core stage. While all versions of the SLS are physically imposing, some will be even taller than the famed Saturn V rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. SLS can carry payloads of various sizes using different launch fairings, depending on what a given mission requires. Crewed versions of the SLS will carry an escape system atop the Orion crew capsule, whereas cargo versions will not. The SLS Block 1 will be able to lift more than 59,000 pounds (26,760 kilograms) to the Moon later versions will lift more than 100,000 pounds (45,360 kg) to the Moon. The rocket will thus be available in different configurations, known as blocks. SLS is designed to be flexible, based on the needs of the mission: launching crew or cargo to Earth orbit, sending material and personnel to the Moon, etc. It is the heavy-lift launch vehicle that will get Artemis hardware first into orbit around Earth, then to the Moon.
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