Ou Liu

[NSF - NASASpaceflight.com @NASASpaceflight]

Japan’s H3 rocket will return to flight Friday, with a launch that also marks the debut of a new configuration, optimized for smaller payloads.

By William Graham (@w_d_graham)

https://t.co/zsMxx6t5jS

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@AvivaKlompas Claude AI tokens?

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

That sounds good, but the US would probably need to deploy significantly more troops to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into conceding, or better yet, to simply invade. The real question is: where are those troops? Without a substantial buildup, Tehran probably won’t take any threats seriously.

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

"The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT..." - President Donald J. Trump

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@k_sonin I thought diversity is our strength?

[Giorgia Meloni @GiorgiaMeloni]

Congratulazioni a Luca Parmitano per la sua assegnazione come pilota di Artemis III.
Un traguardo straordinario che rende orgogliosa l’Italia e conferma il valore della nostra eccellenza nel settore spaziale. La sua competenza, il suo impegno e il suo spirito di servizio sono un esempio per le nuove generazioni.
Buon lavoro @astro_luca e buon viaggio verso una nuova pagina della storia dell’esplorazione spaziale 🇮🇹🚀

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

I'm not sure about pro-LGBT extremist Islamic groups, but I’ve definitely seen pro-Islamic-extremist LGBT groups.

[Bad Hombre @Badhombre]

SPLC President gets humiliated; room erupts in laughter.

Chip Roy: How many Islamic extremist groups do you have listed on your hate map out of the 1500 groups? I can’t seem to find one.

SPLC President: We don’t target groups based on their religion. It’s based on what they say about other people.

Chip Roy: You just mentioned anti-LGBT groups a minute ago. Is it your position that there are a bunch of pro-LGBT extremist Islamic groups?

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@jnottah I thought she was killed by Blofeld already?

[Eric Berger @SciGuySpace]

Whatever one thinks about the financial wisdom of investing in the SpaceX IPO, or its impact on Mars dreams, I am fucking thrilled for employees who have busted their asses for a quarter of a century. They deserve this, and will inject further money and momentum into new space.

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

Taiwan fired U.S. mobile missile launchers into the strategic waters directly facing China for the first time, sending a message of resolve to Beijing and Washington https://t.co/AdMf0o1OEA

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

Starting with some energy, and my inability to write brief updates, I am just extremely proud of the NASA crew, our industry, and our international partners. We are getting into a rhythm here at NASA. Earlier this year, setbacks put the Artemis II rocket back in the VAB for repairs, and we determined it was necessary to add another mission, Artemis III in 2027. Since then, we have unveiled the Ignition plans to build a Moon Base and nuclear-powered spaceships, launched a highly successful mission around the Moon, brought the crew home safely, and now watched the torch pass to Artemis III. There will be no shortage of major milestones to celebrate in the months ahead as we build the Moon Base and launch the Nancy Grace Roman telescope. I am beyond proud of the team and all the momentum and excitement around the space program.

I do want to take this moment to address two of the questions I have been seeing since the crew announcement.

Why are there no women assigned to Artemis III?

I have seen reactions ranging from disappointment to outrage. I have personally been to space twice with 50% female crews. My closest advisors and some of the smartest engineers I know are women. In our latest NASA leadership organization, nearly 50% of the Center Directors and Mission Directorate leadership are women. The last astronaut candidate class selected under this Administration was majority female because they were the best of the best, including one astronaut I previously went to space with.

In a world with so much controversy, I hope this can be a moment where we celebrate the astronauts selected, respect the integrity of the process, and recognize the extraordinary depth of talent across the entire corps. The crew selection does not involve any political appointees. The Astronaut Office assigns the crew that gives the mission the best chance of meeting its objectives, taking into account many factors, including the background and expertise of the astronauts, such as test pilot experience, development work on specific programs, and availability. For example, those raising this concern may not be aware of the pipeline of crews already preparing to launch to the Space Station, or those who have been undergoing lunar-specific training that would be a better fit for a future surface mission.

The Artemis III astronauts are experienced, qualified, and deserve to be celebrated for the mission they have been assigned, just as the crews that follow will be celebrated when their time comes. We have an extraordinary astronaut corps, and every mission and every crew is part of a larger campaign to get America back to the Moon and to build the future we all dreamed about as children.

What are the objectives for Artemis III if both landers will not be fully ready?

Coming off a highly successful lunar mission like Artemis II, it is not surprising that the bar is set high for Artemis III. I think it is important to understand how difficult and dangerous it is to land astronauts on the Moon. We have not done it in a very long time, and we want to draw from a past playbook for success. That means getting into a cadence of launching, learning, and rolling improvements into the next mission.

First and foremost, it is imperative for SLS to be flying with some frequency for operational currency and, honestly, safety. Earlier this year, it was very clear across NASA leadership that an additional mission was necessary in 2027. It is also imperative to gain interoperability data from rendezvous and docking with landers in Earth orbit. We do not need those landers that are still in development to be fully capable and certified for landing on the Moon on Artemis III, but we do need to test certain systems and controllability. Not to mention, we are moving quickly into a future where we do not require a single rocket to bring everything necessary for a mission to space, and as such, gaining experience with multi-launch campaigns and on-orbit assembly is directionally correct.

The Blue Origin test lander for Artemis III will incorporate many of the most important systems and subsystems that have not previously been operated by the provider, including ECLSS in a crew cabin, and other avionics. With SpaceX, they have demonstrated many of those capabilities continuously on Crew Dragon, but other controllability tests are important based on the negative-X axis acceleration that will be necessary when Starship undertakes the TLI burn to the Moon with a docked Orion.

After Artemis III, we will learn a lot and roll in further improvements, be that hardware, software, or procedural updates, as both providers undertake end-to-end uncrewed demonstrations to the surface in 2028, in advance of Artemis IV, where NASA astronauts will finally complete the grand return to the Moon.

As I said in my remarks yesterday, when Gene Cernan left the lunar surface on Apollo 17, he said, “We leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” We are returning, and we are doing so with the fire carried forward from Apollo, the lessons learned from Artemis II, the crew of Artemis III, and all those who will follow. NASA will send the very best crews for the right missions. If the composition of our astronaut corps and our latest class of candidates says anything, it is that we have exactly the talent required to get the job done.

Godspeed Artemis III, and all those who will follow.

[Le Figaro @Le_Figaro]

La Patrouille de France a survolé la Statue de la Liberté, ce mardi à New York. Une opération exceptionnelle organisée dans le cadre des célébrations du 250e anniversaire de la Déclaration d'indépendance des États-Unis, qui aura lieu le 4 juillet prochain.

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

Yes, but with lunar-orbit refueling, you don’t need the HLS to re-enter.

If you can fully refill the HLS in NRHO after the surface mission (big if I know), then there should be enough dv to do both trans-earth injection and a propulsive deceleration burn near Earth. Then a Crew Dragon docks with the HLS, the crew transfers, and Dragon brings them home.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

BREAKING: Trump says the US must respond to the Iranian attack of Apache helicopters.

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@SpaceX It would be nice if you fly them with a real HLS ...

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@SciGuySpace Did you ask him whether it would be a December 2027 launch and therefore fall under Berger’s law?

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@mclumber1 @jeff_foust "it lacks appropriate heat shielding for earth orbit capture" - well, Dragon is readily available.

"Lunar starship can't return to leo without refueling at the moon" - lunar orbit refueling probably can solve that problem, but I am not sure.

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@Graham_117 @jeff_foust

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@jeff_foust And therefore SLS?

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@jeff_foust If that’s the case, why would we still need Orion in long term?

[Ou Liu @oliu321]

@MarkWhittington I was wondering whether it would be appropriate to joke that the Italian astronaut could be a replacement for that missing part, but I’m not sure who I’d offend more.