Now Playing
Artemis III Crew Named, Starship Fueling Gap & Mars Record Broken
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
NASA confirms four astronauts for the most complex crewed mission in history, while a three-fold disagreement over Starship refueling flights threatens the 2028 lunar landing timeline. Plus Perseverance breaks Mars driving records and SpaceX eyes a November upper-stage catch.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
NASA has named the four astronauts who will fly the most operationally complex crewed mission in the agency's history. Randolph Bresnik, Nichole Douglas, Frank Rubio, and Luca Parmitano are now confirmed for Artemis III, a summer twenty twenty-seven low-Earth orbit test that will require three rockets, two lunar landers, and a docking sequence that nobody has ever attempted.
The refueling question is where the numbers get uncomfortable. NASA's independent safety panel estimates that getting Starship fueled up for a lunar mission will require twenty-two tanker flights.
There's one piece of genuinely good news buried in the architecture. NASA and United Launch Alliance are now developing an extended Centaur V upper stage specifically to get Orion into low-lunar orbit.
Away from the Moon, Perseverance crossed a significant line on October eleventh. The rover surpassed Opportunity's total driving distance of twenty-eight point zero-six miles, and it did it in five and a half years.
SpaceX is preparing for its next significant test. After successfully catching the Starship booster earlier this year using the Mechazilla tower's mechanical arms, the company is now targeting the first catch of the upper stage in November.
One more development worth flagging. Spanish launch company PLD Space is completing final integration of its Miura five small-lift rocket, targeting a first flight before mid-twenty twenty-seven.
Chapter summary auto-generated from the verified script. Listen to the full episode for the complete content.