Yet another #Artemis II article (from a French press agency, no less) ignoring that propulsion, power, & life support to the Orion capsule are provided by ESA’s European Service Module.
Built in Bremen by Airbus, with parts from all over Europe, e.g. solar wings made in Leiden.
Also no mention of the fact that the ESM’s for the Moon-landing Artemis IV & V missions are to be supplied as part of ESA’s contribution to the Lunar Gateway.
Which NASA cancelled last week.
@markmccaughrean The NASA stream I've been watching did mention the ESM module. I'm pleased that it's an international effort and also that they didn't try some half-assed attempt to use SpaceX equipment which is untested for a lunar mission.
Now if we can just purge the white supremacists out of our government...
@mpotter That's good to hear & yes, of course in principle I'm happy that Europe is part of the programme. But US politics has shifted greatly since that collaboration started, & personally (I no longer speak for ESA), I'm deeply unhappy about the geopolitical context this is happening in.
As for the Child King, I still can't believe anyone signed up to the ludicrous HLS concept. 10-20 Starship launches to fuel another Starship depot in LEO, then transferring that to the actual lunar lander?
Mark McCaughrean
Michael Potter