All articles tagged with #orion
NASA is preparing Artemis II for rollout to Kennedy Space Center ahead of its first crewed lunar mission, a 10‑day flight around the Moon with four astronauts (Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen) to test systems before Artemis III; rollout could come this weekend, followed by a wet dress rehearsal and flight readiness review, with a launch window possibly between February 5 and April 2026.
NASA has announced Artemis II, a 10‑day crewed lunar flyby set to launch in February 2026 (window Jan 31–Feb 14) from Kennedy Space Center, featuring Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen. The mission will travel beyond low Earth orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft, using the Space Launch System, but will not land on the Moon; Artemis III is planned for 2027 to achieve a lunar landing. Launch timing depends on orbital alignment, rocket performance, and weather, with backup dates in February and additional contingencies in March/April, following a wet-dress rehearsal and fueling tests to validate procedures for future crewed lunar operations.
NASA is moving Artemis II toward its first crewed lunar mission by rolling the SLS/Orion stack to Launch Pad 39B for final integration and test rehearsals, including a wet dress rehearsal planned for late January. The eight-member crew will undergo countdown and life-support testing ahead of a flight readiness review and a series of launch opportunities from late January through April 2026. Engineers are addressing last-minute hardware fixes and weather constraints while aiming for a safe, on-time launch on a free-return trajectory to the Moon.
Kagi has released an alpha version of Orion for Linux, introducing a third browser engine to diversify the Linux browser ecosystem, which is currently dominated by Firefox and Chromium. The move aims to improve WebKitGTK upstream and benefit open source development, but concerns remain about media playback, DRM, and Orion's closed-source status. The developers plan to open source Orion once it becomes self-sufficient, emphasizing business sustainability and IP protection. The community debates the importance of open source for browsers, with some prioritizing privacy and transparency, while others focus on practical issues like media support and OS integration.
On October 12, observers can see Orion and the half-lit moon rising in the eastern sky, with notable sights including the red star Betelgeuse, Orion's Belt, the Orion Nebula, and Jupiter, offering a spectacular night of stargazing and celestial observation.
NASA has opened a new Orion Mission Evaluation Room at Johnson Space Center to support the Artemis 2 mission, which will be the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft around the moon. The facility will provide in-depth data analysis and troubleshooting capabilities, enhancing safety and operational efficiency for the mission, and will serve as a foundation for future Artemis missions aiming to establish a sustained lunar presence and prepare for Mars exploration.
NASA's Artemis II crew trained in the Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, simulating launch and in-flight scenarios to prepare for their upcoming lunar mission, marking a historic step in returning humans to the Moon and paving the way for future Mars exploration.
Ten years after its maiden flight, NASA's Orion spacecraft is still awaiting its first crewed mission, now delayed to 2026. Despite a successful uncrewed test flight in 2014, Orion has only flown once more, in 2022, as part of the Artemis I mission. This slow progress contrasts with SpaceX's rapid advancements, including over 400 launches and crewed missions to the ISS. The delay highlights the challenges NASA faces compared to its Apollo-era achievements, partly due to different funding levels.
NASA's decision to proceed with the Artemis II mission using an unmodified Orion heat shield has sparked criticism from experts who argue that safety is being compromised. Despite concerns about the heat shield's performance during the Artemis I mission, NASA's independent review team (IRT) concluded that the current design is safe, citing extensive testing and data analysis. However, critics, including former NASA personnel, have expressed dissatisfaction with the agency's transparency and decision-making process.
NASA has confirmed that the Orion spacecraft's heat shield is ready for the Artemis II mission, despite issues encountered during Artemis I. The heat shield experienced cracking due to gas buildup during a skip reentry maneuver, but NASA plans to adjust the reentry trajectory for Artemis II to mitigate this. The agency is confident that these changes will prevent similar erosion, and future spacecraft will incorporate design improvements to address the heat shield's permeability issues.
NASA has announced updates to its Artemis lunar exploration missions, targeting April 2026 for Artemis II and mid-2027 for Artemis III. The agency addressed issues with the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, which lost charred material during the Artemis I test flight. Engineers are preparing Orion for Artemis II with improvements to ensure crew safety. The mission will involve a 10-day crewed test flight around the Moon, providing data for future deep space exploration. NASA aims to advance human exploration of the Moon and Mars through the Artemis program.
Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the Orion constellation, is expected to eventually undergo a core-collapse supernova, a spectacular event that will be visible from Earth. Although the timing is uncertain, when it happens, neutrinos will be the first signals to reach Earth, followed by a dramatic increase in brightness, making Betelgeuse as bright as the full Moon. The supernova will remain visible for months, and its remnant will be observable for generations. This event will provide valuable insights into stellar evolution and supernova mechanics.
OpenAI's latest AI model, Orion, has not met the company's performance expectations, particularly in areas like coding questions it wasn't specifically trained on. This model was anticipated to be a significant advancement over previous versions, similar to the leap from GPT-3.5 to GPT-4, but it has not yet achieved that level of improvement.
OpenAI is reportedly facing a slowdown in the improvement of its AI models, with its upcoming model, codenamed Orion, showing less advancement compared to previous iterations like GPT-4. To address this, OpenAI has formed a foundations team to explore new strategies, including using synthetic data for training and enhancing models post-training. Despite these efforts, Orion may not outperform existing models in certain areas, such as coding. OpenAI has not confirmed plans to release Orion this year.
NASA is considering modifying its Artemis plan to land astronauts on the Moon, with options including a rendezvous in low-Earth orbit between the Orion spacecraft and a Starship vehicle launched by SpaceX, or a mission to a small space station near the Moon. Concerns about hardware readiness and mission complexity have prompted these considerations, as the planned September 2026 lunar landing seems unrealistic due to issues with the lack of a lander and spacesuits. NASA is evaluating these options to mitigate risks and ensure crew safety.