Tim Dodd

And it's like going to be docking a little tin can up against this apartment complex in space to be able to get the crew into that.

Like they have to send, the plan is to send the crew out to the moon on Orion.

This is Orion two.

Yep.

So Artemis two, Artemis, Artemis two first is just a lunar flyby.

So they're just circling the moon?

They're going out on a free return trajectory, basically a figure eight around the moon, similar to Apollo 8.

Are they going to be in lunar orbit?

They will not be in lunar orbit.

And that's because the SLS rocket, because it's using space shuttle parts, and the Orion capsule being so much bigger, has a relatively small service module.

So the Apollo command module is the Apollo capsule, and then the service module is that bigger part.

Mm-hmm.

This is almost the opposite in terms of performance.

So it's a bigger, instead of being a little command module with a big service module, it's a big command module with a little service module.

So the only orbit it can get to around the moon is a highly elliptical orbit.

So they chose an orbit that's called near rectilinear halo orbit.

It's a very unique orbit.

It has a lot of compromises.

And the biggest reason is just because Orion and its service module don't have the performance to really go into a low lunar orbit.

But this first mission, they're not doing the near rectilinear halo orbit.