Business · Ars Technica
Artemis II pilot talks about what it was really like to fly and land in Orion
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The crew of Artemis II spoke with the media on Thursday, six days after returning to Earth following their mission around the Moon.
Key facts
- Ars: You’ve talked about reentry, 13 minutes and 36 seconds
- Boeing CFT (the Starliner Crew Flight Test in 2024, during which Butch Wilmore had to take control of the spacecraft during an emergency) has shown them when these things might need
- Glover, an accomplished naval aviator, first went to space in November 2020 as the pilot on the first operational Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station
- An engineer said it was good to go, and an F-18 pilot said it was good to go
Summary
After a news conference, the astronauts gave a handful of interviews, and Ars could speak with Orion’s pilot, Victor Glover. The SM (Service Module) was nice—they could tell it was pressurizing and thrusting. The reporter could feel the push, but also the reporter could see it in the camera instantly that there was motion. And even though there were pleasant surprises, overall, the real thing is better than they simulated. Ars: What do you think the implications are for Artemis III and Artemis IV when there will be some pretty complex rendezvous and docking operations with a lander? Boeing CFT (the Starliner Crew Flight Test in 2024, during which Butch Wilmore had to take control of the spacecraft during an emergency) has shown them when these things might need to be done.
Those crews will have the peace of mind that the Artemis II test pilot said it was good to go. An engineer said it was good to go, and an F-18 pilot said it was good to go.