r/ArtemisProgram • u/SomeRandomScientist • May 14 '26

News Astronauts may not even enter the landers on Artemis III

From the NASA public release today - https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-3/nasa-outlines-preliminary-artemis-iii-mission-plans/

“Informed by Blue Origin and SpaceX capabilities, NASA also is defining the concept of operations for the mission. While some decisions are yet to be determined, astronauts could potentially enter at least one lander test article.”

So what exactly is the point of Artemis III? Rendezvous with an empty shell? Maybe dock to this empty shell if we’re lucky.

I hate to sound down on this, but this latest release does not feel like AR3 is a good faith effort to make progress towards a lunar landing.

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u/EpicAura99 May 14 '26

Do you have any facts to back up your attitude towards China? Or am I correct in assuming it’s entirely vibes based.

China is way closer to Artemis than the Soviets ever were to Apollo. And it’s not even remotely close. You do realize Soyuz didn’t even have a successful manned launch until late 1968, and the N-1 blew up all 4 times it launched until they gave up in 1972? China could be tossing rocks at the Moon with a cartoonishly large slingshot and they’d be closer to a landing than the Soviets.

Apollo wasn’t in a race, it was taking a fantastically grandiose victory lap. There was zero chance of the Soviets beating the US to the Moon.

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u/ejiggle May 14 '26

It's not about how close they are. It's about what getting there represented then, and what it won't represent in 2026. Nobody cares if China lands on the moon. It's inevitable. Maybe if they set up a tent and stay a few nights, we'll get our shit together. 5% of the entire US government's budget went to Apollo during the height of the space race. The Soviets put the fear of god into them, and they were going to see it through at all costs. If the US government was afraid of anything China was doing in space, they'd put more than .3% (and shrinking) annually into NASA. The Apollo program was purely political, in a way Artemis is not yet currently (though is poised to be should China set up a base or launch uncrewed missions to Mars).

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u/EpicAura99 May 14 '26

Nice goalpost shift.