00:00I think that the administrator was compelled to post on X because people looked at the integrity of the Orion
00:08spacecraft as it was hoisted out of the water and onto the naval vessel.
00:12But what does the early data show you about how the heat shield performed and basically end to end mission
00:19success?
00:21Absolutely. The vehicle performed exceptionally well. We're very, very pleased with how it performed.
00:26The heat shield did exactly what it was supposed to do. It protected the crew and the vehicle from those
00:31very high temperatures that you mentioned.
00:35I actually got to see some pictures that the divers, the Navy divers, took from underwater, and they looked all
00:42exceptionally well.
00:43You know, when you come in and you have that high heating and then the atmosphere, the wind and so
00:49on, you expect to have some discoloration from that experience.
00:54But all in all, the vehicle performed the heat shield and the tiles on the top of the vehicle performed
00:59exceptionally well.
01:00We're very, very pleased. We're looking forward to getting more detailed photographs as we have the vehicle back in San
01:06Diego and on to Houston.
01:08Hey, Kirk, that's just good old-fashioned rocket science for a flat-bottom capsule, right?
01:12How do you slow it down on the re-entry interface, bang it into a wall of air?
01:16I mean, on this program, we talked about how the fix, Artemis 1 to Artemis 2, was actually the angle
01:22of re-entry rather than some kind of fundamental change to the materials or design.
01:27But with Artemis 3, there will be some tweaks, right? What can you tell us about that?
01:33Sure. Artemis 3, we use the same shape of Avcote tiles, but the formulation of Avcote is slightly different.
01:40And so we're looking forward to a different performance, actually better performance, and we can basically skip out of the
01:47atmosphere shortly and extend our downrange,
01:50which is really important for our operational constraints.
01:54So looking forward to a more operationally friendly heat shield on Artemis 3 and subsequent vehicles.
02:00I mean, Kirk, there must be lots you're looking forward to and getting your hands on it back in Houston.
02:04And I'm interested in the early data and more broadly the crude feedback.
02:08What is the most important things that you've learned from Integrity?
02:13Well, of course, everyone, you can imagine, we engineers are interested in every little detail that we learned along the
02:19way.
02:19I think the beautiful thing about having the crew back and talking about it is kind of what we've learned
02:24about our planet and where we sit in the universe.
02:27To me, it was so exciting to hear them talk and basically see the moon and ultimately our Earth through
02:34their eyes.
02:35It was just fantastic.
02:36Hopefully you've had a chance to hear that.
02:38And if not, you will over the coming days.
02:41It's a joy to see so many almost get philosophical in these moments when it comes to planetary exploration and
02:48the moon and just how we sit within this universe and you too.
02:51But when you are thinking about how the engineers get nitty-gritty and some of the key things you're looking
02:56to confirm before Orion flies again, what do you think is the most detail-orientated focus you're going to have?
03:05Sure.
03:06I think everything that didn't perform exactly as expected on this flight are where we'll really dig in.
03:12Lockheed and NASA spend all their time or 90% of their time looking at the things that didn't go
03:18right as opposed to all the things that did.
03:20The toilet was one thing we were writing about.
03:23Yes, exactly.
03:23What other things that perhaps didn't perform exactly as you anticipated, even if not badly?
03:29Sure.
03:29We had a valve that didn't work right relative to the water, the drinkable water, the potable water system.
03:36We had a system that introduces helium into the propellant tanks as we deplete propellant.
03:42That didn't work exactly as expected.
03:44So we'll definitely dive into those issues.
03:47And then a few little features with telemetry that we'll have to fully understand.
03:53We think that's probably a software issue, but we'll understand it and correct it for future flights.
03:58Christina Koch, mission specialist turned astro plumber.
04:03I don't know how you would describe that.
04:05You know, I appreciate the answer of the things that didn't quite go right.
04:09And, you know, there's a data process, a review process, right?
04:12But what exceeded expectations?
04:14You know, everyone makes a lot of the idea that integrity or Orion as a spacecraft is the size of
04:21a small bus, a camper van, 330 cubic feet, right?
04:25You know, but it got them 250,000 miles plus from Earth around the moon and back.
04:31And by all accounts, they had a great time.
04:33What exceeded your expectations, Kirk?
04:36Like, sure, Orion has 12,500,000 parts.
04:40So most of those parts did exactly what they were supposed to do.
04:43I think the big surprise, or not necessarily surprise, but exceedance of expectation was the systems that keep the crew
04:51alive and happy.
04:52The scrubbed carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, that introduced oxygen in the atmosphere, basically all those systems that keep
05:01the crew alive and healthy and that interface with the crew to the vehicle performed flawlessly.
05:07It was just exceptional.
05:08And that was all new for this flight.
05:10So we were expecting to learn things, but by and large, those exceeded our expectations.
05:15Kirk, this was a great feat for NASA and for America, but we should be kind to your European colleagues,
05:23the European Space Agency and the companies involved in the service module, absolutely critical for life support and other critical
05:32systems.
05:33How did the service module perform to the best of Lockheed's knowledge?
05:39It performed exceptionally well.
05:41We have a great relationship with Airbus, which is the industry partner in Europe that built the service module, and
05:47the European Space Agency.
05:48They were there in the mission control room, sitting right next to us, doing the entire mission, including the splashdown.
05:55And, again, they were extremely thrilled by the performance of the service module, as were we.
06:00Of course, there were one or two things that didn't work exactly as planned, and we'll get to the bottom
06:05of those.
06:05But, by and large, it performed better than we expected it to form.
06:12It was exceptional.
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