S8 Ep669: GUEST: BOB ZIMMERMAN (11) HEADLINE: Bob Zimmerman Voices Concerns Over Artemis 2 Moon Mission (12) SUMMARY: Bob Zimmerman critiques the Artemis 2 mission as a multi-decade "museum piece" with untested life support systems. Despite safety concerns regardin
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
HEADLINE: Bob Zimmerman Voices Concerns Over Artemis 2 Moon Mission(12)
SUMMARY: Bob Zimmerman critiques the Artemis 2 mission as a multi-decade "museum piece" with untested life support systems. Despite safety concerns regarding the heat shield, NASA plans a launch for this week. (13)
FEB 1951
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is John Batchel, conversation with my colleague Bob Zimmerman on the eve of Artemis II launch, |
| 0:07.6 | the SLS booster and the Orion capsule with four astronauts on board to circle the moon several more than a few times |
| 0:15.9 | and return after 10 days. Bob remarks on the ironies and the frustrations of this mission, how long it's taken |
| 0:24.8 | to launch, and in the time that has gone by, a whole new industry of commercial space |
| 0:31.9 | has been created out of the success of one or two of the entrepreneurs. |
| 0:38.3 | They are the product of NASA. They are the product of the success of one or two of the entrepreneurs. They are the product of NASA. |
| 0:40.1 | They are the product of the tradition that gives us Artemis II. |
| 0:43.0 | However, Artemis II feels like a museum piece. |
| 0:47.3 | We wish it well. |
| 0:48.2 | Bob's comments have been consistent for some time that he's concerned that it's not, |
| 0:53.1 | it's got untested or |
| 0:55.1 | unsuccessful systems we shall see is bob god john i should have point out that it's not years |
| 1:03.8 | it's literally decades this was proposed by george bush junior in oh four that's more than two decades ago. And that's to spend close to |
| 1:14.4 | $60 billion to maybe make one launch. So tomorrow on April Fool's at 624 p.m. Eastern, they |
| 1:23.5 | hoped to launch Artemis 2 using the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule to send four astronauts, |
| 1:32.3 | three Americans and one Canadian, on a 10-day mission looping around the moon and coming back to Earth. |
| 1:38.3 | And they will be using an Orion capsule. |
| 1:41.1 | It's almost a decade old. |
| 1:42.5 | It was built a long time ago, |
| 1:46.3 | with a heat shield that is questionable, |
| 1:50.2 | and a life support system that's never been tested in space before. |
| 1:53.7 | But NASA plunges on on April Fool's. |
... |
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