# Weekly Space Report: Shields Up at Starbase for Third Launch, Mike Griffin’s “Let’s Do Apollo Again”, Axiom-3 Arrives at ISS, Japan Upside Down on the Moon

**URL:** <https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-shields-up-at-starbase-for-third-launch-mike-griffin-s-let-s-do-apollo-again-axiom-3-arrives-at-iss-japan-upside-down-on-the-moon/4260>\
**Category:** The Happening World\
**Tags:** space, marcus-house\
**Created:** [28 January 2024 13:54 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-shields-up-at-starbase-for-third-launch-mike-griffin-s-let-s-do-apollo-again-axiom-3-arrives-at-iss-japan-upside-down-on-the-moon/4260 "2024-01-28T13:54:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/user_avatar/scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/johnwalker/32/17415_2.png) [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\
**Post date:** [28 January 2024 13:54 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-shields-up-at-starbase-for-third-launch-mike-griffin-s-let-s-do-apollo-again-axiom-3-arrives-at-iss-japan-upside-down-on-the-moon/4260/1 "2024-01-28T13:54:00Z")

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[![](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/3X/e/0/e03769b4dbbe0e701df2dbe01627c49ae35dcf11.jpeg "Could they really cancel the big plan with SpaceX and Commercial Space?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PccP4XAeajs)

Here is former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (“faster, cheaper, better”) making his opening statement at a hearing by the U.S. house of representatives Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics titled “[Returning to the Moon: Keeping Artemis on Track](https://science.house.gov/hearings?ID=7CC38DBE-081A-43AC-A489-D74585F38657)”. Remarkably, after Griffin argued for scrapping the entire Artemis plan for human Moon missions, cancelling the two commercial contracts for human landing systems, and having NASA go it alone Apollo-style, there was not a single follow-up question about his plan in the entire rest of the hearing.

[![](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/3X/c/6/c6b5c37f2ca17b56900d580b9bad6cd1b7189fe4.jpeg "Returning to the Moon: Keeping Artemis on Track") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ZFqd4DNlk&t=2442s)

Here is the [written statement Griffin presented](https://republicans-science.house.gov/_cache/files/2/d/2dc97bb6-040b-4d15-ae69-6b8de637174d/448A0B95841995613C9A9B19135C104C.2024-01-17-griffin---testimony.pdf) [PDF] along with his testimony.

> **A Lower-Risk Approach: A Two-Launch Soluton for Human Lunar Landing**  
> Early lunar return missions that meet NASA’s basic requirements – four people on the surfacefor a week at any location – can be achieved using technology and systems that are largely available today. One straightforward approach is discussed below. It requires two SLS Block 2 heavy lift launches, each carrying a Centaur III upper stage; an Orion command and service module; and a two-stage storable-propellant lunar lander, yet to be designed. A schematic view of this approach is shown below:
> 
> ![image](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/3X/a/1/a1153ad0a835850f4504b2624f163fc87951db53.jpeg)