Starship Has NEVER Done This Before! The Hidden Artemis Update!

NASA just announced the Artemis III crew. And  buried in the press conference was something   much bigger than four names. The HLS  Starship that flies on Artemis III   is now based on a version 3 vehicle. The  same version 3 that's flying tests right   now at Starbase. That changes everything.  Meanwhile, NASA announced the Artemis III   crew and casually confirmed something  I’d have not thought to be possible. My name is Felix. Welcome to What About It!? Let’s dive right

in! Starship Updates Let's start with Booster 20,   the next Starship booster to take  flight! Inside a building at Starbase,   its engines are being installed. And it's  happening faster than anyone expected.  Booster 20 rolled back to the production site on  June 9th, finishing a clean cryo-proof campaign   at Massey's. Cryo testing went well. No visible  problems. The booster passed every checkpoint.   Now it heads into engine installation, where 33  Raptor 3 engines get bolted to the underside.   More powerful

and much easier to manufacture  and produce than any Raptor engine before.  Once engines are in, Booster 20 will be  at the same readiness level as Ship 40,   which is also receiving its Raptor 3 engines  right now in Mega Bay 2. Both vehicles are   converging on the same milestone at roughly  the same time. After engine installation,   Booster 20 heads to Pad 2 for the static fire  campaign. After that, stacking. Then Flight 13.  Realistic timeline, 4 to 6

weeks. We're still in  range of a late June launch if everything moves   perfectly. More realistically, early  to mid July. The pace is picking up.  While Booster 20 was finishing up at  Massey's, the "You'll Thank Me Later"   barge made a trip from the Gulf Coast to  the Cape. And it didn't show up empty.  The barge delivered two transport stands to  SpaceX's Kennedy Space Center facilities.   One ship transport stand. One booster transport  stand. No actual vehicle was on

the barge this   time. Just the ground handling hardware. This is the kind of move you make   when you're preparing for the real thing. SpaceX needs both stands in Florida before they   can roll a vehicle off a barge and move it around  the KSC facilities. By staging the hardware now,   they can run ground handling tests, practice  the choreography, work out the logistics,   all before an actual booster or ship arrives. Now let's pull back and ask a question

that turns   out to be surprisingly important. How many tanker  trucks does it take to fill a single Starship?  A fully fueled version 3 Starship and  Super Heavy stack takes roughly 4,100   tons of liquid oxygen and roughly 1,125  tons of liquid methane. About 5,200 tons   of propellant total. Let's focus on the methane  side, because that's where this story is going.  A standard cryogenic methane tanker truck carries  about 20 tons. So to deliver enough methane for   one V3

Starship launch, you need around 56  truckloads. Let me say that again. 56 trucks.   For the methane side of just one launch. Right now, SpaceX is doing roughly   4 to 6 flights per year. That's somewhere between 220   and 340 methane truck trips per year on Highway  4 for just the launches themselves, before you   count test fires, cryo proofs, and other fuel  uses. Already a serious logistical operation.  Now think about where SpaceX wants to  be. The stated goal

is launching Starship   once a day. Let's just walk through what  that would mean for methane trucks alone.  One Starship per day means roughly 56 methane  trucks per day on Highway 4. Every day.   That's a tanker arriving every  26 minutes, around the clock.  And we’re not even talking about the long-term  goal of one launch per hour. At that cadence,   you would need about 1,350 methane trucks  per day. One truck every 64 seconds.  Now add the oxygen side,

which is roughly four  times larger by mass. Then add the nitrogen,   which is used to subcool the propellants on  site to cryogenic temperatures. The full total,   methane plus oxygen plus nitrogen, comes  out to around 230 tanker trucks for a single   Starship launch. 230 trucks. For one rocket. For comparison, a Falcon 9 launch takes about   13 tanker trucks total. That's it. 13. Starship  needs almost 18 times more propellant logistics   than the rocket that already launches more  than

100 times a year. And SpaceX wants   to fly Starship far more often than Falcon 9. The full picture becomes physically impossible   to sustain by truck. So SpaceX is doing the  obvious thing. They’re building a pipeline.  This week, the story broke that SpaceX is finally  planning a 16-inch natural gas pipeline running   approximately 5.76 miles underground, from  the Port of Brownsville directly toward Boca   Chica or Starbase. The natural gas will then  be liquefied on site right in the

middle of   those two pads for use as Starship propellant. The  Brownsville Navigation District board unanimously   approved authority to negotiate the easement  on May 20th. This is the first official step.  What still needs to happen: engineering,  environmental reviews (federal, because   the pipeline crosses wetlands and tidal  flats), Army Corps of Engineers permits,   and other regulatory approvals. So we are still  early in the process. But the direction is clear.  A 16-inch pipeline can carry a continuous flow  of natural

gas that completely eliminates the   truck problem. No more 56 truck trips  for every single launch. The propellant   just flows from the port to the launch site,  gets liquefied, and goes into the tank farm.  This is what scaling looks like. While  all of this is happening, the Pad 1   refurbishment is moving faster than I expected. We were up with SPI Helicopters this week, and the   progress on the ground is genuinely impressive. These aerial images are essential for

my   reporting! If you’re down at Starbase  make sure to pay our official partner   SPI Helicopters a visit and book a flight!  The same views as our photographers get! It’s   unforgettable and worth every penny! Click  the card or the link in the description!   Help WAI in return! Check it out today! The large GSE bunker frame is now almost   ready to be put in place. The flame trench walls  are coming up with massive rebar cages reinforcing   what will

become very thick concrete walls. The amount of structural strength being built   into this construction is insane. These rebar  cages are massive. The concrete walls they'll   support will need to take the abuse of 33  Raptor 3 engines firing on top of them,   repeatedly, for years. SpaceX is over-engineering  this, and that's exactly what you want to do. A   few episodes back, we estimated about six  months from assembly start to OLM lift.  Watching this pace, that timeline is  holding.

Late 2026 for Pad 1 to be   fully operational still looks realistic. Before we go over to the big news for   this episode, let’s talk about risk  management. I mean, you've probably   given your email address to hundreds of  websites over the years. What you might not   know is that brokers collect that information. Your name, phone number, home address and more.   All bundled and sold to whoever pays.  Today’s sponsor, Incogni, is here to   help you take your data

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status of every single removal! It covers hundreds of brokers across the US,   the UK, and Europe and even handles custom removal  requests for you! So, take your personal data   back with Incogni! Use code FELIX at the link  below and get 60% off an annual plan. That is:   https://incogni.com/felix. Try it out now and in  return, even help. What About It?! Now to the big   story of the week. On Tuesday, June 9th, NASA  held a press conference at

Johnson Space Center   in Houston, Texas. They announced the Artemis III  crew. We'll talk about the crew side later in this   episode. For now, I want to focus on what NASA  said about SpaceX, the Starship HLS, and what that   means for everything we've been tracking. And there is a lot to talk about.  First, the mission itself has been restructured.  Artemis III is no longer a lunar landing. The   landing slips to Artemis IV, targeting around  2028. Artemis III,

targeted for somewhere in 2027,   is now a crewed test mission entirely in  low Earth orbit. The important part is   that no propellant transfer demo is part of this  mission. The propellant transfer demonstration   is a separate Starship development milestone,  not part of Artemis III. The original HLS plan   involved a heavily modified, purpose-built  lander variant that would have looked quite   different from the test Starships we've been  watching. Now the plan is to take a version   3 Starship essentially

off the production  line, add an HLS-specific docking adapter,   and use that as the Artemis III test article. Let me explain why that matters.  First, the docking interface. Version 3 Starship  has a PEZ dispenser payload door on the side of   the upper section. For the HLS pathfinder,  that payload door area is where the docking   port has to live. Not on the nose tip, the  way some earlier HLS renders suggested.  And there is a really good reason. The

nose tip of a version 3 Starship   is already full of hardware. Landing header  tanks. COPVs. Other systems essential to a   returning ship. There simply isn't room up there  for a docking adapter on a V3-based vehicle. If   you want to use a version 3 Starship as your HLS  pathfinder, the docking interface has to go where   the structure can actually accommodate  it. And that's the payload bay location.  SpaceX has only recently started  building this crew module addition.  For

Artemis III specifically, this HLS pathfinder  doesn't need to be a fully functional lunar   lander. It doesn't need landing legs sized for  the Moon. It doesn't need full propellant capacity   for descent and ascent. It just needs to dock  with Orion in low Earth orbit and demonstrate   the crew transfer interfaces work. That's an  enormous reduction in development complexity.  Here’s another interesting aspect  that comes with this change.  Because this HLS pathfinder is based  on a version 3 Starship, in

theory,   it could survive re-entry and be caught at the  tower. Just like any other version 3 Starship.  That has wild implications. A returning  HLS pathfinder, caught at the tower,   gives SpaceX a vehicle they can inspect,  refurbish, and potentially fly again.  We don't know yet whether SpaceX will attempt  a catch on this specific mission, but the   architecture supports it. The same vehicle that  proved version 3 in flight tests can now serve as   the foundation for the HLS

development pathway. This is a much smarter approach than   purpose-building a one-off lander. SpaceX gets to iterate on the same   hardware family, validate it in flight,  recover it, and improve it. The Artemis   III HLS pathfinder becomes a natural extension  of the test program that's already running.  So pulling all of this together. The Artemis III HLS being based on version 3   means SpaceX doesn't need a separate development  track for the lander. The ships and boosters   we've been watching

get built at Starbase are the  same architecture that will support Artemis III.  The propellant transfer demonstrations that will  eventually validate the full HLS lunar landing   capability can happen on version 3 hardware.  The catches, the reentries, the refurbishments,   the lessons learned. All of that compounds. For Artemis IV, the actual lunar landing mission   targeted for 2028, this consolidation buys time. The closer SpaceX gets to a mature operational   version 3, the faster the full  HLS capability comes together.   Every

flight from here informs the lunar lander. The Artemis III restructuring is being framed by   NASA as a risk reduction step. From SpaceX's side,  it's also a hardware consolidation that simplifies   their development pathways significantly. This was a big week for Starship, even though   it didn't fly. Sometimes the announcements move  the program forward more than the launches do.  Yay! You’ve reached the middle of the video! You  made it! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for   watching

and liking the video! If you’re among the  40% who haven’t subscribed yet, and there was at   least one video you learned something new from, it  would mean the world to me if you did. It’s free,   and it genuinely helps more people find my  channel! Want to make my world even easier?   There’s only one place you’d rather be! The WAI  members club on Patreon and right here on YouTube.   Click the card or the join button right here

under  the video! You’re the reason we keep doing this.   Thank you so much! You Rock! Now that we know  what Starship’s role in Artemis III will be,   it’s time to have a look at the rest of the  Mission. And let’s not forget the Astronauts! Artemis III‘s first component to launch is  Blue Origin’s demo Blue Moon lander. This   test article has a special ability: It can  stay in orbit over extended periods of time. A total waiting time

of up  to 90 days is acceptable. Then the four astronauts launch on  the SLS, aboard an Orion Capsule,   and settle into a circular orbit. They  chase down the Blue Origin lander,   dock with it, and spend about  two days connected to the craft. During this time, the crew will be floating  through the hatch, powering up the lander,   and stress-testing the life-support systems. Once all the tests are done, Orion will undock   from the Blue Moon demonstrator.  But the

mission is far from over. In the meantime a second lander, the  demonstrator for the HLS Starship variant   that we just talked about, will be launched  by SpaceX. This is Orion’s next target. Once the Artemis III crew has reached HLS,   the two craft are set to dock and testing  can begin once again on the same mission. This entire operation is one of the most  complex crewed missions NASA has ever attempted:   Two landers. Two dockings. One crew.  All

in Earth orbit. About two weeks,   then a splashdown in the Pacific. Fantastic  stuff. We could do a two week marathon   stream.. Before we take a closer look at the  hardware, it’s time to have a look at the crew   that NASA has selected for Artemis III, the  last mission before a crewed Moon landing. Just like Artemis II, Orion will be crewed  by four astronauts. A fifth astronaut will   train alongside the crew, ready to take  over for one

of the others if needed. The honor of commanding the mission  goes to Randy Bresnik. He’s a Marine   Corps colonel. A test pilot with  more than 7,000 flight hours.   He's flown to space twice. And he's already  commanded the International Space Station. So when something goes sideways at orbital speeds,   his is the calm voice on the loop. Exactly  the résumé you want in the commander's seat. The mission pilot is another space-proven veteran,   hailing from Italy. Luca Parmitano is

an  Italian Air Force colonel and ESA astronaut   with two prior flights. He also became  the first Italian ever to command the ISS. In 2013 he had a moment of “trial by fire” or in  this case rather “trial by water”. As he was in   the middle of a spacewalk, his suit malfunctioned.  The result? His helmet started filling with water! That must be one of the worst situations an  astronaut can imagine. Being out in Space and   water starts

to collect in your helmet. No,  it's not like this because you're in zero G.   It’s situations like these when you can see just  what a special breed of human astronauts are.   Parmitano was well aware that this issue  could drown him in the vacuum of space.  But he relied on his training and worked  through the problem. He stayed calm,   felt his way back to the airlock  half-blind, and made it inside. That's not a line on a CV.

That's proof of how  the man behaves when the worst is happening! The first of two mission specialists is  Frank Rubio. He has a double qualification:   Army Black Hawk pilot and a board-certified family   medicine doctor. A pilot and a  flight surgeon in the same seat. He holds the U.S. record for the  longest single spaceflight: 371 days,   after a coolant leak crippled his ride home  and turned a six-month stay into a full year. Andre Douglas is the second 

mission specialist. He’s the   rookie in the team. The one who never was  in space before. But as a test engineer and   Coast Guard Reserve commander, his  qualifications are unquestionable. By selecting him, NASA shows that  it trusts its new astronaut class   and they wanted a trained engineer's eyes  on hardware that's never flown together   before. This should be true for both landers  that Orion docks with in Low Earth Orbit. And then there is the backup, Bob Hines. His 

experience includes 170 days across two station   expeditions. Hines is training to step into  any of the four roles if someone can't fly. It's the most thankless job in the building:   Learn everyone's part, fly none of them,  stay mission-ready the whole way. Damn.   At the same time it shows how much NASA  values his abilities and adaptability. In order to see Artemis III happen within  the next year and a half as planned,   both the astronauts and the hardware 

have to be flight ready in time. While the astronaut training program should  not cause any concerns for the timeline,   the hardware’s situation is quite different. Let's start with the rocket and capsule,  where things look genuinely solid. The   SLS core stage is at the Cape, the two  big segments are mated together. Four   RS-25 engines, the old space-shuttle  workhorses, are going on this summer. Orion's crew module is getting bolted to its  European service module, and it's flying a  

brand-new docking system for the first time.  The heat shield's been inspected and cleared.  Artemis III will use a slightly different  version of the Space Launch System. The   biggest difference lies in the upper stage. Here  the ICPS, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage,   will be replaced by a simple structural  placeholder because you only need that   upper stage to push yourself out toward the Moon  and they're not going to the Moon this time. This is especially beneficial as  this

ICPS is the last of its kind,   already built and ready to be used.  For the later Artemis missions,   NASA will change over to a more capable  second stage: A modified ULA Centaur V. Using the already proven ICPS first leaves  more development time for the Centaur   modifications. And, importantly,  saves some budget along the way. Ok, so SLS and the astronauts look  like all is going well. And I have   already shown you the SpaceX side of things. But

what about the other vital NASA partner  for the Artemis program, Blue Origin? Blue’s giant New Glenn rocket suffered what they  called a "significant anomaly”. In other words,   a massive explosion on May 28th. Their  crews are ready to clean up the pad and   start rebuilding as soon as the  initial investigation is closed. Blue Origin says their Mark 1 lander's first  unit will be ready to fly to orbit this year. NASA's framing was telling: It said  setbacks are

"a learning opportunity"   and that NASA is stepping in to help.  When the customer says it's stepping   in to help the contractor, it’s  not always a confidence signal. NASA is relying on both SpaceX and  Blue Origin to progress through all   the inevitable trouble of development and  testing. Offering its vast experience and   resources to help out is the right way forward. This Mission is right at the  leading edge of space exploration,   and this must be a cooperative  effort

if they want to succeed. The crew will also characterize the inside  of the Orion capsule itself. This means   that NASA wants to take the opportunity  to carefully catalog all that is left   inside the capsule. Both as physical  matter as well as radiation. And why   is this important? Excellent question! When  future crews bring back actual Moon rocks,   scientists can subtract out the background  contamination and know what's genuinely lunar. And then there's everything else  the NASA administrator packed

in,   because this presser was something else! He called this moment the start of "Earth's  first Starfleet. Star Fleet". He pointed out   that soon you could have Dragon, Soyuz, Starliner,   Starship, and Blue Origin landers all  crewed and in orbit at once. If you   add China’s growing fleet of space vessels,  this is quite an impressive line-up already. Jared Isaacman teased another Moon  Base event in weeks. To be honest,   this speed NASA has picked up  lately still feels a

little surreal. While Artemis surely is the  headliner at the moment,   NASA has more excitement up its  sleeve. The Nancy Grace Roman   Space Telescope launches this summer.  A milestone for deep space exploration. And then there’s the most sci-fi-sounding  project of them all: A nuclear-reactor-powered   interplanetary spacecraft, assembled before  the end of 2028, delivering a payload to Mars:   Space Reactor-1 Freedom or SR-1 for short. NASA has taken humanity from looking up at   the stars in wonder… to reaching them.

With  the International Space Station and its global   partners, it created our first permanent  home beyond Earth. And now, it is turning   the next great chapter into history: building  a sustained human presence on another world. I'll keep tracking every piece of this as it  stacks up. And then, of course, share it with you! And that’s it for today! Smash that like  button. Subscribe for more! This is what   fuels the Algorithm! And this is how you can help 

us for free! Check out our epic shirts and your   favorite space nerd store! Our all-time favorite  Raptor Engine design, and countless others,   are there for you to explore! Click the card  or the US or worldwide link in the description!  And if you want to know how SpaceX is  planning to build a self-sustained Moon   Base in the next 10 years, watch this  video next to continue your journey!   Thank you very much for watching, and  I’ll see you

again in the next episode!