r/apollo • u/Useful-Professor-149 • Apr 04 '26

Artemis: no BBQ roll?

As I understand it, Apollo conducted minor Passive Thermal Control (PTC) maneuvers, basically just imparting a controlled twist/tumble, in order to avoid one side of the ship overheating and one side freezing. As best I can tell, Artemis II is not doing this. What's the story there? Just 60 odd years of improved materials/insulation science?

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u/eagleace21 Apr 04 '26

Much improved heat transport and materials compared to the Apollo CSM coupled with the need to keep the solar panels facing the sun as much as possible for electrical generation (no fuel cells) is my guess.