The Andromeda Initiative will be launched in 2185

My argument was never Shepard isn't Shepard. It was that the Lazarus project was explained. Even if the the brain was protected by the helmet it still fits my narrative that the Lazarus project and Shepard's resurrection was explained and it didn't boil down to the "resources" explanation. Shepard having a clone brain or not it doesn't matter. That's not what I was arguing. So I agree with you, I myself wasn't skeptical of Shepard's resurrection.

Also memories can be acquired though other means. Who's to say Cerberus didn't manipulate a brain in believing it lived through what Shepard lived through. The project took over 4 billion credits it wouldn't be impossible. The brain would have already believed it was Shepard anyway.  And just because EDI said he's the real Shepard doesn't make it so. The only people who would know for sure is Miranda, the illusive man, and any other person who worked on Shepard. But non of them mention anything about Shepard's brain specifically, so we can only assume.

I actually assumed that they'd try to use mass relay technology, and that getting to Andromeda was just the initial step, like establishing a beachhead. We didn't meet everyone in the galaxy during the original trilogy. It's quite easy to believe that others would have the same instinct that Aethyta had: we need to master relay technology ourselves. (Again, a very Cerberus type of thought process.)

I'm willing to accept that someone is ambitious and ballsy enough to have been planning this endeavor; especially given that we've only received a trickle of the story so far. I wasn't initially in love with the idea of going to Andromeda, but we're going no matter what. So far, I've seen naught to make me think they've screwed the pooch. I see a decent outline of a story: get to Andromeda, establish a FOB, establish mass relay tech linking to Milky Way(?), profit. That seems to be the stated goal of the Ai. Of course, the best laid plans...

YMMV, naturally.

I'm not suggesting that I expect this thing to be airtight. I've been prepared for asspull tech and story gymnastics for some time. I just don't think that we've seen anything too egregious, yet. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, phrased that way.

Obviously what happened is that descendants of Reaper War survivors from the year 3185 built a time machine and traveled back to the 2170's to give people their super ME drive. And then they said to only use it for peaceful purposes and not to use any of it against the Reapers, so as not to change the timeline too much.

As noted, there was a QEC device on the Normandy 2, so they were definitely around in 2185.

It should also be noted, though that such devices are also expensive AF.  And is limited in the amount of data it can transmit.

I think I like you, like....like like. 

Was this on Cronos at the first video log? If so, it was Shepard saying that to the other squadmate and not edibot.

Thanks, I guess that was it. Looking at the clips it's not quite how I remembered it for some reason!

Still, that video log does confirm that the brain was preserved intact by Shepard's helmet which, in turn, confirms that it wasn't a clone brain being worked on.

Maybe the Illusive Man just asked Hades really nicely to bring back Shepard?

in a vacumm?  don't forget his suit depressurised and he was also exposed to absolute zero temperatures of space.  He'd shatter like an icicle when hitting the ground.  Then again Universal Thermal Clips........ yep.  

The suit is supposed to protect against temperature extremes and it may well not have completlely depressurized by the time it hit the atmosphere. It may not  have been depressurized at all if the pressure is maintained separately to the oxygen supply. Once the suit fell into the atmosphere I'd be more worried about Shepard burning up than shattering from cold!

Football players aren't wearing armour with kinetic padding or using kinetic barrier shields deliberately designed to absorb physical impact energy.

For all we know there are strong winds all over the surface which caught the body as it fell, blew it around for a while and dropped it gently on the ground!

I've been googling but I can see nothing about that? 

At the start of ME2 I could see Miranda's predecessor complaining about difficulties in reviving Shepard due to trauma and a long period without oxygen. Nothing about vacuum or subzero temperatures, though.