AndTheRocket'sRedGlare

Check this out!! Over half way to the Moon, and you open your blind . . .

I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. Take a moment and listen to this 81 second response from Victor Glover after being asked if he had any thoughts leading up to Easter. I don’t quite think it can be overstated how perfect this crew is for the job.

This thought just hit me hard… Left photo, my father is somewhere there and I’m not. Right photo - I’m there but he isn’t. Time moves forward slowly and quietly replacing us - temporary passengers on this beautiful spaceship

Artemis II Launch Abort System Jettison

For the first time in >50 years, humans are back in deep space. When the Artemis II astronauts sleep on their way to the Moon, they will see something few have seen since Apollo: Flashes of light in total darkness. Why? Galactic cosmic rays. Cherenkov radiation (that blue glow in nuclear reactors). And astronaut eyes as a particle detector. A thread 🧵

Awesome. Vic Glover lifting weights on the x-axis while Jeremy Hansen makes lunch on the y-axis

This photo has a very personal meaning for me if you care to read it. I saw a photo from @johnkrausphotos on reddit nearly a decade ago of the engines on a Falcon Heavy launch. I was working at a tough sales job at the time. The shot inspired me to learn more about space and spaceflight. Shortly after, I bought my first telescope. I saw Jupiter, Saturn, and Nebulae, and started social media accounts where I shared my amateur photos. Then I was laid off, and Covid happened. Moved from Sacramento to Arizona for clearer skies, cheaper cost of living, and a chance to go all-in on space photography. My audience started to grow. Then, NASA contacted me, asking me if they could use some of my moon photos for something called Artemis. I said yes. During the Artemis I rollout my DMs blew up “Andrew- your photo is on the Mobile Launch Platform!”. Now I knew that astrophotography wasn’t enough… I should probably pay attention to spaceflight. I spent a lot coming out to the first launch attempt, which would be my first rocket launch if it flew. Sadly, it was a scrub. I came home from Florida, sharing my stories of touring the VAB and facilities with my grandfather, who worked on Apollo. He passed shortly after, which affected my ability to return to watch the SLS flew. Feeling bummed out, I focused back on my deep sky work, but then I started hearing about something called “Starship”. I caught a video from @Erdayastronaut where a rocket ship fell through the air belly-first and flipped upright and landed. Inspired, I knew I had to witness one of these machines fly, so I flew to Starbase the moment I could afford it, which was for the second fully integrated flight test. The moment Starship lifted off the pad, I was hooked. There was nothing quite like the experience. I did everything I could to catch every launch I could, and worked to become credentialed media to get better access. Last year I flew from Arizona to Florida & Texas over a dozen times specifically to sharpen my launch photography skills with our first human spaceflight to the moon in over 50 years looming. A decade of preparation for a split second moment. When I picked up my camera from the launch pad yesterday morning and peeked at what was captured, I knew it was all worth it. Thank you, NASA, Artemis, and the all people who inspired me along the way. This is still only the beginning.

Here is an updated render of how the booster seats into the OLM Pad 2 clamps. It sits on 20 half hemispherical ball mounts that aid in centering for alignment. The full stack weight of a ship and booster is about 5500 tons - payload Approximately 275+ tons of weight for each clamp arm the more weight that is placed on these means a better seating pressure and gives stronger resistance to any pre launch movement.

Liftoff of Artemis II! The first human mission around the moon since the Apollo era. A gorgeous launch into clear skies about an hour before sunset, on the first attempt. I set this one hoping it would launch in the early minutes of the window. Photo: United Launch Alliance

One thing I've noticed on SLS on both Artemis I and Artemis II is the little wiggle of the LAS tower on launch This is a great clip to see that, and it shows just how much power is produced by those SRBs at liftoff

So we just got a live look at what a waste water dump looks like from the Artemis II crew’s perspective😅 Pretty sure there was a whole lot of laughter going on inside Mission Control

More Artemis II! Can you see the flames around the RS-25 engines?

Earth from Artemis II (160× Speed) NASA

Pictured: Orion – 30,000 miles above Earth on the Artemis II mission – separating from the rocket's upper stage. Anduril now has over 400 telescopes around the globe. Advanced space sensing software provides real-time focal plane processing to identify & track objects. Think Sentry Tower software, but for space.

These two images were taken by @astro_reid only minutes apart. The stark difference is the result of camera settings. In the first, a longer shutter speed let in much more light from Earth, while the shorter shutter speed in the second emphasizes our planet's nighttime glow.

Elon is standing for the polar opposite of what Artemis II represents for humanity. Absolutely shameful he has to be associated with the program.

Motherfucker, YOU are foreign. YOUR 28 KIDS are “foreign anchor babies.” Just say “brown” you Nazi fuck!

Orion Camera View of Artemis II Climb to Orbit

Fun fact: The main engine behind this boost flew before on six Space Shuttle Atlantis missions. The European Service Module has 33 engines, but this is the only one capable of sending the Orion spacecraft towards the Moon, some 380 000 kilometres away.

This is literally cinema!! Aerial view of the Artemis II launch. You can see the launcher roll and pitch. 📷 : @NASA