carson_phillips

Timing is everything. Check out these images, taken today, of Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. At 07:29 local time, Gen-3 captured an extreme off-nadir twilight shot of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on the pad before again catching the vehicle in flight at 10:13, 38 seconds after launch, as it was traveling more than 400 miles per hour. With time-diverse imaging capabilities and flexible imaging modes, Gen-3 sees relevant activity at all hours of the day.

Falcon Heavy is at pad 39A in Florida ahead of tomorrow’s launch of the @viasat-3 F3 mission. The 85-minute launch window opens at 10:21 a.m. ET → spacex.com/launches/viasa…

Three years since the first flight of Starship, the next generation is here. New ship. New booster. New engines. New pad and new test site. SpaceX engineers are working to solve one of the most difficult engineering challenges in history: developing a fully, rapidly reusable rocket

LETS GOOOOOO

SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI. The combination of Cursor’s leading product and distribution to expert software engineers with SpaceX’s million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer will allow us to build the world’s most useful models. Cursor has also given SpaceX the right to acquire Cursor later this year for $60 billion or pay $10 billion for our work together.

Falcon lands for the 600th time!

Falcon Heavy will launch the Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars in late 2028

First 33-engine static fire for Super Heavy V3

Full-duration static fire for the first time on Starship V3

ARTEMIS II: SPLASHDOWN! Welcome home, astronauts! youtube.com/live/_veRvxj-5…

.@NASASpaceflight is proud to be providing livestream production services for AIAA's Design/Build/Fly competition later this month.

Now on the NASA photo site, so the uncompressed version is here: images.nasa.gov/details/art002…

I have never called the level of broadcasts that @PhotonEmpress has or the number of launches that she has, but I could not agree with her more. Sometimes you have your plan and you practice your plan on a separate ME in the minutes before liftoff... and at T-0 that fails - so you go (in a split second) to plan B, and that fails too. Your shots are blocked, your cameras are destroyed or knocked over, a whole side of your IP network goes down, the track you had planned to go to first turns out to be overexposed by 3 stops... All things you tried to plan for, but went wrong. I've been there too many times. I don't fault NASA's TD. They had to make a decision get to something/anything that they could. When you're staring at 32 cameras on multiple multiviews - and you have to make a split second decision, and your heart is pounding, and you know you have one of your biggest audiences ever, and there's tears in your eyes because humanity is going back to the moon... it's hard. You do your best. And you look back on it and beat yourself up a little bit, and then you learn from your mistakes. Then you go back out there and try again on the next one.

I don't think there is anyone on the planet who has done more live rocket broadcasts than me. I literally have done *hundreds* of them over the last 18 years. And some of the largest launch broadcasts on the planet too! I say this not to brag, but to convey a level of expertise in launch broadcasts that I think few, if any, can beat. Ok, maybe brag a little 👸 I know a lot of people were not super happy with NASA's coverage, specifically at liftoff. But man, let me tell you... As someone who has done hundreds of these... IT IS FREAKING HARD! I have personally had bad liftoff sequences too. It happens. And it sucks. And I hated it when I did that. To me. And to you. It is hard to convey just how complex liftoff is during a broadcast. It is a moment in time where nearly every view is available, but very few are viable. You never truly know which ones will be viable either, so it's a guessing game and a bit of luck. You have to scan through to find the shots that work, but you only have *seconds* to do this. Seconds. I have learned over the years that a technical director (vision mixer) needs an A and B plan for liftoff. Generally engines -> pass through -> medium -> wide -> super wide -> track scope -> track spot for the A plan. The B plan is usually far easier with engines -> wide -> super wide -> track scope. The switcher control surface needs to be set up to execute these plans extremely quickly. And even if you do all of this, a gust of wind blowing smoke the wrong way can foil the best of plans. It. Is. Hard. I hear ya all, but let's cut NASA some slack here. They have amazing people working the launch. They have many people they need to support in their broadcast including the media, schools, NASA employees, government officials, and the public. It is like getting pulled in a billion different ways all at once. Was liftoff coverage epic? No. I mean, it just wasn't. Will they learn from this and make Artemis III better? I believe they will. I know the people working these things, and they are great. Don't let one launch paint a bad picture here. There is enough space for everyone. If you didn't like NASA's coverage, then @NASASpaceflight, @TLPN_Official, @Erdayastronaut, @SpaceflightNow and more had other, amazing options that may suit your tastes better. We live in a time where you have incredible options. It's awesome and exciting. Oh, and WE HAVE FOUR HUMANS GOING TO THE MOON RIGHT NOW! Lets be excited about that instead!

Artemis II: We're getting some views inside Orion Integrity on the way to the Moon. youtube.com/watch?v=8n1GGe…

@TaylorHose @NASASpaceflight Who is the DJ for the drive??

Take a ride up to a fully fueled SLS on launch day with us!

There is no day quite like an Artemis launch day. Four of humanity's finest launch into the wild black yonder and towards our closest cosmic neighbor. 📸 - @NASASpaceflight

Artemis II and four humans are on the way towards the Moon! 📸 @NASASpaceflight

WE ARE GOING BACK TO MOON

LIFTOFF OF ARTEMIS II Carrying the hopes and dreams of millions as four of humanity’s bravest ride a great pillar of fire destined for the Moon, carrying the pride of nations. 📸 - @NASASpaceflight