Artemis Launch…

[LuFins Dad]

3 minutes.

[Renauda]

Artemis II toilet working again.

Col. Mike Mullane told me over beers once that people have no idea how important it is for the zero gravity toilet to be in prime working order in the confines of the space shuttle. He would know, he did three Shuttle missions. I doubt this small capsule is any different.

Godspeed to these four intrepid explorers.

[jon-nyc]

Something you don’t even think about is it’s own non-trivial engineering problem.

And then of course recycling urine to drink the water again. That must take some time wrapping your head around.

[Andrea B]

[Tom-K]

I'm old enough to remember when a rocket to the moon was a big freakin' deal now it's kind of filler at the end of some broadcast.

[AndyD]

I was a child of 7 when Armstrong and Aldrin blasted off; we went next door to see as the neighbours had a b&w TV).
I feel quite emotional about it, almost like humanity lost 50 years of progress, immensely thankful to the US that it's happening again.

It all seems very similar until they show the control panels. Some contrast!
Wonder what Buzz is thinking.

[jon-nyc]

Lol NASA

[jon-nyc]

Did you know: all five of the US flags planted by the Apollo missions have been bleached white by the UV rays which means now the moon technically belongs to France

[89th]

Here's a cool tracker. There are other trackers out there but they are slow to load. I like this one (right now) because it shows how the rocket is on a trajectory for where the moon WILL be in a couple days:

https://artemis-two.razroo.com/

[89th]

BTW the NASA and CNN launch coverage videos SUCKED (IMO). Glitchy, bad resolution... this guy is one of the best rocket youtube channels out there and his coverage/video was much clearer. Starts at 6:49:30.

Link to video

[Renauda]

Last evening after the burn to leave earth orbit and send the crew towards the moon (at the walking pace of close to 25,000 km/hr) the crew broadcast a short Q & A with earth. What really struck me was the clarity of the comm. Nothing like the crack and pop of the AM broadcasts during the Apollo programme. It was if the crew was broadcasting from the next room.

[89th]

Yeah that was nice. Only a few seconds delay, not much worse than the delay during news interviews

[Mik]

Science Friday (my fave NPR show) is all about Artemis today. very cool.