America prepares for a manned Return to the Moon - Artemis II / Orion Roll Out

[F2d5thCav]

I've been following this pretty closely. It's pretty exciting to see us going back to space and possibly the moon.

I didn't expect to see another mission to the Moon in my lifetime.

[GRIZZ0317]

I've been following this pretty closely. It's pretty exciting to see us going back to space and possibly the moon.

I didn't expect to see another mission to the Moon in my lifetime.

I was born in 92, so there hasn't been a lot of exciting space missions, so I'm thrilled to be alive to see this.

[YesItsMe]

Reading reports this morning that the $23,000,000 space toilet isn't working and a burning smell is coming from it.   That's going to make for a yukky few days aboard that spacecraft.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Artemis II’s big milestones are tomorrow. Here’s when they’ll happen:

1:56 PM ET (1756 UTC) Crew surpasses the Apollo 13 distance record

2:45 PM ET (1845 UTC) Lunar observation period begins

6:47 PM ET (2247 UTC) Loss of signal expected as Orion heads behind the Moon (~40 min)

7:02 PM ET (2302 UTC) Closest approach to the Moon

7:05 PM ET (2305 UTC) Orion reaches its furthest point from Earth

[sahgwa]

Artemis II’s big milestones are tomorrow. Here’s when they’ll happen:

1:56 PM ET (1756 UTC) Crew surpasses the Apollo 13 distance record

2:45 PM ET (1845 UTC) Lunar observation period begins

6:47 PM ET (2247 UTC) Loss of signal expected as Orion heads behind the Moon (~40 min)

7:02 PM ET (2302 UTC) Closest approach to the Moon

7:05 PM ET (2305 UTC) Orion reaches its furthest point from Earth

That's all very apropos because today is Moonday after all! 

[gortex]

Livestream starting shortly of the flight around the Moon.

On Monday, April 6, the four astronauts of Artemis II will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history—breaking the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

They'll sail around the far side of the Moon, photographing lunar features never before seen by human eyes. At their closest point, they'll pass roughly 4,000 miles above the lunar surface.

• 1:56 p.m. EDT (1756 UTC): Artemis II crew surpasses the Apollo 13 distance record
  
  
• 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 UTC): Lunar observation period begins
  
  
• 6:47 p.m. EDT (2247 UTC): Predicted loss of communications as Artemis II heads behind the moon (roughly 40 minutes)
  
  
• 7:02 p.m. EDT (2302 UTC): Artemis II's closest approach to the Moon
  
  
• 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 UTC): Artemis II reaches its furthest distance from Earth
  

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Livestream starting shortly of the flight around the Moon.

On Monday, April 6, the four astronauts of Artemis II will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history—breaking the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

They'll sail around the far side of the Moon, photographing lunar features never before seen by human eyes. At their closest point, they'll pass roughly 4,000 miles above the lunar surface.

• 1:56 p.m. EDT (1756 UTC): Artemis II crew surpasses the Apollo 13 distance record
  
  
• 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 UTC): Lunar observation period begins
  
  
• 6:47 p.m. EDT (2247 UTC): Predicted loss of communications as Artemis II heads behind the moon (roughly 40 minutes)
  
  
• 7:02 p.m. EDT (2302 UTC): Artemis II's closest approach to the Moon
  
  
• 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 UTC): Artemis II reaches its furthest distance from Earth
  

1:56pm - 252,752 miles from Earth surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by about 4,102 miles.

The number of people who have seen the far side of the moon has risen from 24 to 28.


3:51pm: While everyone on board is expressing wonder over the view of the moon they just got the bad news about the toilet being no-go again.

Artemis Real-time Orbit Website

[F2d5thCav]

Apparently the Artemis crew saw some unusual brown and green hues on the far side of the Moon.  That's kind of neat, although I doubt anyone is growing vegetables there 

So they're earthward bound now.

[gortex]

Earth set as seen from the Dark side of the Moon.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

The eclipse from Orion.

On April 6, external cameras attached to the Orion spacecraft's solar array wings captured the Moon backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse.




Question asked by Merriam-Webster to Artemis II crew


https://x.com/MerriamWebster/status/2041590352499327329


Today’s Daily Cartoon, by Jason Adam Katzenstein for The New Yorker:




A few pics from Artemis II astronauts:


More here ay higher res: Artemis II multimedia resource collection





Artemis crew captured this view of the Moon eclipsing the Sun yesterday (Apr 6th). Earthshine on the left and the three "stars" to the lower right of the Moon are actually planets. The middle one has a slightly red tint...Mars.




Lucky numbers...




Avoid the AI slop, real photos from Artemis II:

NASA Journey to the Moon

NASA Johnson flickr

NASA Image and Video Library


The most expensive advertisement in the world turned out to be free — during a livestream from space, a... jar of Nutella flew into the frame...


"We've traveled to a lot of breakfast tables. Never any quite like this."
Nutella is honored


The Artemis II mission's stunning new images of the moon are making us think about the lunar maps created long before space travel was possible for humankind. This one is by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687), often referred to as the founder of lunar topography.

"Copy, moon joy."


Going to the Moon: Early Cartography of the Lunar Surface


Meet our modern Hevelius: Ernie Wright. He maps the Moon using spacecraft data, which he used to train the Artemis II crew to see parts of the lunar surface humans had never laid eyes on before.