For the last hour before splashdown and the first 20 minutes or so after it, I was watching the NASA feed as it happened. It seemed that Every Single Milestone they called out was good. The whole time was exceptionally smooth, by the book, and as close to perfect as it gets.
Odyssey, the Orion capsule, as the splashdown is happening. As close to a perfect conclusion to that as close to a perfect mission as we get.
Go celebrate a little. It's worth it.
Jerry Pournelle said more than once, "I always knew I'd live long enough to see men go to the moon. I did not know I'd live long enough for us to not be able to go to the moon." I saw Apollo 11 take off from the Cape in July 1969. Glad I lived ling enough to see this week's success and tonight's successful return.
ReplyDeleteMore like this please!
I was a Miami kid and didn't move up to the area until 1982. Watching Apollo 11 land and the first few hours on the moon are a highlight of my life. I sure would like to live long enough to see the moon base/colony they're talking about become a reality.
DeleteGreat big waste of money. Serves no purpose. We (most people) have no interest in it any more; little attraction for the average citizen. Send some probes and some robots to other planets; might result in a measure of curiosity (but only because of the pictures, and pseudo videos, etc.).
ReplyDeleteSpace exploration should be privately funded. Then everybody can spend their savings, the product of their life time's work, the way they want.
DeleteInteresting, Anonymous. How about I change it slightly to this: Social Welfare should be privately funded. Then everybody can spend their savings, the product of their life times work, the way they want.
DeleteFar better to spend it on a Learing Center in Minnesota, eh?
DeletePer Grok: Artemis 2 had 10 million concurrent viewers across (live stream, dedicated) platforms (NASA's most-watched launch ever), 18 million U.S. televison viewers, TikTok: Hundreds of millions of views (~463 million reported) and finalizes with "Billions of views." So, actually, "most people" were interested in Artemis 2.
DeleteAnonymous at 9:58, I must strongly disagree with you. Human progress results from exploration, pushing our physical boundaries, and learning new technologies.
ReplyDeleteAs has been proven over and over throughout human history, Neon Madman.
DeleteGlad they are home safe. The heat shield was a concern as it's a one time only event, no going around and maybe trying again :-)
ReplyDeleteSo many folks forget that pushing the envelope in technology creates so many new products for daily wear.
I suspect that the disposable Dexcom wearable diabetes sensor came from space needs to monitor astronauts in real time.
Profoundly relieved Artemis 2 returned safely. I had feared the worst. Artemis 2 surpassed all prior viewership measures. I wonder if the heatshield drama had a bearing or if it was something more?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it all went well and we redid what what white men did with slide rules decades ago. Worth $4 billion (that we know of)? Hell no. Nothing to celebrate here. This whole 'mission' is the epitome of the fake and gay federal tyranny we live under. It's not 'freedom.'
ReplyDeleteYawn, IIRC, I saw that same basic picture / mission 50+ years ago. Sad what nasa has turned into :-(. And those that did it 50+ years ago didn't have the "advantage" of the new technologies. Hardly glorious...
ReplyDeleteAn acquaintance asked me if they ever got the toilet to work or did they go through the mission full of it or floating in it. I told him I didn't care to find out...
Brother SiG, you have some real Debbie Downers that hang around here. I show up here for space news (real) and the optimism of someone who has been there/done that in the space race. And with the ongoing decline of the West (no apologies to Oswald Spengler), it's nice to see that, to the Apollo 8 level and value of "competent," we're there at least.
ReplyDeleteAt one point, I mentioned to my wife that an undercurrent I think I've seen is the models must be better because they keep doing things that have been modeled by the ground engineering crews and they keep working right.
DeleteIn terms of what it really accomplished, it's not really Apollo 8 level, but it's as close as we've been to that since 1968. Which means we really have benefited from that hard won knowledge of the last 60 years.