Artemis 2 launch to the moon

[Lee]

I still find these moonshots as awe-inspiring as I did 60 years ago.

 

 

[BrettGC]

I watched it live, pretty impressive stuff.  Was too young to remember any previous manned trips to the moon, so this was a first for me.  

We have a full house for Easter,  I was the only one even the slightest bit interested .

[Jeff_G]

3 hours ago, BrettGC said:

pretty impressive stuff.  Was too young to remember any previous manned trips to the moon, so this was a first for me. 

I am sure some on here have more vivid memories than I do, but I do vividly remember a few of the Apollo launches and for some reason my memory is even more vivid recalling the landing/recovery in the ocean.  I also do remember the first landing on the moon.  Our class went to one of the universities and watched it there.   Yup, impressive stuff.   There were no bigger heroes back in the day than the Astronauts.  

[GeoffH]

I remember watching the landing live on an old 22 inch Black and White TV with the family sitting around the lounge eyes glued to the TV, it was beyond impressive what they accomplished with 1960s technology.  At the time we all assumed there would be a base on the moon within 10 years and Mars wasn't going to be long behind that.

But then it all just sort of stopped 

I watched todays launch, but an hour late because I forgot to set my alarm.

Great to see and hopefully the base goes ahead this time.

Edited April 2 by GeoffH

[Lee]

A timeline of the Artemis 2 mission

 

https://spacenews.com/artemis-2s-nearly-10-day-flight-around-the-moon/

[scott h]

12 hours ago, GeoffH said:

it was beyond impressive what they accomplished with 1960s technology

We were on a family camping trip. Mom and Dad were glued to an old transistor radio. The ole man insisted I sit still for 30 min and listen to the moon landing. Thank goodness he did.

Amazing to think they had less computing capacity than we now carry around in our cell phones. 

[Mike J]

29 minutes ago, scott h said:

We were on a family camping trip. Mom and Dad were glued to an old transistor radio. The ole man insisted I sit still for 30 min and listen to the moon landing. Thank goodness he did.

Amazing to think they had less computing capacity than we now carry around in our cell phones. 

I have kind of a queasy feeling about this flight after the launch was delayed twice due to problems.  One advantage the 60s had was the relative simplicity of the technology compared to what we have today.  While new tech is superior to old and more reliable, much of it cannot be repaired if/when it fails.  

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

I have kind of a queasy feeling about this flight after the launch was delayed twice due to problems.  One advantage the 60s had was the relative simplicity of the technology compared to what we have today.  While new tech is superior to old and more reliable, much of it cannot be repaired if/when it fails.  

Exactly how I feel. I think about the Toyota cars we own and drive (the Suzuki too). They are so complex with their fancy computers that do everything but wash the dishes and wipe my ***. But when one fails or gets a hiccup... we are outta luck. In the bad old days, I tuned my old Buick using ears and a wrench. When something broke - which was quite rare - I could fix it. I am not a mechanical wiz, but fairly common logic and a bit of knowledge went a long way.

Nowadays, you either need practically a super computer and technical degree or a lot of luck and money for a taxi...

Sometimes there are advantages to being a cranky old man here to express my opinions...

[Lee]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

I have kind of a queasy feeling about this flight after the launch was delayed twice due to problems.

I had a similar feeling when watching the lift off live.

Couldn't help but think of the command module fire in 1967 and of course the Challenger disaster in 1986.

I'm hopeful that everything works out here.

[Mike J]

I understand there was a "problem" with the onboard toilet.  Fortunately they were able to fix it.