Yes, the launch was spectacular. I wathed it from outside the Eagles last night. Then went inside and watched on TV when it was out of sight. WoW

Watch The Launch Again - scroll to 21 minutes(1 min to launch)

Sounds of Artemis I - A night time launch scroll to 3 minutes then 7 for the last recordings from the Mobile Launcher Platform/Launch Umbilical Tower - click through the pics

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There are "look backs" during certain times, when the astronauts are sleeping for one:

24/7 Live Coverage Continues - The Orion is on a high orbit around Earth after a series of burns. After a few hours of sleep a "Perigee Raise Burn(PBR)" took place, 8:15 am EST, putting Orion on an even higher orbit for a Trans Lunar Injection(TLI) burn tonight at 7:50 pm EST, if all goes well, that will send them on a course to the moon. The SLS is completely autonomous. The spacecraft's Guidance Navigation and Control Systems completed "star field maneuvers" so it knows where it is and where it is going before that PRB burn, amazing

"star field maneuvers": The way a spacecraft orients itself using stellar tracking cameras to determine its orientation (attitude) while navigating through space

The astronauts are taking a nap

EDIT: They are up getting ready for their busy day. Communications have begun checking all systems, life support etc before the TLI burn which will put them on a trajectory to the moon

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In 2017 when Artimus program started some of the technology hadn't been developed yet. It had to be developed. The Apollo computers were a 16 bit system with 4kb of ram yet successfully guided astronauts to the moon. The shuttle program used 5 main computers, 16 bits with 32 bit registers. The Artemis program uses 2 vehicle management computers and 6 power and data units. They are 20,000 times faster and have 128,000 times more memory then the Apollo computers had

I don't think I could sleep

I'm still excited too mbday630...it's been a long time coming!

We've come a long way!!!

This morning on my walk with that full moon so bright and shining I could imagined I saw a tiny speck headed for the moon...

I don't think I could sleep either soot, especially when we were coming up on the moon. You and I both would be glued to the windows


NASA'S Deep Space Network - keeping in touch with Integrity while in deep space

NASA's Set Coverage - times are EST. Mission Map

NASA's Artemis II Live Views from Orion

This is some excellent live mission coverage. Thursday at 7:50 pm EST a 5:50 minute Trans Lunar Ignition(TLI) burn has the Orion pulling away from the earth. Next stop........the moon. You can check the distance of the craft moving away from Earth and the distance they have left to the moon bottom right during animation views on the live feed

** Now that the crew is on their way to the moon they hope to have the cameras on inside the Orion capsule as much as possible


If you missed the 3 events that happened on thursday here they are:

The 6 minute Trans Lunar Ignition(TLI) burn and Mission Control's news brief after - segmented. During the burn you will see the Orion spacecraft, nicknamed "Integrity", starting to pull away from the Earth

Live event with the astronauts inside the Orion Spacecraft - 1st one, very good! As they continue with these "live downlinks" I expect a tour of the capsule and more

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Many Very Interesting Views of the Launch! - segmented

Day 4

CSA Live Downlink Event held April 4th at 1:10 am EST - CSA audio not very good

Orion's Selfie taken today from a solar array

Earth - NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn. There are two auroras (top right and bottom left) and zodiacal light (bottom right) is visible as the Earth eclipses the Sun


How to Eat in Space and Crew Menu

Space - What's out there

Day 5

Massive Update - briefing - Everything to Know Before the Artemis II Moon Encounter on 6th April

April 4th Live Downlink Event at 5:15 pm EST

Artemis II Astronaut Jeremy Hansen Speaks to Media - again not very good audio from CSA


An excellent view of the launch

Thank you Orion for this awesome information source!

It's definitely an exciting time for NASA and all who have an interest in space flight especially when it comes to going back to the moon soot


Daily highlights from the mission:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

ADDED - Day 5


Journey to the Moon - images and video uploaded/downloaded to earth. More to come. No audio on videos

Heartily agree. So very excited about all aspects !!

Updated (*)

Targeting Plan for Lunar Flyby April 6th

Scroll down to Crew receives final science targets. The crew will be looking at certain targets within this target plan/guide the entire 7 hour lunar flyby. They will be following actions listed on the target plan/guide of each target, bottom right. Key goals include photographing, mapping, and analyzing over 30 geological targets—such as the Orientale Basin. One of the objectives.....scouting possible landing sites past and future

* Mission Update - Targeting the moon


* The Orientale Basin shown here is one of the first stops for possible landing sites. Here is a stunning NASA video of the lunar surface in 4K using observations from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA wants this area checked out for safe landing missions, life on the moon using the SpaceX human landing system under development - The Moon

* The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft recreated some of the stunning views of the Moon that the Apollo 13 astronauts saw on their perilous journey around the far side in 1970


* Our Moon

Near Side

Far Side

Thanks for all your links, Orion! I took the time to watch the massive update briefing and was very interested in the science gathering part of it.

Day 6 - LUNAR FLYBY

24/7 Live Coverage

NASA's Artemis II Live Views from Orion. The moon is starting to come into focus as they get closer

Track Artemis - This is telemetry of the spacecraft in real time. Left click hold to swing around. Click on bottom left for more tracking options. Click on dot(moon) on the left then increase magnification, rotate around. Click on the red dots. These are the locations of the Apollo landings

Updates on the Mission

Lunar flyby in 60 seconds


Lunar Flyby Updated Schedule - Times are EST and are subject to change

12:41 am: Orion enters lunar sphere of influence at 41,072 miles from the Moon
2:20 am: Crew sleep begins
*10:50 am: Flight Day 6 begins, Crew wake up
1 pm: Lunar flyby coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Roku, and the agency’s YouTube channel
1:30 pm: The science officer in mission control will brief the crew on their science goals for the upcoming flyby
1:56 pm: The Artemis II crew is expected surpass the record previously set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970 for the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth 
*2:45 pm: Lunar observations begin
6:44 pm: Mission control expects to temporarily lose communication with the crew as the Orion spacecraft passes behind the Moon 
6:45 pm: During “Earthset,” Earth will glide behind the Moon from Orion’s perspective
7:02 pm: Orion reaches its closest approach to the Moon at 4,070 miles above the surface
7:07 pm: Crew reach their maximum distance from Earth during the missio
7:25 pm: “Earthrise” marks Earth coming back into view on the opposite edge of the Moon
7:25 pm: NASA’s Mission Control Center should re -acquire communication with the astronuts  
8:35-9:32 pm: During a solar eclipse, the Sun will pass behind the Moon from the crew’s perspective
*9:20 p.m: Lunar observations conclude

*10:50 pm: Live downlink event


Optical/Lazer Communication(O2O) - During the Apollo era it took 1.3 seconds for communications to reach earth and took longer for data. Data transfers are 40x faster now using O2O

Do you know how much earth's cloudy skies effect (attenuation) the O2O communications?

Here is an explanation soot. Atmospheric conditions do affect communications but there is a remedy

Deep Space Network