Artemis (NASA moon mission)

Ground Launch Sequencer running. 1:47:44 AM EST is new T-0 time.
 
A lot of stuff happens very quickly in terminal count. Almost time!
 
What a great launch. My stream hung right before MECO so I missed that, but I'll be watching it again at home. Here at work unfortunately because I use an IP phone I can't have sound from both that and other sources, weird bug yeah I know, so I didn't get the full effect.
 
Solar arrays are deploying now. It's a several-minutes long process, as those things are delicate.
 
I worked on the Ground Segment and vehicle software integration. It was years ago. It was… very gratifying, and a bit like an out-of-body experience, to watch the launch and ascent.

With the solar arrays out, if all continues to go well, Orion will be on the way to the Moon in about an hour.
 
We’ll get there when we get there!
 

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TLI burn complete. ICPS separation complete. Orion and the Service Module are on their way to the Moon!
 
After attending a birthday party on Tuesday, we headed to Titusville to watch the launch. We arrived at 1:15, about 10 minutes after the originally scheduled launch time. We found a place to park nearby and walked into Spaceview Park. Cell service didn't work because there were so many phones in a small space. So, we were not sure about the launch status.

Although the park was crowded, everyone seemed friendly and they made room for us where my vertically-challenged wife could see the rocket on the launch pad.

We still didn't know if or when the rocket would launch until about 20 minutes later when someone yelled "10 minutes."

Almost 10 minutes later, we heard people counting down "10 .. 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ......"

And then the sun exploded on the horizon. The brightness of the rocket was close to painfully. After a few seconds the sound reached us and quickly crescendoed into thunder.

The rocket's path crossed over the moon. As the rocket appeared to move down, the rocket's exhaust trail spread out to completely blot out the moon occasionally..
 
I've seen video clips taken by others in the area. You're not exaggerating even slightly - it was exactly like a sunrise in the middle of the night. I've never seen anything like it, and I've seen plenty of videos of launches.

That must have been incredible to witness personally. I'm glad you got the chance!
 
jadebox said:
And then the sun exploded on the horizon. The brightness of the rocket was close to painfully. After a few seconds the sound reached us and quickly crescendoed into thunder.
Click to expand...

I believe that this rocket, the SLS, is now the largest rocket ever launched into space. It must have been intense.

I had the pleasure last year of seeing a rocket launch when I visited family in California. It was the rocket that launched the DART mission that recently smacked into the asteroid. But I imagine that the rocket I saw was quite a bit smaller than the one you saw. It was a Falcon 9 rocket. You can see a visual comparison here. Still, it was quite loud even though we were miles away. Doesn't take long for it to get out of sight.
 
I’m glad you were able to see it live, jadebox. There’s nothing like that sky-ripping rumble.

(So, is the Dixie Crossroads (seafood restaurant) still there?)
 
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