America headed back to the moon!!!

[Plyrr471]

Artemis 2 successful launch. Love this!!! Beautiful, so proud! GO USA!!! Love to see one one day.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

Just watched it,,,,awesome!!

 

[1967coronet]

 

[khryslerkid]

 

[Sam69sat]

The launch was good and i'm happy about the mission. The video and animations sucked *** though. Whoever is in charge of that needs to be fired.

 

[Bee1971]

ABC News went black just after Hemi engine ignition - You didn’t see it launch

I was honestly speechless, like what the

Then you saw the yellow streak

 

[wahya]

Used to watch most of the shuttle launches. A few of x. Some neighbors turned out for this one.

 

[Bee1971]

The Artemis II mission will rely on one of the most powerful and proven engine clusters ever flown by NASA: four RS-25 engines mounted at the base of the Space Launch System core stage. These engines are the driving force that will lift astronauts off Earth and send them on the first crewed journey toward the Moon in the Artemis era.
Each RS-25 engine on Artemis II carries its own history and identity. The four engines assigned to this mission are E2047, E2059, E2062, and E2061. Three of them previously flew during the Space Shuttle program, contributing to 22 successful missions that supported Shuttle–Mir operations, International Space Station assembly, Hubble Space Telescope servicing, and critical cargo delivery. One engine, E2062, is newly assembled using shuttle-era flight hardware, bringing legacy engineering together with modern upgrades.
Unlike the Space Shuttle, which used three RS-25 engines for missions to low Earth orbit, the Space Launch System flies with a four-engine cluster. For SLS, these engines have been upgraded to operate at higher power levels, producing more than two million pounds of thrust from the core stage alone. This increase in performance is essential for sending Orion and its crew beyond low Earth orbit and toward the Moon.

 

[DeltaV]

When Artemis II launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first Artemis crew will travel out of Earth’s atmosphere and around the moon. The two large, white cylinder-shaped objects bolstered to either side of the rocket — the mission’s twin solid rocket boosters, manufactured by Northrop Grumman — will play an integral role. They provide over 7.2 million pounds of thrust — over 75% of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s total thrust at launch — to help the 322-foot rocket escape Earth’s atmosphere.

http://[URL]https://www.northropgru...ions/artemis/artemis-ii/propelling-artemis-ii

[/URL]

***

An expanded visual of the components of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Credit NASA.

 

[themechanic]

The space race of the 60s was exciting.

Exactly why are they doing this? Why now?

 

[SlingLow]

Diesel fuel is $6.49-$6.79 in Washington state. I wonder what rocket fuel is going for these days.

I'm/we're paying for it. We should know...

 

[chargervert]

Meet me on the dark side of the moon!

 

[Sam69sat]

The space race of the 60s was exciting.

Exactly why are they doing this? Why now?

Because China is gonna build a base on the moon and no doubt weaponize it.

 

[chargervert]

Because China is gonna build a base on the moon and no doubt weaponize it.

We really need to stop financially supporting "China"

 

[dadsbee]

Diesel fuel is $6.49-$6.79 in Washington state. I wonder what rocket fuel is going for these days.

I'm/we're paying for it. We should know...

Liquid hydrogen... about 15 bucks a pound. Liquid Oxygen about buck a gallon.

 

[SlingLow]

Liquid hydrogen... about 15 bucks a pound. Liquid Oxygen about buck a gallon.

Man, that's some tough math. Liquid Hydrogen: convert pounds to gallons. Ratio of Hydrogen to Oxygen in gallons. Then convert all to USD.

So, about $1.47/gal at the pump? Just a guess...

 

[DeltaV]

The fuel and oxidizer are the cheap part. Add in the PBAN solid propellant rocket motors and it's still the cheap part.

In round numbers, each launch costs $4 BILLION.

 

[Photon440]

Diesel fuel is $6.49-$6.79 in Washington state. I wonder what rocket fuel is going for these days.

I'm/we're paying for it. We should know...

In bulk, liquid hydrogen is around $665 per ton but fluctuates. NASA buys about twice as much as they need, since almost 50% is lost through boiling off and leakage. This was based on the experience of 30 years of space shuttle missions.

 

[WileE]

In my youth, I avidly followed the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. Ultimately watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon July 20, 1969. I'm curious how many here were not alive, or too young to experience that.

 

[SlingLow]

In my youth, I avidly followed the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. Ultimately watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon July 20, 1969. I'm curious how many here were not alive, or too young to experience that.

I watched it on a 9" B&W TV that my dad bought just to see it while we were trailer camping in Idaho. I was 9 yrs old. He set it out on a picnic table in the campground we were camped at that had power. I don't remember what he used for an antenna but I remember a lot of fussing around to get what I remember as a crappy picture. I'm pretty sure that foil was involved. Dad was fascinated and I was less than impressed.