american astronauts back in space today

[Christopher Low 5,353]

You must have been a relatively new arrival to that area when I was on holiday in Florida in October 1995, Gerald. I was extremely lucky to be present for the seventh (and successful) launch attempt of STS-73 Columbia. It was a breathtaking and very special experience to watch the launch of a Space Shuttle live from the KSC (I was six miles away at the visitor observation point), and the view through my binoculars was awesome. I was particularly struck by how bright the orange flame was from the SRBs as the Shuttle cleared the tower. Much brighter than it looks on the TV.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Christopher Low

[CYXR 257]

Meanwhile... in Boca Chica Texas yesterday... a SpaceX SN4 test concluded in a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly according to https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/spacexs-starship-underwent-a-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly-we-do-mean-rapid/ No one was hurt.  Full NASA video of the explosion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YaFsUWgN3s

[Jazz 1,046]

4 minutes ago, CYXR said:

Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly

🤣

[Chock 17,769]

About 100 minutes to go:

 

[Jazz 1,046]

How's it looking today on the weather front?

[CYXR 257]

28 minutes ago, Jazz said:

How's it looking today on the weather front?

At the Cape the forecast is for scattered thunderstorms. But there are other variables; including parameters  downrange; and land and sea safety criteria... 

If not today, next launch attempt is planned tomorrow (May 31st) at 19:00 GMT

Edited May 30, 2020 by CYXR

[Christopher Low 5,353]

The launch is scheduled for 3:22PM Eastern Time, so we still have over four hours to wait, Alan.

[Chock 17,769]

Crew are on board - Enter the Dragon lol

[vc10man 732]

What time over the UK, please as I cannot find the time on telegraph website, and will it be visible, as it's clear skies?

EDIT: Please ignore found Tim Peake's guide on BBC

Edited May 30, 2020 by vc10man

[CYXR 257]

T - 00:00:02 on internal power...  Looks good! 

[CYXR 257]

Stage 1 has landed. 

Dragon on it`s way to I.S.S. 

Beautiful. Just, beautiful. 

Edited May 30, 2020 by CYXR

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Not sure why they made a mess of the broadcast, but one screen suddenly showed the rocket on its way, and the other had audio of the last few seconds of the countdown! I never actually saw the engines ignite, or the rocket lift off from the pad.....

Edited May 30, 2020 by Christopher Low

[martin-w 3,235]

Fantastic to actually have high definition images of the crew, in the capsule, and orbit.

Now think what an amazing experience it will be when they get back to the moon in a few years.

I watched the moon landing on TV with my parents. Bonkers we've had to wait this long for the next trip to the moon.

[Christopher Low 5,353]

The Moon first....and then Mars. I would love to see humans set foot on the surface of Mars.

[Jazz 1,046]

My wifi dropped 40 seconds before launch and when it came back it was running at 1999 speeds for 30 mins. I missed the entire thing in a way that made me feel like someone had decided I was not allowed to watch it. The odds of that happening were absurd. I'm actually livid beyond words presently. I have been looking forward to that for such a long time.