Today is the historic day. The first time humankind has gone back to the Moon in over 50 years. This will be the furthest astronauts have ever traveled. 

Of course, the endeavor is not without risk, with some estimates for a catastrophic failure between 1% and 5%, so lets spare a thought for the four brave astronauts that will blast off from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida later today. 

China have officially committed to building a permanent functional base on the Moon, with the location of that base said to be the lunar south pole, chosen for its water ice resources and long periods of sunlight for power. Thus, this launch is important to ensure that the west isn't left behind.

 

Launch time: 6:24 p.m. EDT (22:24 UTC)

 

 

 

 

 

Well, we will see if they light this candle or not.

4 minutes ago, stans said:

Well, we will see if they light this candle or not.

 

Weather is good last I heard, and no minuscule hydrogen molecules sneaking out. Clouds are something they watch out for, as the rocket passing through can generate lightning. In fact one of the Apollo missions was struck by lightning as it passed through cloud.

 

 

Quote

 

Apollo 12 was the mission struck by lightning during its launch on November 14, 1969. [1, 2]

• The Incident: At 36.5 seconds after liftoff, the Saturn V rocket was struck by lightning as it passed through a cloud at roughly 6,000 feet altitude. A second strike occurred at 52 seconds.
• The Effect: The lightning strikes caused all three fuel cells in the Command and Service Module (CSM) to trip offline, resulting in a loss of power, a "scrambled" telemetry data stream to Mission Control, and the illumination of numerous warning lights in the cockpit.
• The Rescue: Young flight controller John Aaron recognized the unusual telemetry pattern from a previous simulation and suggested the fix: "Try SCE to AUX.". Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean flipped the Signal Conditioning Equipment (SCE) switch to auxiliary (AUX), restoring the instrumentation and saving the mission. [1, 2, 3]

Despite the "36 seconds of terror," the Saturn V rocket's internal guidance system was not affected, and the mission successfully continued to the Moon, landing in the Ocean of Storms.

 

 

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

Launch time: 6:24 p.m. EDT (22:24 UTC)

Good luck to these guys!

@martin-w Just to confirm; this will be 23.24 UK time?

 

 

Edited April 1Apr 1 by martin-w

21 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

@martin-w Just to confirm; this will be 23.24 UK time?

 

Thanks! 👍 Its BST now, so yes, 11:24. 

Definitely going to follow this mission. It'll be Christmas 1968 all over again - without the snow, and my grandmother getting bored with it.

Fingers and Toes crossed for a GO Launch! 👍🙂

45 minutes ago, ViperPilot said:

Fingers and Toes crossed for a GO Launch! 👍🙂

Dang!  Thought you said lunch! 😉

FTS issue, currently. Hopefully they fix it before launch.

The launch window is 2 hours. 

I can understand the excitement if you’re under under 65 as you probably won’t have remembered the Apollo missions from Christmas 1968 to 1972 when man landed six times in nine missions.

I’ll watch the launch with interest but I’m not sure it will give me the same excitement as watching those Saturn V launches with that iconic countdown.

https://youtu.be/ViNcBQ8cDA0?si=ylj_mpV_FLp7Wyk6

Good luck to all the crew and support staff. Earth in UHD should look pretty cool. 😎

The FTS issue relates to the communication link with the Flight Termination System. Unlike SpaceX rockets, it's not automated. With this rocket its litteraly a case of manually hitting a termination button. 

FTS is now fixed. Range is GO for launch.

T-Minus 1:02.  🙏🫰👍