Graham Sutherland / PolynomialArtemis II launch is approaching T-20m until launch!
RF folks: am I right in thinking that the three big masts surrounding the launch pad are supporting big helical antennas on the top? big white corkscrew looking things pointing directly up.
speaking of which it looks like they got a radio glitch on the telemetry, a single sample lost to 5s of radio lock loss (0.1Hz transmit period). they're on a hold to investigate but have concluded that it's not a violation.
checks complete, radio lock restored, no constraints, hold cleared, everyone reports go for T-10m to launch!
crew's response to go check was "FULL SEND!", gotta love it
seems it took them a minute to do some busywork but they just continued T-10m
"somebody asked if there's a launch button and there certainly is not" gotta love the public lol
they retracted the walkway. launch abort system is armed, liquid hydrogen pressurisation is underway.
final checks underway on the RS25 cryo engines. just T-3m30 now
why is the gimbal test cute 😂 wiggle wiggle
all systems go, T-60s to launch
ALS takeover!
just a few seconds now
approaching max-Q
throttle down to 85%, SRBs separated
fairing jettisoned, they're going strong!
all four engines made it all the way to MECO! always nice to get nominal when you only need 3/4 to get you there
core stage separation was one hell of a view
onboard camera feeds seem to be a bit iffy, but otherwise everything looks good
250 miles from earth
loving the KSP style navball in mission control
gaytabase@gsuberland smh you can do that in a veyron
Ret@gsuberland lucky fuckers
Phil M0OFX@gsuberland also known as a good night's sleep?
Multi Purr Puss 
@gsuberland i wonder, could Elmo/Starlink pull it off? (edit: the live streaming)
@platymew I'd prefer to strap him to the side of it personally
Human Brain Enthusiast@gsuberland someone needs to upgrade their WiFi
F4GRX Sébastien@thomasfuchs @gsuberland I'm so sad they probably dont have S-band telemetry like CuriousMarc decoded for apollo. Would be cool to track by rf. even a single cw beacon.
Other-worldly Hugh@gsuberland I first read this as “all four astronauts” and thought the second half was extremely cutthroat
@gsuberland pillhead shouting NOMINAL at a rave
@gsuberland beautiful staging
@gsuberland booster sep
@gsuberland what a sight. shuttle/saturn combo in hd
@gsuberland looks like they have socks
@gsuberland oh is that what it was?
@gsuberland "sir, this is not a missile. well, sort of, but also no."
@gsuberland The jump to 26 minutes on the stream got me for a second
@gsuberland novel time defying properties https://social.treehouse.systems/@dysfun/116331786200314785
penguin42@gsuberland I like they had a countdown to restart the countdown.
nak@gsuberland it’s a safe bet a YouTube ad will happen right at T-0
Andrew@gsuberland they’re lightning rods
@cinebox @gsuberland I was also believing that before Graham's remark.
@gsuberland @cinebox sounds optimistic.
@gsuberland The helical things are big insulators, with the actual lightning conductors suspended on their tips in a big triangle around the rocket, plus downconductors going to ground
PoroCYon@gsuberland *if* those are helix antennas... the ones I've seen so far don't need such a thick support (just a middle pole with horizontal welded bars going to the actual helical antenna)
why would you put an antenna at exactly this spot though, and not slightly safer further away?
@gsuberland could be side radiating depending on wavelengths, see QFH antenna. but vertical is plausible.
IDK what their purpose is. they are quite close.
Darrell Harmon@gsuberland Looks about right, that would be a fiberglass (or similar insulator) tube if an antenna. One took a real beating if that's the case: https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/space/2022/08/28/lightning-strikes-artemis-launch-pad-towers
Ken Milmore@dlharmon @gsuberland I hope they have all been to the toilet. It seems like a bit of a wait.
@gsuberland Apparently it is a fiberglass tube.
"Lightning protection at the Space Shuttle launch pads is provided primarily by a 70-foot insulating fiberglass mast 5 feet in diameter located on the Fixed Service Structure with a lightning rod at the top of the mast, as shown in Figure 1. A catenary wire running from the top of the mast to grounding points 1000 feet to the north and south of the tower is used to direct the current away from the pad structure."
Raj 🇬🇧🇪🇺💻🖥(🌻🇺🇦;🇵🇸)@gsuberland The helical bits are probably just wind spoilers. You see similar things on cylindrical chimneys.
1.3.6.1.4.1.61513@gsuberland not sure but it's common to put that kind of fluting(?) on stacks to increase the amount of wind loading a cylinder can take
morb