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
they've been triple checking the power systems because one of the battery temperatures read way off before launch due to what they are fairly sure is a sensor failure. all looks good though.
solar arrays are deploying. once they're out and locked they'll be fully out of the ascent stage and will switch to Abort To Orbit (ATO) mode
"we're happy to report that Jeremy has the O2 sensors on" good to know, thanks Jeremy
ground showing 7 second error between the MET clocks on Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) and another system (I missed the name, sorry), but crew reports their end shows them in perfect alignment.
if you're familiar with doing a circularisation burn at apoapsis in KSP, that's essentially what we're coming up on.
(got those mixed up for a moment! they're coming up on apoapsis, burning to raise periapsis)
"we don't burn at perigee, we burn a bit earlier, around apogee" well that's probably a good thing given that perigee is currently somewhere near the ground
Nav@gsuberland Lithobraking=BAD!
Frank Barton@nav @gsuberland id forgotten about that term… I need to go play more kerbal
@fbarton @gsuberland Are you aware of the Fully Autonomous Contingency Expedited Planetary Activated Lithobraking Manoeuvre?