Lydia Schoch5h ago
Geoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
If I was on Artemis I'd spend the 40 minute radio blackout rigging all the clocks, logs, instrumentts etc to show that 6 hours had passed, then refuse to comment on what I'd seen on the far side.
This is probably why I'm not allowed on the Artemis.
11:06amMastodon for Android
Show threadAlexander Knochel15h ago
@_thegeoff Reminds me of Collins' suggestion that Armstrong should step on the moon, exclaim "What the hell is this thing" and cut the mic. So you're in good company
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿15h ago
@Quantensalat Conrad's first words on the surface (actually the landing pad) were something like "that may have been a small step for Neil, but it's a long way for a little guy like me" - he was easily the shortest of the Apollo astronauts.
Show threadJimmy13h ago

@_thegeoff @Quantensalat I loved DangerMouse (Donnie Munro?🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ) in the 'eighties and a line that stayed with me is;

Penfold: 'It may be one small step for a man, but it's a giant leap for a hamster!!'

i never knew (but should have guessed) there was a historical precedent🤣 🤣 🤣

Show threadHighlandLawyer12h ago
@sjcooke66 @_thegeoff @Quantensalat
Donnie Murdo for Dangermouse in Gàidhlig; Donnie Munro was the singer for Runrig.
Show threadJimmy11h ago
@HighlandLawyer @_thegeoff @Quantensalat Also a fan, FYI, until DM left...😱
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿10h ago
@sjcooke66 @HighlandLawyer @Quantensalat Yeah, Penfold's solo stuff was just too self indulgent.
Show threadJimmy10h ago
@_thegeoff @HighlandLawyer @Quantensalat There was solo stuff? I mean, great sidekick but... what?😱
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿10h ago
@sjcooke66 @HighlandLawyer @Quantensalat Just kidding on a "DM" misunderstanding ;)
Show threadJimmy10h ago
@_thegeoff @HighlandLawyer @Quantensalat i half got it...Carrots!!!
Show threadHighlandLawyer10h ago
@_thegeoff @sjcooke66 @Quantensalat
Yes, especially when he appointed himself Crumbs Chief.
Show threadJimmy10h ago
@HighlandLawyer @_thegeoff @Quantensalat 🤣 🤣 🤣 Was there some episode set in a bakery that I missed?
Show threadThe Doctor5h ago
@Quantensalat @_thegeoff Arthur C. Clarke once said he was a little disappointed that the first lunar mission astronauts discussed reporting a black monolith on the surface of the moon but decided not to.
Show threadDieKeh®seite14h ago
@_thegeoff 😂 i love that idea!
Show threadRicardo14h ago
@_thegeoff Clarke wrote on the author's note of 2010 that the Apollo 8 crew confessed to him they considered the idea of reporting the finding of a huge black monolith on the far side of the Moon (they already had seen 2001)
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿14h ago

@RGBes Be fun if you could get the timing right:

"Kshhh...y god, it's full of stars..."
"Artemis, Houston, radio contact reestablished."
"Receiving you loud and clear."
"What was 'full of stars'?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing...."

Show threadDavid Cohen13h ago
@_thegeoff You know the crew will be replaced by evil duplicates while on the far side, of course.
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿12h ago
@davidbcohen Oh, all three reappearing on camera with goatees, that would be awesome.
Show threadDavid Cohen12h ago
@_thegeoff Three? Will they eat the other one? I know he’s Canadian but that’s a bit much 😏
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿8h ago
@davidbcohen Fair point, well made, been playing too much KSP and brain stuck in 3 seat capsule mode! 🤣😳
Show threadBranwen7412h ago
@davidbcohen Ask Floyd or Pink about this. They might know more. @_thegeoff
Show threadEric A. Meyer12h ago
@Branwen74 @davidbcohen @_thegeoff Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?
Show threadThe Doctor5h ago
@Meyerweb @Branwen74 @davidbcohen @_thegeoff The one going easy on the freshmen.
Show threadEric A. Meyer4h ago
@_thegeoff @Branwen74 @drwho @davidbcohen Oh, I really hope that’s not a sex euphemism.
Show threadThe Doctor3h ago
@Meyerweb @_thegeoff @Branwen74 @davidbcohen It isn't. Do you remember the movie _Dazed and Confused_?
Show thread⊥ᵒᵚ Cᵸᵎᶺᵋᶫ∸ᵒᵘ ☑️9h ago
@davidbcohen @_thegeoff look out for suspicious beards!
Show threadvxo13h ago
@_thegeoff https://theevolutioncontrolcommittee.bandcamp.com/track/the-fucking-moon
The Fucking Moon, by The Evolution Control Committee

from the album Plagiarhythm Nation v2.0

The Evolution Control Committee
Show threadsabik13h ago
@_thegeoff
Meanwhile, on Earth:
https://beige.party/@roknrol/116357560609211333
Roknrol like the slur (@[email protected])

@[email protected] A: Artemis to mission control. MC: This is Mission Control. Who did you say that you are? A: Artemis II MC: Wait one. (30 seconds) MC: Artemis II...from 2026?!?

beige.party
Show threadShaun Griffith13h ago
@_thegeoff Wasn't it 18 hours in Contact? Surely some ridiculously longer time would be better? But some of the onboard electronics will be tamper proof, and if nothing else, when they return, it will get sorted out.
Show threadrobryk11h ago
@shaungriffith @_thegeoff And navigation would be mightily confused (you'd either need to fake weird maneuvers, change the time in the last state vector update accordingly, or end up with navigation that claims a totally different position).
Show threadAndrew Golding13h ago
*rigs all clocks to be fast by 320 minutes*
*thrust control fires for Earth reentry early, changing trajectory to a collision course*
@_thegeoff shortly before the Artemis crew capsule experiences a rapid unscheduled disassembly: "heh, got 'em!"
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿12h ago
@huronbikes I'll accept you may have a *tiny* point there...
Show threadPaul Martin13h ago
@[email protected] "All right! Did you remember to pack the ape suits?"
Show threadrobcornelius12h ago
@nowster @_thegeoff bravo!
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿2h ago
@robcornelius @nowster There's precedent...
https://youtube.com/shorts/wXNEZ6NvwTc
Gorilla on the ISS?

YouTube
Show threadThird spruce tree on the left13h ago
@_thegeoff Given they had difficulities killing an errant OUtlook process on the thing and they're still a few hundred thousand km from home, I wouldn't be touching _nothing_ on that capsule.
Show threadKim12h ago
@_thegeoff Yeahbut the way things are going they'd probably just assume it was some sort of Microsoft timezone bug.
Show threadPalky558h ago
@kim @_thegeoff "OMG not another one...patches ready?"
Show threadGalactic Stone12h ago
@_thegeoff This is exactly why you should have been chosen as commander of the mission.
Show threadRobin Barton12h ago
@_thegeoff I like the way you think
Show threadMedizinphysiker12h ago
@_thegeoff 😆 Very funny thought! Thanks for sharing the idea!
Show threadMatt Panaro12h ago
@_thegeoff I would also be delighted if 3 of those onboard started behaving as though the fourth were not, and never had been 😁
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿11h ago
@eigen Or play the alternate reality card, ask to speak to President Harris to congratulate her on inspiring "this joint NASA/ESA/CSA/Roscosmos/CNSA project and the world peace it celebrates".
Show threadGoldmaster12h ago
Or they rendezvous with a vulcan ship, then beam aboard saying get us out of here!
Show threadrobcornelius12h ago
@_thegeoff if it was me I would black out all comms for 23 extra minutes after contact should be restored. The first message would be "kick out the jamms motherfuckers".
Show threadjamesb (MW1CGG)11h ago
@_thegeoff Return on the video link with those blacked out contact lenses like something out of Event Horizon.
Show threadDavid Cantrell 🏏11h ago
@_thegeoff whereas in reality they're rigging them to show that six hours *hadn't* passed
Show threadSteve Hersey10h ago

@_thegeoff
I keep hearing reporters say that "no human eye has seen the far side before."

Umm, wait a minute there.

The Apollo program featured TEN (correction: NINE) missions that orbited the Moon. Do these folks seriously mean to say that in all of those lunar missions, the crewmember left in Moon orbit during the mission NEVER ONCE LOOKED OUT THE CSM WINDOW while passing over the far side?

That seems rather unlikely...

Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿10h ago
@n1xnx *facepalm*
The thing that annoys me the most about this kind of reporting is it shows zero respect for the achievements of the Apollo era.
Show threadCluster Fcku7h ago
@_thegeoff @n1xnx This Artemis-ii is a totally sexed up dress rehearsal for a remake of the Apollo landing. I mean sure, impressive, but doing this 50/60 years ago was far far more impressive. And no they're not going around the moon to "take images of the far side". You don't need humans for that. This trip is a systems test, that includes funding & public acceptance, risk assessments, radiation hardness, MS outlook, and the bathroom.
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿7h ago
@clusterfcku @n1xnx Ha! Both amusing, and 100% correct!
Show threadSteve Hersey7h ago

@_thegeoff @clusterfcku
I feel the need to make a snarky reference to "the wisdom of the ancients" here, where "the ancients" means "the original Apollo project organization."

What a sorry lot we are if we cannot manage a repeat performance, with all the improved tech we've managed in the meantime.

Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿7h ago
@n1xnx @clusterfcku The other thing to take into account is the Cold War, Apollo was effectively a military and propaganda exercise, and deaths were more politically tolerable. Today's missions are far, far more risk averse (and probably for the better, in the long term).
Show threadSteve Hersey6h ago
@_thegeoff @clusterfcku
Agreed.
One more reason to accept a slower, more expensive program that doesn't kill astronauts along the way. (It's not *all* inefficiency and exploitation by contractors.)
Show threadEd Davies9h ago

@n1xnx NINE, even if you count 13 which didn't orbit the Moon as such though it did pass over the far side, of course.

8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

7 & 9 were both Earth orbit only. 7 testing the CSM in Earth orbit, 9 testing the LM similarly.

@_thegeoff

Show threadSteve Hersey7h ago
@edavies @_thegeoff
Yeah, I was inadvertently counting the first orbital lander test in my quick tally. That one was Earth orbit...
Show threadBill Ricker3h ago

@n1xnx
With LOS on the backside, it raises the question whether the DSN is correctly named; more like Slightly-Deep-Space-Network AMIRIGHT?

Long term we may need TDRS-Lunar units in orbit around Luna — polar orbit constellation, with relay all around? possibly several on highly elliptical orbits slantwise so that one is always seeing backside orbits and earth, and another could see low power transmitters on front side ground ?

Show threadSteve Hersey3h ago

@BRicker
Finally, a good use for those pest-begotten Starlink sats.

Jokes aside, yes, we definitely need such a network.

Show threadBill Ricker3h ago

@n1xnx @_thegeoff

TBQF, this mission is going at a different phase of the moon (which is to say from lunar point of view different solar season) and going around _much_ higher, so *yes* they will see things Apollo didn't see.

This mission _will_ see most of the poles which have only been seen with cameras.

(Apollo landings occurred with moon around quarter phase to have a low sun providing contrast to the relief, both for pilot and to recognize waypoints when hiking.)