HollieSix minutes suddenly sounds like forever.
I did a web search for Mach 32 in MPH, and got three different answers. So...roughly 24,000 mph but nobody knows for sure?
How cool would it be to be the helicopter pilot that took the astronauts back to the ship, duuuude, that's the job I wish I could have. :)
In case you're curious what I'm watching, it's NASA's official broadcast:
NASA’s Artemis II Crew Comes Home (Official Broadcast)
"As the earth grows larger in the field of view" yeah because they're going to be FALLING. My mind can't get over this. My palms literally start to sweat when I think about it, sitting at my desk, on the earth. Tipping out of orbit, like just tipping over a cliff.
This is why I don't want to go to space, lol. When friends get talking about this and begin "what if" questions and I admit I wouldn't actually go up, they ask why and I say it's because it's basically the worst possible fear-of-heights scenario we know of. I like helicopters (yeah, I have been in one). In aviation they're like the horse and carriage of altitude. 😅 (fear of heights doesn't have to be logical)
"We've now armed the pyros" okay NASA that can't mean what it sounds like
Okay that separation was amazing.
"Just 2800 miles from earth"
STRAIGHT UP
<palms sweat profusely>
it's fine we're all fiiiiine
"Less than nine minutes away from entry interface"
Like if this doesn't make your heart sore with awe and feel kinda sappy about it then you probably don't want to hang out with me
They're doing such a great job of explaining what's going on, it's so cool.
Honestly I want to take a screenshot of this view so that the next time I'm in an airplane that is about to land and I look out the window and feel sick at the height I'm about descend, I can see the screenshot and think, "Hey, it could be worse!" 😆
EVERYBODY REMEMBER TO BREATHE
In a neat little bit of synchronicity, when the chutes came out, there was a big flash of lightning and boom of thunder in the rain cloud over our house in Oregon. :)
I love how calm everyone is, the whole time. Their voices are just steady and down to business. So professional.
I would need so much propranolol to do this job. 😅 (beta blockers, they help your heart not to beat super hard)
"no joy on SAR radio" is such a great phrase
Microsoft leadership right now is like, "Oh thank goodness, something else broke, focus on that, everyone"
Microsoft: "We weren't in charge of radio, everyone! The SAR comms aren't us! We had nothing to do with that!"
"You keep hearing that, that it's 'once in a lifetime', but it isn't! We want to go back soon!"
Awww, this guy is great!
"Plenty of people on the boat here"
Yes where are you going to put the astronauts
Oh they won't get in the boats at all, the helicopters will take them straight off the "porch".
The funky grainy, glittery surface, is that from the burn coming in?
"So what are we looking at"
"Well as you can see, Melinda, this is a giant floaty. We have filled it with air, and these NAVY divers are attaching ropes and carabiners in a very official way, as to facilitate the move from the capsule into the giant floaty."
Currents hinder me from unfurling, too
I keep slipping into full-on #Monsterdon mode and accidentally sharing a comment that is meant more for my mufos than for the people on the Artemis II hashtag, lol.
I need a t-shirt that just says DORK in big block letters
Going from weightlessness to re-entry to a rolling sea is quite the workout for the vestibular system
"Nominal" is like "chuffed" for me, for some reason (maybe a misunderstanding in my youth?) my brain hears these words as negative descriptors, not positive.
I love that they're still sharing the sound of the cheering in the control room over the video of what's happening on the water. :)
Me, realizing I'm scanning the water for fins -
Okay I have definitely watched too many shark movies 😆
HankB@HankB You're probably a little older than me, but not much? :) I totally understand the fear! As in, I don't think I'd take up surfing, honestly?
When we lived in Seattle, I had a not-tiny 30-foot sailboat. I had two friends who would not go sailing with me because they were sincerely, truly, afraid of sharks. I tried explaining that we weren't going swimming (Puget Sound is cold), and they said it didn't matter, sharks could attack the boat. So of course I asked if they ever feared this on a ferry. It was explained that sharks could take down my boat, but they could not take down a ferry. Ferries, therefore, were safe. Mostly.