Mastodawn

Financial aid workshop Friday 29th May @3pm Pacific for Fall 2026 #StudyAbroad in #London.
https://tiny.cc/LondonFall2026
#AstronomyEducation #AstroEdu #astronomy #physics

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Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Apr 10

(estimated speed ~300 mph; altitude ~22,000 ft)
5:04 p.m. main parachute deploys (estimated speed ~130 mph; altitude ~6000 ft)
5:07 p.m. splashdown (estimated speed ~20 mph)

Live coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time; watch on YouTube here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfhDuOHMp0A. Find other ways to watch here, https://www.nasa.gov/ways-to-watch/.

Godspeed, Integrity!

US Navy official news story on the Murtha's role is here, https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/display-news/Article/4452625/uss-john-p-murtha-to-support-nasas-artemis-ii-mission/.

More on the Artemis II mission is here, https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/.

NASA’s Artemis II Crew Comes Home (Official Broadcast)

YouTube

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Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Apr 10

Planned timeline (all times Pacific):
4:33 p.m. Orion crew module Integrity separates from service module (service module to burn up in atmosphere)
4:37 p.m. raise burn makes final flight path adjustments to position spacecraft for atmospheric insertion
4:53 p.m. comms blackout begins as Integrity enters Earth's atmosphere (estimated speed ~24,000 mph; altitude ~400,000 ft)
4:59 p.m. comms blackout ends (estimated speed ~2000 mph; altitude ~150,000 feet)
5:03 p.m. drogue chutes deploy

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Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Apr 10

Do, however, take pride in our local connection! The USS John P. Murtha, an amphibious transport dock ship based out of Naval Base San Diego, will provide primary recovery support, and the spouse of a currently enrolled MiraCosta Astronomy student is one of the Navy divers whose team will assist with crew egress and assessment, and retrieval and securing of the spacecraft for return to Johnson Space Center in Houston. (So cool!)

Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Apr 10

The historic Artemis II mission wraps up tomorrow (Friday, 10th April) as the Orion crew module (named Integrity) is currently scheduled to splash down approximately 60 miles off the coast of San Diego at 5:07 p.m. Pacific time.

This is too far offshore to see from the mainland and the exclusion zone (protected airspace and water) will be very large so no, don't borrow your buddy's boat or airplane (or drone!) to try and get a closer view. (Plus it's dangerous - there will be falling debris!)

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Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Apr 1

They won't land (that's Artemis IV in 2028) the ~10 day mission will test NASA's deep space readiness w/new #SLS rocket & #Orion crew module.

Go here https://www.nasa.gov/ways-to-watch/ for more ways to watch. Go here https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/ for mission info.

Ways to Watch - NASA

Live and original programming is available on the agency’s free streaming platform, NASA+. Programming is also available on the NASA App, third-party streaming services, and social media platforms.

NASA

Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Apr 1

🚀 #ArtemisII the 1st crewed mission to the Moon 🌕 since 1972 is scheduled to launch Wednesday, 1st April (no foolin'!).

2hr launch window opens 15:24 PDT w/backups daily through the 6th.

#NASA's official coverage begins 09:50 PDT on 1st here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_UjBMIzNo.

Go #Artemis! 🤞🏼

NASA's Artemis II Crew Launches To The Moon (Official Broadcast)

YouTube

Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Jan 6

I *LOVE, LOVE, LOVE* my new pin so much! Thank you, @noisyastronomer!

Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Jan 3

I have a hot date with an #Embraer 175. 🔥🛫😉 CLD ➡️ PHX for #AmericanAstronomicalSociety meeting. Things are slowly getting back to normal...
#AAS247

Rica Sirbaugh French #IDIC ᐰ Dec 24

There's still time to join us at the
#AmericanAstronomicalSociety meeting, in our workshop for #astronomy and #physics #educators. Sunday, 04 January, 9am-5pm Mountain time. (There's a discounted registration category for educators, too!) #AAS247
http://tiny.cc/FTIAAS