Totally off topic, but still cool, I think...

[davegee]

I am going to make just a single post, totally off topic to what we discuss here, but I just wanted to add a couple pics I took yesterday of the maiden Artemis moon rocket launch. I know many might not have any interest, and that's fine. But your tax dollars may be going into this project whether you like it or not, so maybe it's worth a look.

I flew down specifically for this launch from Wyoming back in August, when it was scrubbed due to a fuel leak. On Tuesday, I flew down again, rented a car, and waited until the launch at about 1:40am EST. It was spectacular, and thousands of others joined me to watch the spectacle. The Artemis spacecraft is now continuing a flawless path towards the moon, and eventually splash down off the California coast in a few weeks, hopefully.

For what it's worth here are two shots I took from about 9 miles away. I may delete the post in a few days, but I thought it is sometimes good to consider for a moment an engineering wonder, such as this rocket.

Cheers and happy rc modeling!

Davegee

[Evan D]

I grew up on Merritt Island in the 60's and 70's and my family and many relatives worked in the programs. When Apollo 1 shut down the programs many super smart engineers became temporary teachers and we, young students, learned a lot from them. Later in life I even got over to the Japanese site in Tanegashima. Yeah, interested, thanks!

[davegee]

I grew up on Merritt Island in the 60's and 70's and my family and many relatives worked in the programs. When Apollo 1 shut down the programs many super smart engineers became temporary teachers and we, young students, learned a lot from them. Later in life I even got over to the Japanese site in Tanegashima. Yeah, interested, thanks!

Very interesting, Evan, thanks.

Even if one has Zero interest in this topic, you still have to salute the incredible brain power and know-how that eventually ended with a successful maiden launch and mission, so far. I just saw a delayed interview of three members of the "Red Team", a special group called out to try and save the launch by going out there and tightening some bolts to stop a hydrogen fuel leak. The young man that did most of the talking of the three interviewed, said that he was very focused and a "little scared" being out with that living, breathing beast venting gasses, creaking, loaded with hundreds of thousands of gallons of highly explosive fuel, but knew they had an important mission to do. One of the team had been a Red Team member for 37 years, and this was his First time he was called to do an emergency repair just prior to launch, and normal, working guys like these saved the day!

[F106DeltaDart]

Excellent photos! Looking forward to see the results of the flight test and see the program finally return humans to the moon.

[davegee]

Excellent photos! Looking forward to see the results of the flight test and see the program finally return humans to the moon.

Me, Too!!! I had never tried taking a night launch photoshoot before. I was able to go online and get the camera settings (all totally manually set) to avoid getting the whole picture washed out due to the EXTREME brightness of the exhaust flames from the rocket. I think these settings were in the ballpark and glad I found them online.

davegee

[jetfool]

Great interesting information. Don't delete this, Dave. I'm all for my tax dollars going for space research, so many things we take for granted came out of these programs. I still a enjoy a glass of Tang . Rex

[davegee]

Great interesting information. Don't delete this, Dave. I'm all for my tax dollars going for space research, so many things we take for granted came out of these programs. I still a enjoy a glass of Tang . Rex

Thanks, Rex. It was sorta a "bookend" of life moment for me. Fifty years ago in April 1972, two high school buddies and I took a borrowed Ford Pinto from Denver to KSC to see the launch of Apollo 16 to the moon. It was an awesome experience, from about 3 miles away. We thought back then that there would never be a rocket of that power and size to fly during our lifetimes. We were wrong. Now we have Artemis, slightly more powerful than the Saturn V. Everyone was sitting on pins and needles at one o'clock in the morning listening to the countdown for Artemis last November as they worked through problems that could have scrubbed the launch, once again. But when it lit off, it was an incredible experience to see and feel.

And coming down the pike is Elon Musk's new Starship rocket that will be considerably more powerful than Saturn or Artemis. For space geeks like me, this is great stuff! I envy young people today who might have a chance to go to the moon and Mars someday.

[jetfool]

A great time for young people to get involved in engineering,communication,ect. I am glad to see private co. getting involved alongside NASA. Kinda like the new Orville and Wilburs of the future. Wonder how many everyday commodities will come from this. Hope to see many exploration in my lifetime.
Rex

[davegee]

A great time for young people to get involved in engineering,communication,ect. I am glad to see private co. getting involved alongside NASA. Kinda like the new Orville and Wilburs of the future. Wonder how many everyday commodities will come from this. Hope to see many exploration in my lifetime.
Rex

I think we'll have a ringside seat for some incredible space exploration activities over the next several years!

BTW, I did have my friend print up the STL files for the Corsair main landing gear scissors units that you sent me. I'll attach a pic of the parts he printed up. I may have a question or two about how best to put all these parts on my Corsair, but I look forward to doing so.

davegee

[jetfool]

Parts look great. Any questions just ask. They really dress up the struts

[davegee]

Parts look great. Any questions just ask. They really dress up the struts

Looking forward to putting them on when I get them!

davegee