Saturday, April 11, 2026

Splashdown...

 

The Artemis 2 splashdown yesterday was the completion of a successful moon flight.  This flight was historic in many ways, most notably: the first time man has been around the moon in over 50 years.  And, the furthest man has been away from the Earth.  Ever.  First woman on a moon flight.  And, lots more.

To me, it felt like the US really needed something positive to be happening.  And, like many, I kept watch on the status during this nearly 10 day flight.  It was impressive... right down to the splashdown, happening in "prime time."  I held my breath until the parachutes allowed an "easy" splashdown into the Pacific Ocean, near San Diego. 

Some of the images...

The Artemis II mission launches April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The four-person crew aboard the Orion spacecraft hitched a ride to orbit atop NASA's giant 322-foot Space Launch System rocket. Launching atop 8.8 million pounds of thrust, the SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA ever launched, about 17% more powerful than the iconic Saturn V rocket used during the Apollo era.

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman of NASA took this stunning photograph of Earth from the Orion spacecraft's window on April 2. The image is reminiscent of the iconic "blue marble" image captured during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, a mission specialist on Artemis II, gazes out the windows of the Orion vehicle back at Earth as she and the crew head toward the moon. Koch, who already holds several NASA records from her first spaceflight in 2019 to the International Space Station, became the first woman to fly on a lunar mission.

Before going to sleep April 5, the Artemis II crew snapped one more photo of the moon, as it drew close in the window of the Orion spacecraft. Shortly after, the astronauts entered the lunar sphere of influence, where the pull of the moon's gravity became stronger than Earth's. 

The crew of Artemis II captured a breathtaking image of a celestial event known as an "Earthset," in which the Earth dropped below the lunar horizon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic "Earthrise" photo that NASA astronaut Bill Anders captured in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission that showed our planet rising on the lunar horizon. 

Of the impact craters, ancient lava flows and other lunar features the Artemis II astronauts observed during an April 6 flyby, a crater known as the Orientale basin was perhaps the most prominent. Spanning nearly 600 miles, the 3.8 billion year old crater (seen in the upper center of this photo) had never been seen with the naked eye prior to the mission. 

The Orion spacecraft the Artemis II astronauts were aboard is captured in the same frame as both the moon and Earth in this photo captured about four hours into the historic April 6 flyby. 

This image shows the moon fully eclipsing the sun from the vantage of the Orion spacecraft, not unlike what millions of people witnessed in April 2024 from Earth. From the crew’s perspective, the moon appeared large enough to completely block the sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and revealing our star's elusive outermost layer, known as the corona. 

The crew members of Artemis II embrace following the historic lunar flyby April 6, during which the astronauts flew farther from Earth than anyone in human history while seeing sights of the moon's far side never seen in person. 

The Artemis II crew captured this breathtaking photo of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Spanning more than 100,000 light-years, Earth is located along one of the galaxy’s spiral arms, about halfway from the center. 

 

Photos courtesy of NASA. 

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The Pied Piper of Cats...

It's my life.  Well, for a few days.  Besides our two felines, we are kitty sitting for Steph and Dan's 3 kitties.  Two of their three need meds.  They get two meals a day - more food per meal than Murphy and Stella, who get 4 meals a day.

Before meals for the neighbors, the bowls all need to be washed...


 There is considerable "angst" on their part during this process.  Then, Alfie needs his meds.  And, then, I can start getting the food ready.  Three food bowls, but they all eat together...


 We have today planned for a chill day.  We've had a lot going on this week, so we plan to make ourselves available for kitty snuggling here and at the neighbor's... we have enough love to go around.

 

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