apollo

The four astronauts of NASA‘s Artemis-2 mission are getting used to life on Earth again. The crew splashed down in the Pacific after their flyby of the Moon. The astronauts took photos of the lunar surface, including one spot called the Ocean of Storms. One astronaut from Mobile was supposed to get a lot closer than that. Clifton Williams was meant to land there during Apollo 12 in 1969.

Artemis II’s astronauts returned from the moon with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to close out humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than a half-century. One of the four space shuttle engines used during the upcoming launch of Artemis-3 next year comes from the final launch of the shuttle in 2011.

Drawing ever closer to Earth, the Artemis II astronauts tidied up their lunar cruiser for the upcoming “fireball” return and reflected on their historic journey around the moon, describing it as surreal and profound. This is the end of their journey, which began aboard NASA's new "Space Launch System" rocket which was designed, built, tested, and managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Jimmy Wales of Huntsville recalls how the windows of his boyhood home would rattle. NASA engineers, nearby, were testing the Saturn V rockets that would send astronauts to the moon. Wales is among the youngsters referred to as the "children of Apollo." Kids, including Steve Jobs of Apple and Bill Gates of Microsoft, were reportedly inspired by the Astronaut Neil Armstrong's "one small step" on the moon. Wales boyhood in Huntsville was one topic we take up in this encore presentation of "APR Notebook." It's at 8:30 am on Alabama Public Radio.

After traveling deeper into space than any other humans, the Artemis II astronauts pointed their moonship toward home Monday night . NASA’s Orion capsule reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon, 4,101 miles farther than Apollo 13. One astronaut from that earlier mission knew it was coming.

NASA’s Artemis-2 astronauts fired their engines and blazed toward the moon Thursday night, breaking free of the chains that have trapped humanity in shallow laps around Earth in the decades since Apollo. The Marshall Space Flight Center is gearing up for the next launch of NASA's new "Space Launch System" rocket on Artemis-3.

The Four astronauts aboard Artemis-2 are settling into the mission to the moon after a ride to Earth orbit aboard NASA’s new “Space Launch System” rocket that was designed, built, tested, and managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Wednesday’s blastoff was based on “leftovers” from the retired space shuttle. Specifically, the cluster of liquid fueled engines at the base of the rocket. That includes NASA's last Hubble servicing mission.

Four astronauts embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon Wednesday, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century and the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a landing in two years. The crew flew to Earth orbit aboard the space agency’s new “Space Launch System” rocket designed, built, tested, and managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

NASA is counting down the hours before the first trip around the moon by astronauts since 1972. The mission of Artemis two begins with a ride to space aboard a rocket made here in Alabama. Some of the engineers who made the Apollo lunar missions possible are still in the Huntsville area and NASA knows it.

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville will be hosting a large watch party tomorrow, as thousands are expected to gather to view the launch of the Artemis II mission around the moon.The trip is designed to begin with the blastoff of the Alabama built “Space Launch System” rocket, based on technology from the retired Space Shuttle program.