Artemis II Launch

So this isn’t a post about the normal birds that we go searching for. This one is about one of the largest, most powerful rockets ever built taking astronauts on a trip around the moon for the first time in 50 years. We got a chance to watch the Artemis II launch from a friend’s 7th floor balcony about 9 miles from the launch pad. It was, amazing!

The Artemis II rocket is 322 feet tall. This is the moment that it begins lifting off the launch pad.

Half-way up the tower

While Artemis II began a slow ascent, it began building speed quickly after clearing the tower.

A late afternoon launch provided a well lit rocket as it climbed higher

Passing past clouds

This was taken when Artemis II was at about 30,000 feet

The 2 solid rocket boosters, the same type that was used on the Space Shuttle, separated from there rest of the rocket. I’m not sure what the 2 small dots are near the flames.

That was incredible to witness! It took about 45 seconds for the sound to make it to us (sound only travels about 700-800 feet per second). Once it got there it kept getting louder and louder! If you’ve never been to a launch, go! SpaceX launches almost weekly. ULA and Blue Origin also do occasional launches and sometime soon, SpaceX will be launching Starship from Kennedy Space Center with its 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster. That will be amazing!