Nasaposting/Posts

okayashley — 2/19/26, 6:55 PM @UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 6:55 PM welcome to the nasaposting channel! i will be continuing my reporting here. be alert for the next update when closeout crew leaves the white room! Forwarded this is unpluggedlamp test control, we are at l-3 hours. closeout crew doing their things.

it is 3:20 denver 5:20 canaveral.

1. god-for-a-day • 2/19/26

previous update UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 7:15 PM this is unpluggedlamp test control, 4:14 denver 6:15 canaveral.

the closeout crew has been in the white room for more than an hour. they have closed the capsule hatch on orion, and are preparing to close the launch escape system hatch. they are just about ready to close it. Image THIS IS UNPLUGGEDLAMP TEST CONTROL, 4:16 DENVER 6:16 CANAVERAL. THE HATCH IS CLOSED. I REPEAT, THE HATCH IS CLOSED. THIS IS HUGE. NASA teams have closed the launch abort system hatch during the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal, simulating final launch day procedures. The launch abort system hatch provides access to the Orion crew module through the abort tower and must be securely sealed to ensure crew safety during ascent.

Closing the launch abort system hatch is a critical milestone that confirms the spacecraft is fully configured for flight. The hatch is designed to protect astronauts in the event of an emergency during launch, and proper hatch integrity ensures the system can perform as intended.

With the hatch secured, the closeout crew validates mechanical seals, verifies environmental conditions, perform leak checks, and confirms readiness for the next steps in the countdown sequence.

Next up, the closeout crew will depart the launch pad once its work is completed. Image Image Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 7:24 PM remaining countdown: Image this is unpluggedlamp test control, artemis ii's second wet dress rehearsal has two hours left on the clock. we are nearing terminal count. this is the most critical part of the test. here's hoping. the time is 4:28 denver 6:28 canaveral.

go nasa. go sls. go orion. go artemis ii! UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 7:32 PM the remaining countdown events are as follows:

L-1H10M: Launch Director brief – Flight vehicle/TPS Scan results with CICE L-1H45M – L-1H40M: Closeout crew departs Launch Complex 39B L-40M: Built in 30-minute countdown hold begins L-25M: Transition team to Orion to Earth communication loop following final NTD briefing L-16M: The launch director polls the team to ensure they are “go” for launch T-10M: Ground Launch Sequencer (GLS) initiates terminal count T-8M: Crew Access Arm retract T-6M: GLS go for core stage tank pressurization T-6M: Orion set to internal power T-5M57S: Core stage LH2 terminate replenish T-4M: GLS is go for core stage auxiliary power unit (APU) start T-4M: Core Stage APU starts T-4M: Core stage LOX terminate replenish T-3M30S: ICPS LOX terminate replenish T-3M10S: GLS is go for purge sequence 4 T-2M02S: ICPS switches to internal battery power T-2M: Booster switches to internal batter power T-1M30S: Hold for three minutes to verify core stage certification hold time T-1M30S: Core stage switches to internal power T-1M20S: ICPS enters terminal countdown mode T-50S: ICPS LH2 terminate replenish T-33S: GLS sends “go for automated launch sequencer” command T-33S: GLS Cutoff/Recycle

a nice view of the rocket. Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 7:48 PM this is unpluggedlamp launch control, the closeout crew is leaving the launchpad. the time is 4:48 denver, 6:48 canaveral. wow. just wow. Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 8:02 PM this is unpluggedlamp test control. the time is 5:00 denver 7:00 canaveral.

there've been a few big events during the wet dress rehearsal. first, nasa admin held a press conference in which it declared the starliner crewed flight test an offical anomaly. a very nice return to transparency from the new administrator.

in 1h40 around a falcon nine is set to launch from slc-40 at cape canaveral space force station. with artemis ii's wdr in the background, this will be a spectacular launch, which i will cover. this is unpluggedlamp test control. the time is 5:07 denver 7:07 canaveral.

NASA’s Artemis II closeout crew has completed its critical tasks and departed NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B during the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal.

The departure of the closeout crew marks the transition to the final countdown phase of the test, ensuring the launch pad is clear and safe for simulated liftoff procedures. Their work validates launch day protocols and confirms Orion and the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket are configured for flight readiness.

With the pad secured, teams will continue monitoring fueling operations and prepare for wet dress rehearsal terminal count: the final ten minutes of the countdown. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 8:14 PM i cannot overemphasize how excited i am. this is a historic moment. to clarify: this is NOT a launch. it is a wet dress rehearsal. they are running down the count to test how the rocket will do at launch. still very very important. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 8:29 PM L-1 HOUR UNTIL SIMULATED T-0. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 8:47 PM this is unpluggedlamp test control. we are about to enter the planned hold at l-40m. very cool. very awesome. the t- clock is officialy at t-10 minutes! it will be there for thirty minutes. this is. ONHJIEMKLR,TSHDGFBVCNHIJKM E,RERTSFEDXNJ UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 8:59 PM L-30M! I CANNOT COMMENT MORE WITHOUT SELF COMBUSTING. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 9:08 PM L-20M. EVERYONE WHO ISN'T WATCH THE STREAM FROM NASA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KYhqePsm38 YouTube NASA NASA's Artemis II Fueling Test (Official Feed) Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 9:21 PM WE ARE AT TERMINAL COUNT. T-10. T-10 MINUTES. T-10 MINUTES. T-10 MINUTES. T-10 MINUTES AND HOLDING. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 9:30 PM The launch director has extended the T-10 minute hold to allow for time to complete final preparations for the terminal countdown of today’s wet dress rehearsal, including bringing the core stage engine section temperature into the necessary range for launch. It is currently just shy of the temperature that would be required if SLS were planning to launch, but engineers expect it to rise shortly.

A new simulated T-0 time will be set once the temperature has risen into the correct range COUNT IS PROGRESSING UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 9:53 PM will update on events of wdr terminal count after its over. i am glued to screem UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 10:01 PM what happened during terminal count number one they held for a few extra minutes because the engine was too cold at 1:30 they entered a planned* hold. however, note the asterisk. because at that EXACT time they experienced a booster avionics voltage anomaly. but they managed to fix it in the time they were going to hold anyways. they are now resetting to t-10. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/19/26, 11:17 PM WE HAVE A SUCCESSFUL WET DRESS REHEARSAL. WE HAVE A SUCCESSFUL WET DRESS. good night ,everyone. we did it! UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/20/26, 12:34 PM welcome to the first official nasapost! this is still artemis ii related, but i'll say other stuff, dw :3

they have officialy committed to the sixth for the launch of artemis ii, the first crew to go fly by the moon since 1972.

in 1972, apollo 17 took off from the moon for what wsa then the last time. as they did, gene cernan said these words:

"As I take man's last steps from the surface...for some time to come, but we believe not too long, I'd like to just let, what I believe history will record, that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."

i'm happy to say that we're taking one step closer to once more putting boots on the surface of the moon.

godspeed the crew of artemis 2.

i dedicate this nasapost to eugene andrew cernan, 1934-2017. we shall return. Image Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/22/26, 9:45 PM no spacepost today, tired UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/22/26, 11:14 PM so um. actually. er. um. i should probably say that artemis ii has been moved to april due to a helium flow issue in icps. i. i don't think anyone expected this. yea, all hopes nasa and ula can get the issue fixed as soon as possible. we're going, just a little later. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/23/26, 2:05 PM welcome to nasaposting: Oh Fuck™ edition! here we tell the tales of the times nasa fucked up and it didn't kill people. Oh Fuck™ edition may include Fuckups™ from agencies other than the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

we will begin at my favorite Fuckup™ and the earliest of them all: the four inch flight! this was the first launch of the mercury-redstone launch vehicle, set to send american astronauts on a suborbital trajectory. this flight was the first test of the mercury redstone rocket, and it went spectacularly. the engine almost immediatly shut off, and the launch escape tower fired... without taking the capsule with it, as it only partially seperated. the chutes proceeded to deploy, getting tangled in the rocket it was now sitting upon. nasa engineers poked this thing with a stick for a good while trying to figure out what to do with it. pretty funny. a video of this is attached.

UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/24/26, 2:09 PM no nasapost today i am. very sick. will make it up to u UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/26/26, 12:01 PM welcome back to your daily scheduled nasaposting! this one's gonna be a doozy, to make up for a few lost days. this wasn't even supposed to be daily. i will split this nasapost into parts. first: sls has rolled back to the vehicle assembly building due to a helium flow issue in the icps upper stage. this has most likely (and by that i mean 99%) moved the launch of artemis ii to april. while in the vab, the batteries on the flight termination system and the solid rocket motors will be serviced. the nice thing about it moving to april is that the window for april first is halfway in the daytime, and that would be pretty swagtacular. go sls, go orion, go artemis ii! Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/26/26, 12:12 PM today also marks the anniversary of the as-201 launch, the first launch of both a complete block 1 apollo spacecraft and saturn 1b vehicle. this launch was suborbital.

the saturn ib was an uprated version of the older saturn i vehicle. this version would launch nine times, with four of them in support of the apollo program, four launching crew to the skylab space station, america's first space station and to this date the largest single habitable volume ever launched into space. remind me to do a thing on skylab later.

this mission, however, comes with some heavy baggage. it was originally designated apollo 1, but this designation was changed after 1967, when a fire killed the crew of what was then designated as-204. this was changed to apollo 1 to honor the wishes of the crew. apollo 1 was nasa's first tragedy, and it would not be their last. Image Image however, as with all tragedies in spaceflight, this is not the end of the story.

apollo 1 was a catalyst. it pushed nasa to not only get the job done, but get it done right. gus grissom, ed white, and roger chaffee did not live to see man step foot on the moon.

but man did step foot on the moon. and when we did, we carried the hopes of these three with us.

we will never stop exploring. Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/26/26, 12:22 PM anyhoo time for tonal whiplash with another edition of nasaposting: Oh Fuck™ edition! here we tell the tales of the times nasa fucked up and it didn't kill people. Oh Fuck™ edition may include Fuckups™ from agencies other than the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

i was really thinking about which Fuckup™ to add here next. there's a whole lot of spaceflight sillies. so today, we will deviate from nasa and look at the mir space station! this was the first modular space station, and it was pretty cool. however, it had some... issues over its lifespan. first is the mold. spoilered in case people don't like mold. these little guys show some of the challenges with building modular space stations. you're not just sending up one piece all clean and sanitary, you're docking two, so wayyy more room for some contaminants (like mold) to make their way up there. being the first modular space station, this happened alright. it got everywhere. stunk up the place.

next little Fuckup™ is what i like to call the parallel parking incident. so um. basically. soviet union collapsed, and this caused problems for the space program. one of such problems was that the docking system kurs was made in ukraine, and they were making russia pay for it. russia was flat broke. (they were chummy chummy at the time). so russia was like. we'll make our own docking system with blackjack and hookers. so we got toru. a manual system which has a cosmonaut take control of the spacecraft using an onboard camera and dock manually. so first test was with a progress spacecraft and mir. progress being an automated resupply craft. turns out the camera they used was shit. and um. spacecraft hit the station. pretty funny stuff.

thats all for today! Image Image so for some reason two of these published in the wrong order. um. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 2/28/26, 2:13 PM today's nasapost: soviet edition!!!!! i really shoulda picked a better name.

the venera program was pretty cool. these were the soviet missions to venus, and to date the only probes to enter the atmosphere of the Hell Planet™. early missions they didn't really know what venus was like

so the first venus was like the third image with only one thing in it. thats an orbiter with an entry capsule on it. the first venus atmosphere entry produced such insane readings the soviets thought the readings were wrong.

so later missions were a little more venus-proof. they had an orb (see far image) which contained the lander and the communications orbiter (not in the orb).  these lads were like. crazy engineered. the instruments were like in the center orb in a vacuum sealed chamber to stop em from melting. the little flat thingy is an aerobrake to slow it down, as the chute was deployed as late as possible to stop the probe from crushing like a tin can on descent and melting before reaching the surface. so they had a little metal cord around the chute that would melt at a specific altitude to fully open it. 

the venus. Image Image Image if venus had a safety sheet it would be the word no written in scrawled blood. most hostile planet in the solar system UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/2/26, 12:52 PM hi! i would like to know what ppl have likes from nasaposting so far and anything they'd like to hear me yap about. pls dm me . posted in fucking reverse again UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/2/26, 3:04 PM welcome to today's nasapost! this nasapost is about the space shuttle enterprise. designated ov-101° it was originally named constitution, but star trek fans got them to rename it to enterprise. enterprise was never flown into space, but was used for atmospheric flight tests. (did five atmospheric flight tests, and many many ferry flights. enterprise was also used to fit check the full shuttle stack and test launchpads.)

enterprise was originally set to fly into space, but challenger was easier to convert, as the orbiter design had changed significantly since enterprise was built.

°the other orbiters were: ov-102 columbia ov-099 challenger originally a structural test article, therefore funky naming. ov-103 discovery ov-104 endeavor ov-105 atlantis

Image Image Image Image cast of star trek with enterprise. (minus william shatner, who played captain kirk) Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/2/26, 3:16 PM shuttle flew from 1981 to 2011, a total of one hundred and thirty-five times over thirty years.

today, there are four remaining orbiters.

enterprise rests at the intrepid museum in new york.

discovery, the other orbiter in that first picture, has a spot at the smithsonian. it launched and landed thirty-nine times.

endeavour is at the california science center. it is currently off display, being moved into a new installation. it launched and landed twenty-five times.

atlantis is at the kennedy space center visitor's complex. it launched and landed thirty-three times. Image Image Image Image Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/2/26, 3:24 PM space shuttle columbia was the first to fly into orbit. it had special tps tiles on the wing that weren't added for the other orbiters as they were deemed unnessary. it launched into space twenty-eight times, and landed twenty-seven times. on its twenty-eighth reentry, after a successful time in orbit, it disentegrated on reentry due to heat shield damage. the crew of sts-107, may their memories be a blessing.

space shuttle challenger was the second orbiter built. it launched nine times, and landed eight. on its ninth launch, an o-ring seal broke apart, destroying the orbiter. the crew of sts-51-l, may their memories be a blessing.

Image Image Image it's hard to talk about shuttle sometimes. this nasapost was a tribute to the wonderful and amazing machine that space shuttle was. truly a one of its kind vehicle. the tech on shuttle was years ahead of its time. i've had the pleasure of seeing two orbiters, enterprise and discovery. i will soon see a third, atlantis, on my trip to kennedy space center to see the launch of artemis ii to the moon.

these are the most beautiful birds to ever grace the sky.

to the space shuttle, sending us on wings to space. even though it no longer flies, it still inspires generations. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/4/26, 4:02 PM if anyone has ideas for nasaposts tell me. otherwise i'll just spew out bullshit when i think of it UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/4/26, 4:22 PM aaaaaaaand now: for today's nasapost:

yall've heard of planes, right? well, get ready for the hot new thing: rockets launched from planes!!!

this is called an airlaunch, and it's pretty swagtacular. pegasus, pictured above being dropped from a lockheed tristar (very cool aircraft, this specific one is the last one in operation) and then goes to orbit. i may be wrong but i think this is one of the only orbital airlaunch systems like ever. and def the coolest one.

the big advantages of airlaunching are as follows:

one: you got more altitude. this means that your rocket not only has less air to punch through, but doesn't need to be optimized for ground level.

two: you can pick pretty much anywhere in the world to launch. cause you're. um. on a plane.

three: you got more starting speed. it's not a lot, but it helps get into orbit. a comparable small launch system is scout. (image three) thanks to alexander the ok for this comparison, i woulda used electron probably. fuck it we're doing that too. scout b, shown here:

had a launch mass of 17.9 metric tons

was 25 meters long and could take 120 kilograms to low earth orbit.

electron (image four) is a small launcher from new zealand. the smallest orbital rocket not airlaunched ever i think.

it has a launch mass of 13 metric tons, it's 18 meters long, and can take 320 kg to low earth orbit.

NOW PEGASUS...

it weighs 23 metric tons it's 17.6 meters long.

AND IT CAN TAKE 450KG TO LOW EARTH ORBIT. 450KG. THIS THING'S A BEAST. all because of the power of airlaunching.

the last pegasus is launching in june to reboost the swift gamma ray observatory. this is pretty cool.

thus concludes the nasapost. Image Image Image Image addendum: pegasus's extra mass is probably because of the wing. so. that's extra mass and EVEN MORE PAYLOAD. GOD I LOVE PEGASUS. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/5/26, 11:00 AM today we have a japanpost! yesterday a rocket launched from japan. third flight of the kairos launch vehicle. it blew up. sorta expected given this rocket has a success rate of zero.

japan has a pretty cool history of rocketry tho. basically after the war there were some japanese scientists who were like "yo we gonna make rockets" which is pretty cool. i'm simplifying here. what's interesting is japan was barred from using guidance systems in their early rockets (see image one) so all their rocket stages were unguided. they had these launch rails that were aimed at a specific angle to get the rockets into orbit. the fact that they did this is just like. insane. good job japan. however eventually they were allowed guidance systems. not to make em, but to use em. so they.. um. rebuilt the delta launch vehicle. (more like a production lease sorta thing, see image 1). they called this the n-1 rocket, not to be confused with the russian moon rocket. while looking up images i found out that the n1 conducted the only launch to be done on a leap day so thats pretty nifty.

eventually japan made the h1 rocket (image 3). h1 first stage was just the first stage of a delta rocket again, but the upper stage was entirely japanese! and the first to use hydrogen.

the h2 rocket (image 4) was the first japanese two stage liquid fueled rocket entirely homegrown. it uses two hydrogen stages and two or four solid boosters.

today japan's main orbital lifter is the h3 rocket (image 5). it's pretty much a renovation of the h2.

so that's pretty swag! i'm not an expert at all on the japanese space program so. simplified. but still cool Image Image Image Image Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/7/26, 2:07 PM there's been some pretty big shakeups in the world of nasa recently. i'll report on it when it's al more settled and we have more information!!

for the next nasapost, i'm thinking. been pretty out of energy recently if i'll be honest, but if anyone's got any ideas then shoot. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 3/9/26, 12:11 PM there was a pretty cool launch anniversary today. today is the anniversary of korabl-sputnik 4, the first launch of the vostok spacecraft configuration that would take humans into space. it carried a mannequin named ivan ivanovich and a dog named chernushka. the dog and mannequin were recovered successfully.

pictures: a model of a vostok spacecraft and the block e third stage of the r7 rocket a stamp commemorating the launch. chernushka is in the corner. a vostok rocket on display. one like this launched korabl-sputnik 4. the hole is for any emergency abort, where the ejector seat would be ejected from. it's a variant of the r7 rocket which i will be talking about at some point Image Image Image head hurts. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — Yesterday at 11:27 AM a wonderful belated birthday to yuri gagarin, the first person in space! Image UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 12:09 PM HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO NUKE YOURSELF TO JUPITER? WELL NOW YOU CAN: WITH THE ORION DRIVE.

this beautiful project studied by nasa in the late sixties involved nuclear pulse propulsion. and while at first i thought this was fucking stupid.. i've done some reading. these guys were NOT fucking around. this woulda been a pretty cool thing to have, actually. cause how we measure efficency in spacecraft is how much you can accelerate the propellant. and you can really accelerate uranium. so this coulda gone like direct to jupiter in a few months. with crew. sadly tho.. budget. so we may never see crews nuking their way across space. truly we live in the worst timeline. thats the main reason this was stupid. it woulda been SUPER expensive. waaaaay too expensive. but it's cool. there's a whole lot of nasa projects like that.

a sillier and more lighthearted nasapost today! an actual nasa document on the orion drive is attached. Image Image Attachment file type: acrobat 19770085619_1977085619.pdf 7.77 MB UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 12:20 PM i will clarify: this document is UNCLASSIFIED. i am NOT leaking government documents. UnpluggedAshley@fedora:~$ [DNF], — 1:12 PM potential problems were as follows: erosion of the plate the nukes would explode against spalling (ejection of material) from the plate if the bomb didn't detonate it could hurt the pusher plate 60's tech not being able to simulate each launch would cause between "0.1 to 1 human cancers" [sic] (not a reason for - - cancellation, mind you) would violate the 1963 partial test ban treaty oh also i'll just quote this one from wikipedia cause the way they say it is peak The launch of such an Orion nuclear bomb rocket from the ground or low Earth orbit would generate an electromagnetic pulse that could cause significant damage to computers and satellites, as well as flooding the van Allen belts with high-energy radiation. Since the EMP footprint would be a few hundred miles wide, this problem might be solved by launching from very remote areas. A few relatively small space-based electrodynamic tethers could be deployed to quickly eject the energetic particles from the capture angles of the van Allen belts. a lot of these problems would be solved today actually