NASA's planned launch of its Artemis I mission to the Moon and back earlier this week was scrubbed for technical issues and rescheduled for today, with 2:17 pm being the start of a two-hour launch window. We'll just have to see whether other technical problems arise as well as keep an eye on the weather during this pretty stormy season for central Florida. I'll be watching to see what happens...NASA television has a live feed, and you can see it on YouTube, they say. I'm wondering whether the Weather Channel will cover it...they tend to clog up their weekend schedule lineup with prepackaged, annoying shows. The mission, which will send the Orion spacecraft on a six-week voyage to circle the Moon with mannequins inside before returning, is the first such attempt since Apollo 17 sent three astronauts there in December 1972. As I wrote before, the plan is to mimic the Artemis I flight in 2024 but using live astronauts, and then land humans on the Moon's surface in 2025 for the first time in more than 52 years...it's about time!
On a completely different note, being a long-term Gainesville resident, today I'm treated to the start of the hometown University of Florida football season with a traditional home game this evening, this one a more difficult assignment with the Top Ten Utah Utes coming into town to play the Gators. Florida has a new head coach in Billy Napier and I'll probably be watching some if not most of the game in my living room on TV. While on break at work around 5:30 yesterday afternoon I noticed two fighter jets flying around low and fast...I wonder whether they will be part of a pregame show. The U.S. Open tennis tournament will be ongoing as well...maybe there will be an interesting match on ESPN...
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Later, around 12:30 pm: They've already scrubbed today's rocket launch...next window on Monday. Let's see whether they can at least get the football game in...
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