We put new head up displays with display computer in just the F14-Bs in the 1990s. The new computer was so light it needed ballast! It was part of an upgrade package that included new engines and a LANTIRN system I recall. I think maybe it got new wings and canopy in the same upgrade.

I'm an electrical designer, but I was asked to install the first HUD at Pt. Mugu Naval Station, and get the electrical interfaces to work. Was super cool to work on such a huge and capable aircraft, with all the access panels removed! It had some weapons connected electrically, but there was nothing dangerous in the indoor lab. Unless someone turns the radar on!

I saw a LANTIRN shroud/chassis on the bench an thought it was curious there was just one. I asked if it was the prototype. The guy said no, we make a few each month. Then a voice from the back piped up "and two canoes"! Referring to to fact that it's similar in shape to the canoes that Grumman used to manufacture. I thought it was very funny because a friend and I had recently purchased an old aluminum Grumman canoe.

Very cool. OK, I thought something was happening with it now.
I was at VX-4 (Test & Evaluation) at Mugu for my first tour. Usually only worked Tomcat electronics unless someone needed help working on the F-4s, A-4s. I also worked early Hornets including the prototype YF-17.
Thanks for that important work.
John

Yawn......but worth the wait!

Beautiful clear sky night here....and she really lit up the sky!

Fly baby fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once the manned version gets going 480 seconds of full boost and everyone clenching sphincters, then everything slows down, adrenaline runs out, zero gravity they won't need a toilet. It will just happen.

Yay! Were I were in charge of NASA, the rocket would be named "Alice" :)

Combustion! :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668611124.JPG

Such a beautiful night launch.

SOOO envious of you getting to take that pic!

I watched a show about this mission today.
edit: it was called "Artemis 1: Going Back To The Moon"

They said that the mission would take persons
of color and women to the moon.
This was apparently mission-critical to them
as they repeated that statement a couple of times.
But who is to say what a "woman" is?

It was obviously important to the people
who made that show when they picked the people
who would be featured and interviewed.

I was told by someone who worked
at the Boeing assembly plant on this project that
the same filter was apparent
during the design and construction hiring as well.
Bless their hearts.

Nothing ensures safety and success more than using
race and gender as determining staffing
factors instead of old-fashioned concepts like experience,
knowledge and capability.

I feel better about it all now.

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1669023182.jpg

From Wiki:

I'm watching it live on YT.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khr8Z9FwgZY

Animated GIF here:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Animation_of_Artemis_I_around_Earth_-_Frame_rotating_with_Moon.gif

So cool watching Earth disappear behind the Moon in real time.

That’s the coolest view indeed. Only a handful of humans have ever seen it, but more to come.

Artemis I returns to Earth .

Currently traveling 11,890mph speeding up to about 25000 at entry due to gravity pull.

Separation from command module is about 12:10pm.

Splashdown is 12:39pm ET.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xzZPzmMtQA8" title="NASA’s Artemis I Mission Splashes Down in Pacific Ocean" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Man....that was the coolest thing I've seen all freaking year...lol.....

NASA engineers be like "Eh....piece of cake!" :D

Even though our great country already did this in the late 1960s-early 1970s (with then-current technology!) this was an amazing achievement with a brand new mission set. Congratulations Team Artemis!! You have the pride of a nation. Way cool.

Wholeheartedly agree and well said.

Congrats to NASA and Team Artemis!

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1670813926.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1670813926.jpg

Very cool photos...thanks, 930!

NASA coverage said when returning from the moon, the heat shield gets about twice as hot as a spacecraft returning from low earth orbit. So looking forward to seeing how that heat shield did.

A few years ago, they showed pictures of a team a NASA engineers in a museum. They were allowed to peel apart layers of the heat shield on an old Apollo spacecraft. They did that because the old drawings did not give them enough detail how it was done in those days!

^^^
That's pretty cool. I guess if anyone would be allowed to do a semi-destructive test, it would be those involved in the new design. I imagine their new documentation/drawings will be more informative for the next generation.

Minutes away from the first American lunar landing since Apollo 17 back in 1972. Very cool.

Huge!

Congrats to Elon, NASA, and the entire Intuitive Machines team! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...s/beerchug.gif

And once again we have a space race, and the moon is the immediate goal. Things are heating up. China is up next with their planned landing in May.