Talking Space Podcast, Also https://xitter.cf/t.co/CzUOeO93jh #spacetweep, space exploration fan, married, former FRC Mentor 2015-2020 FIRST @FRC3556 GET SMART

Lake City, FL
Joined November 2008
Also on #Mastodon @[email protected] for those looking for alternate com channels
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
The team also made progress at LC-36B yesterday. Roughly 450 truckloads of concrete, lined up bumper-to-bumper and stretching nearly 3 miles up the coast, supported a 4,500-cubic-yard pour for the pile caps. Three more placements to go for a total of 15,000 cubic yards. This is the foundation for our New Glenn 9x4 pad.
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
🚀 Industry leaders urge Ottawa to accelerate funding for Canadian space sovereignty At Space Canada’s SpaceBound conference, CEOs and senior leaders from across the sector agreed on two points: Canada has the talent and the track record, and it needs to move faster. 🇨🇦 ❄️ A common thread: the Arctic, where Canada’s needs and its potential edge over other countries meet. Elizabeth Howell has the full story on SpaceQ 👇 spaceq.ca/canadian-space-sov… #SpaceSovereignty #CanadianSpace #SpaceBound #SpaceCanada #DefenceIndustrialStrategy #NewSpace #Arctic
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It's the final countdown 🎶 We're one step closer to Roman's first images! The observatory is now fully functional and the team is performing their final checks and calibrations before starting science observations. go.nasa.gov/4A9menV
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
It might not have been as vibrant as last week's, but the jellyfish were out again today! SpaceX launching a Falcon 9 on the Bandwagon 5 mission, a rare (these days) southeastern launch. Being southeast of the launch made for a great side-on view right around sunrise. Learn more about what launched from @NASASpaceflight nasaspaceflight.com/2026/10/…
🤖 Made with AI
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🚀 Jeremy Hansen asks space sector to work like his Moon crew At last night’s SpaceBound opening reception in Ottawa, Jeremy Hansen made a surprising admission about the Artemis II crew: “We were not a great team from the get-go.” 🌕 The turning point came months into training, when the four astronauts made a pact to “launch as friends and land as friends.” 🤝 Now he’s asking Canada’s space sector to do the same and find a common goal of its own. 🇨🇦 👉 Read it here: spaceq.ca/jeremy-hansen-spac… #SpaceBound #ArtemisII #JeremyHansen #SpaceCanada #CanadianSpace #SpaceQ
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
Today, a member of my family was hit by a car as they crossed a crosswalk with a stop sign. They are fine — thanks to the car's automatic braking system, it was just a hard bump. But it was scary and could have been much worse. The car was apparently going quite fast and screeched to a halt just as it impacted.  I share the story for a few reasons:  First, in this age of mobile phone distractions, don't assume that a driver approaching a stop sign will see you crossing the street. Try to make eye contact with the driver and be cautious if you can't.  Second, I'm grateful for the safety system technology in that car. It probably prevented a broken leg or worse. Technology, properly applied, can help us be safer, though of course we still need oversight and safeguards.  Third, and this isn't really a lesson, I was sad that the driver drove off without stopping. Who knows what was going through their minds, or what was going on in their lives.  But I pray for them and hope this experience will make them more careful going forward.  Stay safe everyone!
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I "watched" the April 2001 @Cmdr_Hadfield spacewalk livestreams as still images rendered by dial-up Internet paid by the hour, so I'm grateful I can tune into the upcoming @Astro_Kutryk spacewalks quite easily with streaming video. @csa_asc
In April 2001, Chris Hadfield made history as the first CSA astronaut to perform a spacewalk. On October 29, @astro_kutryk is scheduled to perform his first one, marking another exciting milestone in Canada’s space exploration journey!
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
First week back on Earth, a brief recap. Busy times with science, medical tests, physical training and of course a very joyous family reunion. Missing weightlessness, but loving Earth!
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Talk about diving into your work! ✈️🔧 Keeping NASA’s X-59 flight-ready sometimes means going headfirst into its engine inlet. See how technicians use “duct diving” to inspect critical components of our quiet supersonic aircraft. go.nasa.gov/4dJiosH
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Our SpaceX-35 cargo launch had an absolutely breathtaking jellyfish effect and I have loved seeing all the photos! Particularly enjoy this one, a perfect mash up of two of my favorite things…space flight and Disney! Did you happen to catch any good images of this one? 🪼
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
When the Apollo 8 astronauts became the first to observe the Moon up close, NASA gathered insights from what they saw into a special publication. The Artemis II preliminary lunar science report is a continuation of this story of data and science made possible by NASA's missions to the Moon. 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4igLKBj
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Earth.
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Appreciate the firsts and seconds and more and the people behind them. I've met a few and will not forget them. Good words @bnjacobs
Again, we are losing our first generation of explorers. When you have a chance to meet them or say "hello," please do so. You're in the presence of remarkable history and achievement.
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To the Moon and back again. 🌕🚀 Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch return to #HWHAP to reflect on their historic journey around the Moon, the moments that moved them, and what it’s like to come home after traveling farther than any humans before them. go.nasa.gov/4rSO8Bq
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
J'adore! Ça me ramène une foule de souvenirs et d'images incroyables. Le court moment que j'ai passé dans la sphère d'influence de la Lune me manque certainement! Un immense bravo à notre équipe scientifique exceptionnelle pour rendre encore plus de données accessibles au grand public.
A huge library of Artemis II data just dropped! Science is a relay race, and today marks the latest in a long series of handoffs. 814 GB of observations. 996 new images. 521 min of never-before-released crew audio. Dig in: go.nasa.gov/Artemis2LunarSci…
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
[🇫🇷 version FR 👇] Back on the ground, back home in Europe, and welcomed by family, friends, colleagues, journalists and so many people here in Cologne. What a way to come home! 🫶 Thank you to everyone who was there, and to all of you who liked and shared my posts throughout the mission. You’ve helped shine a light on human spaceflight and what it can bring to life here on Earth. It took countless people to make this mission possible and successful. But just as importantly, together we made it a joyful one. Rockets, spacecraft and space stations may be extraordinary pieces of technology, but spaceflight is, above all, a human adventure. And it is so much better when that adventure is filled with kindness, positivity and good vibes! Many thanks as well to the French Air and Space Force for bringing me to Cologne. My 18 years of service taught me so much and played an important part in the journey that led me to become an astronaut. The moment I stepped aboard the plane, I felt at home, surrounded by family, my aviator brothers and sisters. And now, first things first: getting my “Earth legs” and “Earth balance” back! 🌍 📸 @esa – S. Corvaja (1, 2 & 4), ESA – B. Bailleul (3 & 5) De retour sur Terre et de retour chez moi en Europe, accueillie par tant de personnes ici à Cologne. Quel retour ! 🫶 Merci à toutes celles et ceux qui étaient là, mais aussi à vous tous qui avez aimé et partagé mes publications tout au long de la mission. Vous avez contribué à mettre en lumière les vols habités et tout ce qu’ils peuvent apporter à la vie sur Terre. La réussite de cette mission a été rendue possible par le travail et l’implication d’innombrables personnes. Mais tout aussi important : ensemble, nous en avons fait une aventure joyeuse. Les lanceurs, les capsules et les stations spatiales sont d’incroyables exemples de technologie, mais le vol spatial est avant tout une aventure humaine. Et avec de la bienveillance, de la positivité et des good vibes, l’aventure n’en est que plus belle ! Un grand merci également à l’@Armee_de_lair pour m’avoir ramenée à Cologne. Mes 18 années de service m’ont énormément appris et ont joué un rôle important dans le parcours qui m’a menée jusqu’au métier d’astronaute. Dès que je suis montée à bord de l’avion, je me suis sentie chez moi, entourée de ma famille – mes frères et sœurs aviateurs. Et maintenant, une priorité : retrouver mes jambes et mon équilibre de Terrienne… 🌍 #εpsilon • @esaspaceflight • @CNES
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Mark Ratterman retweeted
A little luck and a lot of Grace go a long way (in this case, 250 miles up)! Each crew’s zero-g indicator is unique. Ours, named Lucky, represents the golden dragon at the center of our Crew-13 patch, which honors the brave and resilient legacy of Apollo 13 on which we stand. Thinking of Crew-12 today, whose indicator is beginning to drop right about now as they re-enter Earth’s gravity!
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