Author: tcb94

After four cancelled attempts at a launch, NASA’s Artemis I mission finally successfully launched on November 16th, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 12:47 AM Central Time.

This launch signifies a new era of manned spaceflight, with the ultimate goal to have a base on the moon, as the United States and various other countries attempt to solidify their presence in space.

The Artemis program is a series of ongoing space missions that will be run by NASA in the coming months and years.

Artemis I tested the most powerful rocket ever built, The Space Launch System, which generated over 8 million pounds of thrust during its liftoff. That is over 1.3 million pounds more powerful than the Saturn V rocket that was used for the Apollo missions in the mid 20th century.

The Space Launch System powers the Orion Capsule, which will take a 25 day journey to navigate the moon and surrounding areas. It is meant to test the capsule to its limits, as it will hold precious human lives. The capsule is projected to land somewhere off the coast of San Diego, California in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.

Although it is just a test flight, and an unmanned mission, Artemis I is an extremely serious endeavour. Humans have not been to the moon in over half a century. This new ‘space race’ will bring in billions if not trillions of dollars to economies of countries all over the globe.

NASA used mannequins to simulate the humans that will eventually be on board. They collected crucial data that will be used to ensure the safety of the astronauts when the second and third phases launch.

Artemis mission manager, Michael Sarafin admitted to running into various problems that did not match their predictions in terms of how the equipment has functioned, along with the data they have collected thus far.

An example of this is the Orion capsule’s star tracker, an intricate system that uses a map of the cosmos to tell the engineers of NASA on the ground how the capsule is oriented in space itself. Various data readings were not coming back as the crew had expected. However, NASA officials said it was simply part of the learning curve that comes every time with flying a new type of spacecraft.

“We had an understanding of the system headed into the mission. We had predictions whether it was how much power would we consumed or how much propellant or how hot the vehicle would be — and we’re not exactly matching that. And in most cases it is performing better. We’re seeing things that don’t quite match our predictions. And the team is spending the time to go through that with a fine-tooth comb to make sure that there isn’t something else there that is potentially a latent issue.” Safarin said.

There are three Artemis missions that NASA currently has in progress: Artemis I, an unmanned test flight, that will circle and fly past the Moon, collecting data and pictures simultaneously. Artemis II will be a crewed flight, and will take them beyond the Moon, and will take humans the furthest they’ve ever been in space. Artemis III will be the final leg of the program, in which NASA will land the first female astronaut, and first astronaut of color on the Moon. The crew plans to collect extensive data, and will spend approximately a week performing scientific studies on the lunar surface. Artemis III will be the first manned lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.

NASA’s long-term goals for the Artemis program are even more ambitious. They plan to use the knowledge, technology and research developed during the flights of Artemis to inform their eventual launch of a crewed mission to Mars in the coming decades.

In order to accomplish this grand feat, they plan to establish a long term presence on the moon, and create a lunar base. They will use this base to mine materials from the lunar surface, and transport astronauts as they embark on the journey to the distant planet, as well as to and from the International Space Station. It will serve as a ‘space hotel’ of sorts, and will be a rest stop for space travelers.

This base will also be used to transport large amounts of materials mined in asteroids. This is a ways away, but there is nearly an infinite amount of resources in asteroids just waiting to be mined, humans just merely lack the means to access them. There are certain asteroids that contain quintillions of dollars worth of materials, such as Iron, Nickel, Platinum, and many more.

Some say there is enough money in asteroids to make every person on Earth a billionaire. The base on the moon will make that fantasy slightly more realistic in the decades to come, and it all began on November 16th with the launch of Artemis I.

The Alabama Crimson Tide suffered their second loss of the 2022 season on Saturday night, November 5 at the hands of the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana inside Tiger Stadium. Losing 31-32 in a climactic overtime ending, the Tide fall to 7-2 on the season (their first loss was against Tennessee).

LSU made a gutsy call to go for a two point conversion, and it paid dividends. Following the win, LSU moved up three spots in the College Football Playoff Rankings to number 7, and Alabama fell three spots to number 9.

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner and Alabama starting quarterback Bryce Young struggled mightily in the game, completing less than 50% of his passes (25-51) along with throwing an interception. This is uncommon behavior from Young, whose expectations are as high as any quarterback in the country. Statistically, the skill position groups for Alabama put up solid numbers.

Running back Jahmyr Gibbs rushed fifteen times for 99 yards, and backup Roydell Williams rushed seven times for eleven yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Ja’Corey  Brooks had a good game as well, catching seven passes for 97 yards, as well as a touchdown, but it proved to be not enough.

LSU quarterback Jaylen Daniels was undoubtedly the star of the show, and the player of the game. Throwing for 182 yards and two touchdowns while completing over 65% of his passes, he also had a great game on the ground, rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown. His playmaking skills and sound decision-making led the Tigers to an electrifying win.

Running back Josh Williams, and wide receivers John Emery Jr. and Mason Taylor for LSU all added scores as well, exemplifying a good team win.

This loss raises serious doubt as to Alabama’s College Football Playoff chances. They would need to win the rest of their remaining games, and hope for a handful of losses in order to potentially earn a trip to the SEC Conference Championship Game, which would then be a must win. If they do not make the College Football Playoff, it would be for only the second time in the past nine seasons.

Critics are now turning to legendary head coach Nick Saban for answers, as well as placing blame. Certain fans are ecstatic that they may see a rare College Football Playoff without the Crimson Tide, and see this loss in particular as a sign of a dying dynasty. Saban accepts the blame, which is part of his job as the head coach, to suffer through criticism.

“Obviously, when you’re teaching and regardless of what you’re teaching and how you’re teaching it, if the pupils don’t get it, I put it on me. So, we’ve just got to find a better way to emphasize it. I watch practice where we do turnover drills. I’m talking about good guys against good guys to emphasize that. And when you emphasize things, people have to respond to it. We just haven’t played very well on the road, and we’ve had all the toughest games on the road, including this one this week. So, it is what it is,” Saban said.

Something very uncharacteristic of teams coached by Nick Saban is a high number of penalties, as well as turnovers, which the team has struggled with in the majority of their games this season. They rank an abysmal 124th out of 131 FBS teams in penalties per game, and are tied for 101st in the turnover margin.

Their offense and defense statistically speaking in regards to scoring has not been bad at all. They rank second in the SEC in both points per game and points allowed. This makes the turnovers and penalties that much more devastating.

With so much talent on the team, and college football superstars such as Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr, any loss is a disappointment to players, coaches and fans alike. No team in the modern sports era has had so high of expectations. Every year, it is a near guarantee that they will be in the playoff, or in the National Championship game. This year in particular, that is in question.

On October 15, Tennessee ended a 15 game losing streak to the Crimson Tide, in another gut wrenching loss as time expired. The fans rushed the field immediately after, causing it to go viral on social media in one of the more electrifying scenes in recent college football memory. This past week, LSU fans once again rushed the field in Baton Rouge. The Crimson Tide and its fans certainly do not want to see it happen again this season.

With only three games left in the regular season, there is absolutely no room for error. Only one single team has lost more than two games since Nick Saban has been the head coach. That was in his very first year, in 2010 when the team finished the season with a record of 10-3.

The University of Alabama’s starting quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy Winner Bryce Young sustained a shoulder sprain in last Saturday’s contest against The University of Arkansas, causing him to exit the game. This forced backup quarterback Jalen Milroe to come in and fill the void, who lead the Crimson Tide to a 49-26 victory over the Razorbacks.

Milroe completed four of his nine passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, but most of his impact came with his legs. Milroe rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown, including an explosive run that gave the team new life. He gave their offense a different look than they normally have with Young.

Of course Alabama fans wish Young a speedy recovery, and hope to see him on the field as soon as possible, but if Milroe can beat a top 20 team like Arkansas, it brings into question whether or not they need Young to suit up right away. Could Milroe lead the Tide to victory (potentially multiple) until Young is back to his full health? They obviously have enough star power at the skill positions, with Jahmyr Gibbs and Jase McClellan being a violent one two punch and putting up great numbers out of the backfield. The tide has a more balanced passing attack this year as well, with a wider variety of wide receivers filling the void left by Jameson Williams.

Their defense is of course always going to be stout, and will keep them in games, per usual when coached by a Nick Saban team. This year it is led once again by Heisman candidate Will Anderson Jr. who is having a phenomenal start to his season. All positions aside from the quarterback would still be elite. The Tide are now left with a decision. Do you start an 70 to 75% Bryce Young? Or do you start an 100% Jalen Milroe.

Former Alabama starting quarterback Greg McElroy, who went 24-3 in his career, including leading the team to a national title, believes Milroe is the better option of the two, and makes great points to support his case. Milroe offers an athleticism and explosiveness that Young simply does not have, and is much more dynamic in the run game. He is also a capable enough passer to manage the game, and has the ability to use his legs to scramble when prompted. He can lead the Tide to victory against a sub-par Texas A&M team. 

That is not to say, however, that A&M is a walk in the park. They are well coached, have explosive athletes at all positions, and this game will be their ‘Super Bowl’, especially with all of the off season drama between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. This is certainly going to add fuel to the fire and add intensity for both players and fans, who are fighting to defend tradition, the team, their reputation, and their coaches. A&M is constantly at the top of the recruiting classes, and has tremendous talent. They are not a team to just gloss over.

If Milroe was to play in place of Young, their offense scheme will undoubtedly be run heavy, most likely involving a lot of designed runs for Milroe. Saban always has tricks up his sleeve, and prepares for any and all situations (just think back to Tua’s entrance into college football). He undoubtedly has an idea of what he would like to do if Milroe were the starter in the next few games. Opposing teams not having an extensive amount of game film on Milroe will absolutely be to the Tide’s advantage. Expect a lot of zone read, Pat White-Steve Slayton West Virginia circa 2007, because Milroe is that caliber of athlete.

The biggest pitfall to Milroe, is experience (or lack thereof). He simply has not played much, hardly at all compared to Young. In the game against Texas, Bryce Young was able to put the team on his shoulders towards the end of the game because of his vast experience playing on the biggest stages. His calm demeanor showed through in that game, and was an indication in large part of why the Tide came out victorious. It would not be out of the realm of possibilities that both quarterbacks dress the game, and Milroe starts. If he were to struggle and they need a bailout, Young could potentially come in as a last resort. Obviously they do not want to risk Young re-injuring that shoulder, or damaging it worse than it already is.

There is not an exact timetable on Young’s return, but they can only hope to have him on October 15, when Alabama faces The University of Tennessee, the number 8 team in the country. This will be their first matchup against a top ten team this season (assuming a Tennessee win this week), and their first real test of the season.