Today’s pre-launch press briefing dry run required me to dial in from the next room and ask a question in English to test the interpreter channels.
“This is Elizabeth Tasker from… The Times… Are you all as nervous as I am right now?”
Oscar-worthy journalism. 😂🚀
The real briefing is below!
https://www.youtube.com/live/_E45z5AtwzE?si=wH4XyGS8PuU-EhP8
"Go MMX! (II)"
Imagined pre-dawn launch of MMX in a couple days from #JAXA Tanegashima Space Center. Follow @elizabethtasker for updates and photos from the gorgeous launch site.
References:
https://mastodon.online/@elizabethtasker/111969310103945363
https://mastodon.online/@elizabethtasker/117073108132457057
Stylusdoodled on tablet with #SketchbookApp
#PlanetArtober 🧵 13/n
🛰️🚀 LAUNCH IN LESS THAN 30 HOURS! 🚀🛰️
Want to watch the launch live? YEAH YOU DO!
... carried away by the excitement, but actually forgotten what the Martian Moons eXploration mission is supposed to be doing...? I got your back: there's mission nutshell FAQ! 🔭
Guys, I’ve jinxed it. I sent an email to our partner space agencies saying how sunny the weather was at Tanegashima. Now it’s raining buckets and my windows are shaking.
WHAT HAVE I DONE?!
(#MMXLIFTOFF 10.20 at 04:41:03 JST 🚀)
With launch training, document prep, handling interviews and social media, the work before the MMX launch at Tanegashima can honestly feel overwhelming. But the team are really supportive, and it’s an incredible feeling to be this one cog in an insanely complex, amazing machine. 🚀
It’s all got too much for one team member, and they’re plunging into the ocean! THREE DAYS UNTIL LAUNCH 🚀
#MMXLIFTOFF 10.20 at 04:41:03 JST
Four days until we head to the Martian moons!! 🚀
FIVE DAYS UNTIL LAUNCH 🚀
My friends, it’s time we went to Phobos.
#MMXLIFTOFF 10.20 at 04:41:03 JST 🚀🛰️
(That is the Tanegashima launch pad behind me. It is indeed one of the most beautiful in the world. No notes.)
Last time I visited Tanegashima, I took the ferry from Kagoshima to the island. This time I am flying. People, this photo exaggerates the size of the plane 😐
#MMXLIFTOFF Oct. 20 at 04:41:03 JST 🚀
SIX DAYS UNTIL LAUNCH!! Time to roll…
ONE WEEK UNTIL THE LAUNCH OF MMX! 🚀
There is some subtle messaging at the station closest to the JAXA Sagamihara campus.
It's a genuinely plausible post-apocalyptic scenario: only a few salvaged computers remain, powered intermittently from car batteries, no internet - we try to run a small LLM from a DVD-R on an old PC to answer some questions about the world - it takes weeks - the distilled LLM is a bit janky - it answers, 42
8 days until #MMXLIFTOFF!
@showmethepotato.bsky.social potato me!
9 SPOOKY DAYS REMAINING UNTIL WE LEAVE FOR THE MOON OF TERROR.
Today, we are 12.
10 DAYS UNTIL THE LAUNCH OF THE JAXA MARTIAN MOONS EXPLORATION (#MMX) MISSION! 🚀🛰️
It's a place of unadulterated evil, but the MMX account has been posting these cute countdown videos every day on twitter (and also instagram and threads, for a different brand of evil).
The model in the background of this video clip is Hayabusa2, and former Hayabusa2 Project Manager, Tsuda Yuichi, is on the right wishing a "GOOD LUCK MMX"!
Well, good morning.
O Romeo, Romeo! #CasperCat has gone on a bold spree this week, and approaches my desk while I’m at my computer. It’s only because he wants to gaze adoringly at #NorahNeko but I’ll take it 😹
MEGANE (meaning 👓 in Japanese) is a science instrument onboard the JAXA Martian Moons eXploration mission, contributed by NASA (and hammered together at JHU). David Lawrence (instrument lead) takes us through what MEGANE can do at Phobos in this #MMXTeamQQ!
#MMXLIFTOFF: Oct 20 at 04:41:03 JST 🚀
