Mark Lowe Photography

Flight instructor, photographer and space nerd Founder of @pilotsocks

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

ROUND 2! 🚀📸 My photo finished 1st in its group and advanced! Huge thanks to everyone who voted, shared, and tagged friends. Voting resumes tomorrow, and votes count DOUBLE. Let’s keep this thing flying!

https://t.co/kOdJXaxUWl

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

Amaze. Amaze. Amaze.

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

Long post, but this one is important to me so I hope you stick it out!

In January I reached out to Artemis II Commander @astro_reid with a simple ask- was he open to capturing the moon like I do for my colorful moon photos during the flyby?

He humbly agreed, and we worked out a plan to incorporate into the photos captured as the crew approached the moon. The premise was simple- just capture enough photos in a burst to allow for image stacking to improve image fidelity, potentially to reveal color no human has ever captured.

What he brought back was nothing short of magnificent. When I initially stacked the raw photos, it exceeded my expectations by far. The color came right out of the seemingly gray images, and showed details I've never seen before. It's possible nobody has. The lack of atmosphere meant a lot of color normally absorbed and scattered was present, so even the "near side" features looked exotic and unfamiliar.

This view of the moon from an alien perspective made the usually-familiar lunar surface fresh and exciting, and the color we were able to resolve gave us valuable insight to the complex geological history of it's battered surface.

Then, I faced a bit of a moral dilemma.

I wanted people to be able to own these images in print- but I wouldn't feel right to profit off of them. As an active NASA astronaut, Reid certainly can't. He took these photos as part of a taxpayer-funded mission. If I couldn't split profits with him I didn't see a way to do this ethically, so I decided to release the images initially with no print offering, despite many requests! 

Then, it clicked. After doing some research- I decided that I should do a print sale where the profits go 100% to charity. That way I can make prints available, do some good in the world, and it doesn't feel like an ethical conflict.

​I'm pleased to share my first EVER entirely-for-charity print release.
​
At the end of this sale all proceeds with be donated to UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. It feels fitting. I will follow up in a future post with a receipt from the donation, so you know how much we were able to donate. When I released this to my email subscribers only, we were already able to raise around $15k. Amazing!

The limited edition fine art print is now publicly available, you can grab one of them at the link in my bio (also linked further in the thread) for a short time.

Thank you for helping me do something good with my platform. Seriously... it feels amazing.

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

I’m still hanging onto 1st place with less than 12 hours to go in then2nd round. Thank you all for the support. If you’d like to cast a vote before tonight’s deadline, I’d be grateful!

https://t.co/kOdJXaxUWl

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

The Artemis Generation is here.

Artemis III will help us get into the rhythm of multi-launch campaigns, test new capabilities close to home, and then take the next step toward building a sustained human presence at the lunar South Pole.

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Congratulations Artemis III crew, we can't wait to fly with you

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

I honestly can’t believe I’m still in 1st place. Thank you all for the votes, shares, comments, and encouragement. Today is a double-vote day, and I’m incredibly grateful for everyone’s continued support.

https://t.co/kOdJXaxUWl

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

It was an absolutely beautiful launch this morning (loud too!). Starlink 10-35 lifting off from SLC-40.
📸 by me for @LaunchHeavenX

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

Still can’t believe the response this photo continues to get.
A Falcon 9 launch, a perfectly timed C-130, and a whole lot of luck.
Thanks to everyone who’s supported, shared, and enjoyed it. 🚀📸

You can vote every day!

https://t.co/kOdJXaxUWl

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

@sunriseecos @ray4tesla @Tesla_AI You can’t even put a destination into the navigation without it nagging. It’s a bit overly sensitive for sure.

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

Voting is officially open!

My photo of a Falcon 9 launch and a passing C-130 has been selected for America’s Favorite Photos.

If you’d like to support my work, I’d be grateful for your vote.

https://t.co/kOdJXaxUWl

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

Worth getting up in the middle of the night for. #spacecoast

[Dave Limp @davill]

Some LC-36 updates. Now that we’ve had access to the pad and integration facility we can share a bit of good news. The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape. This is good luck because these are very long lead items. The water tower is also good. The big support tower is damaged, but it can be repaired in place rather than torn down and replaced. The booster “Never Tell Me The Odds” and the three GS-2s that were onsite in the integration facility also look good.

I’ve seen some speculation that we might move directly to the 9x4 configuration, but we won’t do that. Rate manufacturing of 7x2 is going well, and we’re going to continue that at pace as planned and store the stages for use. In addition, we had already been working for some time on eliminating our transporter-erector in favor of an alternative vertical conop, and we’ll now go directly to that; so we don’t need a new transporter-erector.

We will fly again before the end of this year. Gradatim Ferociter.

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

@YF23Stan Thank you!

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

Well, this escalated quickly. 😄
This photo has been accepted into America's Favorite Photos. Voting opens June 4th, and I'd appreciate your support when voting begins.
I'll share the link soon. 🚀✈️

[Dave Limp @davill]

We have regained some access to Launch Complex 36 and are actively investigating the hotfire anomaly. We will start clearing the pad soon and have a good rebuild plan in place. The booster and GS2s in the integration facility appear healthy from quick looks.

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

So glad no one was near the pad when this happened. Wishing the best to everyone at @blueorigin and all involved.

[Blue Origin @blueorigin]

We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.

[Black Hole @konstructivizm]

SpaceX just dropped a bombshell the entire space industry needed to https://t.co/aGQ5nTtt55 a new SEC filing, the company revealed it has poured over $15 billion into Starship development.That number is jaw-dropping. And Flight 12 on May 22 proved exactly why it’s worth every https://t.co/tTSCJ6gFR9’s what $15 billion of relentless engineering delivered:✦ Historic first launch from Starbase Pad 2 — fully operational
✦ Super Heavy Booster 19 lit up all 33 Raptor 3 engines cleanly at T-0
✦ 80,800 kilonewtons of raw thrust — the most powerful rocket ever flown
✦ Ship lost one vacuum Raptor mid-ascent — the flight computer instantly adapted and kept it on track
✦ In-space engine relight test scrubbed due to the engine-out, but the vehicle still held perfect trajectory
✦ 22 Starlink simulators successfully deployed on the suborbital arc
✦ Next-gen V3 heat shield survived the fiery reentry — Elon Musk confirmed it held up
✦ Clean splashdown in the Indian Ocean — nominal performanceThe booster had an anomaly during the boostback burn and crashed into the ocean, but SpaceX is calling Flight 12 a clear success — and the data backs them up completely.Version 4 is already in the works, targeting 2027. At a towering 466 feet, it will make today’s Starship V3 look like a baby rocket.$15 billion isn’t the end.

[Mark Lowe Photography @MarkLowe_Photo]

@AJamesMcCarthy @Cosmic_Penguin Dude, that is incredible! I really want to get to the next launch!

[Launch Heaven @LaunchHeavenX]

Less than one hour remains until SpaceX’s second attempt at launching Starship on its twelfth flight, come watch as our team provides live coverage with views from Starbase as well as commentary.

https://t.co/lIlyxmNLG9

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Now targeting 6:00 p.m. CT for liftoff of Starship