Derek Richardson

I am a space geek who loves to write and make videos!
Portfolio: also run @OrbitalVel

[Derek Richardson @TheSpaceWriter]

I made this recap of Artemis 1 three years ago. And now, in around three months, Artemis 2 will launch with four people -- to the Moon! #WeRiseTogether 🚀🌖

[Hank Green @hankgreen]

Banning under-16s from YouTube mostly means banning them from logging in, which means YouTube will treat them less like kids and more like anonymous adults. Great job, UK.

[Scott Manley @DJSnM]

This is exactly the kind of video I wanted to see from Artemis II - you can build a robotic spacecraft to get better imagery, but human reactions make it so much easier to connect across the vast distances involved.

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

NASA has officially announced the crew for Artemis 3!
Commander: Randy Bresnik
Pilot: Luca Parmitano
Mission Specialist: Frank Rubio
Mission Specialist: Andre Douglas
Backup crew member: Bob Hines

[Jeff Foust @jeff_foust]

NASA's Jeremy Parsons outlines the current plan for Artemis 3:
- Blue Origin's lander launches into orbit
- Orion launches, docked with lander for two days
- Orion undocks, await Starship launch
- Orion docks with Starship for a day, then returns.

[Derek Richardson @TheSpaceWriter]

I guessed the Artemis 2 perfectly in 2023. https://t.co/TU96iLHqFX

[Orbital Velocity @OrbitalVel]

Just 30 minutes before the announcement for the #Artemis 2 crew. My prediction is Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hanson. Can't wait to find out! #WeAreGoing! 🚀

[Derek Richardson @TheSpaceWriter]

The Artemis 3 crew will be announced tomorrow. The 2027 Earth-orbit mission will dock with and test at least one lunar lander—akin to Apollo 9 in 1969.

My crew guess:
CDR: @AstroAnnimal
PLT: @Astro_Raja
MS1: @Astro_Stephanie
MS2: @astro_luca

Who do you think it'll be?

[NASA @NASA]

Coming soon: one of history’s most complex missions

Tune in on Tuesday, June 9, at 11am ET, to meet the astronauts flying aboard Artemis III, the mission that will test docking capabilities with commercial landers in low Earth orbit — an important step to crewed lunar landings.

[SpaceNews @SpaceNews_Inc]

Axiom and Prada advance design of spacesuit https://t.co/HWm4HKwe3z

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

We go where we need to be, and today that was @NASAKennedy.

Some of my senior engineers and I spent time at @blueorigin with @JeffBezos and @davill, speaking with the workforce and seeing the damage at LC-36 firsthand. I appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from those working through the aftermath and better understand the challenges ahead.

There is a lot of work to do, but this is exactly why people choose careers in aerospace, whether at NASA, Blue Origin, or across the industry. The talent in this field thrives under pressure and performs at its best when solving the toughest problems.

We have been saying for months at NASA that we are not going to sit on our hands and wait for the capabilities necessary to achieve the nation’s most pressing objectives. We are going to take an active role alongside our partners, just as we did in the 1960s, to overcome setbacks, remove obstacles, and deliver the intended outcomes.

@NASA is committed to helping the Blue team recover, continue to advance their lunar lander and get New Glenn back to launching as soon as safely possible.

America’s greatest achievements in space were never the result of avoiding setbacks. They came from overcoming them. We have done it before, and we will do it again🇺🇸

[Hunter Manley @huntermanley]

New Glenn explosion as seen from my Ring doorbell during my pizza delivery!! #blueorigin #newglenn @NASASpaceflight

[Max Evans @_MaxQ_]

US space industry is not defined by its hardships, but by the resilience of those who rise from them.

Tonight’s mishap at LC-36 is a massive blow, no question. And coming just one day after announcements of Blue’s contribution to future Moon base plans with Artemis is salt in the wound…

But for all we know, this may serve as a catalyst for something perhaps even larger, something grander, and more valuable to future Artemis plans. Will they go straight to New Glenn 9x4? Additional LSP collaboration? I don’t know… but some of humanity’s greatest achievements were born from its worst setbacks.

I’d rather be optimistic and wrong than pessimistic and right here. But thank God everyone involved in the mission is accounted for and no one was hurt.

All of this being said…the clock will keep ticking, and the mission will carry on.

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

[Lavie Ohana 🛰️ @lavie154]

Writing down my thoughts properly soon but. A lot of hard feelings tonight to process. I think this has the potential to be one of the most impactful events in spaceflight in recent memory.

Only sunlight on the Cape tomorrow will truly tell.

[Scott Manley @DJSnM]

You can actually see satellite flares on the left side, aligned just right to reflect the sun to the camera

[COL Anne McClain @AstroAnnimal]

May the 4th Be With You (2026)!

[CBS Mornings @CBSMornings]

What did the Artemis II astronauts do when they landed back on Earth? Share a bag of peanut M&Ms.

"When we landed, we splashed down into the Pacific Ocean ... and Christina, out of her spacesuit pocket, goes, 'I got some peanut M&Ms, anybody want some?'" Wiseman said on CBS Mornings. "And so we're leaning against the side of the spacecraft, just come back from the moon, eating peanut M&Ms. We were happy."

[Jeff Foust @jeff_foust]

Isaacman says he has received assurances from HLS companies Blue Origin and SpaceX that their landers would be ready for low Earth orbit tests on Artemis 3 in late 2027. (NASA had been talking about Artemis 3 around mid-27.)

[Derek Richardson @TheSpaceWriter]

@Jack_Frodo @lilNERDtv @torybruno @Astro_Pam @SenBillNelson @Astro_Jeremy @Astro_FarmerBob @astro_reid @AstroVicGlover An out-of-this-world day

[Astronauts For America @Astros4America]

Charlie Bolden and Wendy Lawrence are two of America’s greatest public servants. When heroes like them are speaking up—especially in defense of our democracy—it’s time to listen.

[Reid Wiseman @astro_reid]

Only one chance in this lifetime…

Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those exceptional Earthset photos through the 400mm lens. @AstroVicGlover was in window 3 watching with @Astro_Jeremy next to him.

I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view…this is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye. Enjoy.

[Stephen Fleming @StephenFleming]

Victor Glover explains why physical controls are better than touchscreens:

“If I’m doing something where I’m so busy that I cannot stop and look down at my hands to fly, this is the biggest difference. I have to touch the screen, which means I have to look, because if I touch right next to that arrow, it doesn’t work. In Orion, I have a feel. I don’t have to look. I can focus on precision because I can look out the window the whole time.”