Andrew Munger

Love Science and Rockets. Finally going back to the moon. Porsche Specialist. And a Real American Man. America First.

[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.
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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.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@JohnnyLCKai Me being born. Hell yeah

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy 😂 hey man it happens brother.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy Brother I love your freaking enthusiasm. Absolutely man you deserve to get that picture 100% without a doubt. I believe that NASA will help you out with that. 👍🌑🌍🚀

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy Man that's absolutely crazy looking. Great capture.💯🇺🇲💪

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy Bro, Absolutely. Especially with your talent. Honestly I couldn't wait to see your work.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

Apollo 13. This model is the most detailed of all Apollo models. Unfortunately they were only made in 2013 and only for about a year. Outrageous pricing. But if you're a space enthusiast and You've actually seen shuttle launches up close on NASA's property, and fell in love with rockets. You just can't help yourself to the sheer beauty of the Saturn V that took men to the moon. Hoping you and your family can make it for future Artemis and upcoming starship launches from The Cape. NASA is in preparation of building a launch platform for SpaceX's starship. Once I seen the Lego set you got your daughter. I figured I would start sending some really cool pictures of models and NASA memorabilia that maybe you can share with her and she might like it. Oh and if you ever do wish to buy that model. I was only able to find one on eBay and paid a hefty $1,700 for it.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy @konstructivizm 😂 That's a horrible AI picture.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy Some people don't have the respect for others and their profession. I don't even think it's actually pronounced the way people think it is. And it is very beautiful. Profoundly gorgeous with the blue hues. The creators imagination is beyond our wildest imaginations. 💯🇺🇲💪🚀🌎🌑

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy You should make it multiple choice. I'm the first 3. But I also love animals. And I remember the first picture you took of Greg. But for your work. The first three

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy Thanks for telling me. I've been sitting here waiting to hear about that. 🤪 Seeing the path Artemis took, I can now see why it wouldn't of happened. Appreciate it brother. Have a great weekend. 💯🇺🇲💪🌑🌎🚀

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

This is the only reason I asked. I thought I remember hearing something about that. I just don't know if they were able to or not. And thanks for replying back. Now I know. Dude, with your photography skills. They should send you on one of the Artemis missions to take pictures. I'm dead serious. You could capture some of the most phenomenal incredible pictures. I mean They used your picture of the moon to hang off Artemis. Just saying that would be pretty cool.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

During the Saturn V launches. The pad had 4 hold down arms and three tail service masts that when Apollo launched the hoods would close to protect the instruments. But they were painted with a special type material to actually protect the entire structure of the arms. That material would burn first and by the time the rocket was gone the water would douse out the flames and the instruments would be all right. Whats really cool as those hold down arms held down the rocket until thrust of all the five engines were at full thrust. At t-0 if they were at full thrust they would be released and the rocket lifted off. And I bet NASA still uses that same material today. Does something cool to know.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@Chesschick01 @LEGO_Group Well that's pretty cool. Got to love Legos. Awesome job putting it together. 💪🇺🇲🚀🌎🌑

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

You seem pretty cool. Your gaining another follower. Coolest person I've met on here and actually DM each other about Porsches is James Woods. Dude is brilliant. If you like space then you need to check out my friend Andrew McCarthy. The guy is phenomenal when it comes to astrophotography and he got into rockets finally. Some of the photos he just took of Artemis 2 were amazing. He got so good at it NASA asked him if they could use his moon photos for Artemis. So the banner that hangs off of the crawler with the launch pad is a picture he took of the moon. Now that's freaking cool. If your daughter starts to like space and rockets then I suggest you check out eBay for the Saturn V and the space shuttle. Legos do not make those anymore. Oh and also they make the lunar lander. Even that Concord is Legos.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@Chesschick01 They are quite expensive. And almost 4000 pieces. Great gift you got her. Awesome. Rockets are amazing. 💪🇺🇲🚀🌎🌎

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

That's was truly inspiring to hear that. When he mentioned God the Creator and the Bible. Incredibly amazing to hear. One of my favorite verse is from the book of Job. The oldest book in the Bible. Job says that the Earth is round and it's suspended upon nothing. God gave you plenty, absolutely gorgeous galaxies and stars in the mysteries of the cosmos to photograph. And brother. Your gift from him is exactly what you are doing. Thank you for all your hard work that you do to show everyone the true beauty of rockets🚀💯 and the true beauty of the universe. 🌌. 💪🇺🇲🌎🌑 Your a true American badass.

[Andrew Munger @Stormlight1984]

@AJamesMcCarthy People asking AI if it's a real picture. Absolutely. Our atmosphere is so thin. It's amazing how thin it is. Our home is so beautiful and colorful. Truly designed by the ultimate artist. The coolest thing about it. It's suspended upon nothing. Freaking awesome. 👍🌎🚀💯🇺🇲💪