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Orion Lyau

@orionll.bsky.social
194 followers 170 following 86 posts

I currently make software and previously studied astrophysics. I also like flying and taking pictures!

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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
All four astronauts are out of Integrity and on the front porch, awaiting the helicopter! Mission Control is celebrating!
View from a helicopter looking towards Integrity and the front porch.  All four astronauts are visible sitting in the front porch in their orange OCSS suits.View from Mission Control of people celebrating.  The large screens in mission control show live feeds from the recovery team, and the center shows a message "Taking humanity back to the Moon, going further, and returning safely to Earth!"Another view from a helicopter looking towards Integrity and the front porch.  Closer up than the other picture.  All four astronauts are visible sitting in the front porch in their orange OCSS suits.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
You can see them in the orange OCSS suits!
Screen capture from NASA's live stream; view from a helicopter looking at the Integrity crew module floating in the Pacific, with two astronauts egressing onto the front porch, assisted by the recovery crew.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
PAO just cited the flight dynamics folks saying splashdown was at 7:07:27 PM Central Time (UTC-5)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Splashdown!
Integrity crew module splashing down in the ocean!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
What a beautiful view!
Integrity crew module descending, hanging below the three main parachutes, successfully deployed.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
"Houston, Integrity, we have you loud and clear"
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Reposted by Orion Lyau
Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert @elakdawalla.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
"We have a great view of the Moon out of window 2." "Looks a little smaller than yesterday." "Guess we'll have to go back!"
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Crew module / service module separation!
View from a camera on a Solar Array Wing of the service module of the Integrity spacecraft of Artemis 2.  The crew module and service module have separated!View from a camera on another Solar Array Wing of the service module of the Integrity spacecraft of Artemis 2.  The crew module and service module have separated!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
You should be able to rewind the NASA live stream on YouTube (youtu.be/m3kR2KK8TEs); otherwise, it looks like the Canadian Space Agency has a video (question begins at 41:08 there): youtu.be/qyk5hOHKYXk?...
youtu.be
Jeremy Hansen speaks with Prime Minister Mark Carney during the Artemis II mission
YouTube video by Canadian Space Agency
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Their reactions are the best!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Seeing the Artemis 2 crew's reactions on being asked about maple syrup vs. Nutella on pancakes is delightful!
Screen capture from the NASA live stream during a CSA (Canadian Space Agency) PAO event.  View from the inside of the Integrity spacecraft, showing four astronauts with very big grins and laughter all around.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Relatable moment re. bidding farewell overheard on the NASA Artemis 2 stream at MET 05/06:43: KOCH: Usually when we say good night to Houston we call about 5 more times; that's our pattern CAPCOM: I just feel like I am contributing to that trend, so alright, we'll stand by for the next good night
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I got a screen capture!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Astronauts reviewing a new earthrise photo? 👀
Screen capture of the NASA live stream.  View from a camera on the interior of the Integrity spacecraft, with an astronaut holding one of the PCDs (personal computing device, a Surface tablet) with a full screen view of one of the pictures they took.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
What a view!
Screenshot from the NASA live stream of the Artemis 2 mission.  View from a camera mounted on one of the Solar Array Wings of the Integrity spacecraft, looking towards the crew module, the crescent far side of the moon, and a crescent Earth.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Got a ShakeAlert for an earthquake! It was nice to have a few seconds before shaking started. earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
earthquake.usgs.gov
The Earthquake Event Page application supports most recent browsers, view supported browsers. Or, try our Real-time Notifications, Feeds, and Web Services.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
The stage separation looked so cool!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Going!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Twitch seems to be a little lower latency! www.twitch.tv/nasa
twitch.tv
NASA - Twitch
NASA’s Artemis II Crew Launches to the Moon (Official Broadcast)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
T-10 minute countdown resuming!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
...I walked right into reading that pun, Hooke, line, and sinker. Honestly though, it ruled. You might even say it's the law. :P
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Here's the YouTube video for context: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAK... (and Reddit thread too: www.reddit.com/r/Masks4All/...)
youtube.com
440 N95s for $27 from Amazon. Is it a scam?
YouTube video by Gerard Hughes
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
It's never a bad idea to check when you can! But for whatever reason, 3M only uses Safe Guard for certain products, and the 9205+ isn't one that you can check. (If you go to the validation page on the link you shared, they note that it's only for the 8210, 8210CN, 9210+, and 9211+.)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
(I guess I'm just intimidated hearing about very fiddly Linux distros and I'm worried it'll be like xkcd.com/1319 w.r.t. no longer having time for the original task :P -- maybe I will just try Ubuntu since it's hopefully more straightforward, at least as a starting point.)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
(I'd like to be able to explore and mess with things, but at the same time, I think I'd want something stable and reliable enough that when I want to do other stuff, I don't have to fiddle / engage in yak shaving / go on side quests just to get back to the thing I originally wanted to do.)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
By distros being fiddly, do we mean "I can fiddle when I want to", or does it end up being "an update broke something / I found something that's incompatible / now I *need* to fiddle to get things working again"? (Or is the latter usually a result of the former having happened? :P)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Is there a distro you'd suggest for someone who's fairly adept at poking at computers, but doesn't *want* to have to poke at computers too much? (Or is the best answer "go distro hopping and try stuff"?) (Asking as someone who hasn't used Linux as a daily driver, but is maaaybe curious about it.)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
I don't know why it started, but they've been naming their graphics card microarchitectures after people for quite a while: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
en.wikipedia.org
List of eponyms of Nvidia GPU microarchitectures - Wikipedia
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Also, about the music: it's pretty niche, but if you're interested, there are hobbyists/fans who collect music loops from the parks! Here are a couple YouTube channels that usually have fairly accurate recordings or reconstructions: www.youtube.com/@HometownSou... www.youtube.com/@magicalsoun...
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Have you watched The Imagineering Story? It's a documentary series about the history of the Disney parks. I think the craft that goes into themed entertainment and making immersive environments is really interesting -- if you feel similarly, I'd definitely recommend watching it!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Even though I can't see any aurora here, I love nights like these! Everyone always has such amazing pictures!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
I remember seeing that someone managed to do that!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Looks like it was another small earthquake! USGS currently shows M 3.0 - 3 km SE of Berkeley, CA (2025-09-22 18:21:57 (UTC-07:00)): earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Aftershock?
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Ah, M 4.6 - 2 km ESE of Berkeley, CA: earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
USGS website isn't loading currently, but ShakeAlert shows an estimated magnitude 4.5. Maybe a V (or even VI) on the the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale?
Screenshot of web browser where the contents of the page (https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards) only reads "504 Gateway Time-out".
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Yep! USGS website is showing a 504 Gateway Time-out error for me currently though.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Bay Area earthquake just a moment ago!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
There's similar things in hospitals, right? Like those computer workstations on wheels? (I assume those are probably special and expensive though.)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Yep, fourth order Runge-Kutta!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Oh gosh, it's nowhere near as polished (and I had a friend help for the background art), but this is a clip of when I was testing it! It's really more of a little code doodle than anything -- I just ported an RK4 integrator that I already had from a university problem set from Python to C#.
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
This is the talk I remember watching if you're curious! www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgmI...
youtube.com
Cult of the Twitch: How 'Cult of the Lamb' Used Twitch Integration to Reach a Massive Audience
YouTube video by Game Developers Conference
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Ooh that looks so fancy! It's much cooler than what I experimented with when I first tried Unity!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
I stayed up way too late watching the most recent episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ("A Space Adventure Hour"), but the only thing I regret is not watching it sooner! It was such a delightful episode!
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
I guess it came full circle with the episode of Voyager where the ship got taken over and the crew was forced into holodecks to involuntarily LARP as members of the French Resistance. :P
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
I saw that sign last month! I think one of the questions the sign poses (well... posed) was quite relevant: "What do omissions in the historic narrative reveal about our society?"
Picture from Muir Woods National Monument of a sign titled "Saving Muir Woods" that presents a history of the national monument.  The left half of the sign reads "Muir Woods National Monument was established in 1908 through the inspired leadership of William and Elizabeth Kent, Gifford Pinchot, and President Theodore Roosevelt" (and it continues to explain how these individuals were relevant to the creation of Muir Woods as a national monument).  On the right half of the sign is a page that reads:

[begin quote]

Muir Woods National Monument
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
National Park Service
U.S. Department of Interior

ALERT: HISTORY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Everything on this sign is accurate, but incomplete. The facts are not under construction, but the way we tell the history is.

Additions in yellow are the facts rangers included to tell a more complete story.

Here are some of the items originally left out:

- This story of this place began thousands of years ago with the Coast Miwok.
- A women's movement was among the first to try to preserve Muir Woods.
- The racist ideology of many people who helped to protect this place.

What do omissions in the historic narrative reveal about our society? How does knowing more shape your perspective on the past and the future?

[end quote]

The bottom portion of the sign has a timeline titled "The Path to Preservation" ranging from "Before European Contact" (undated) through 2021.  The first dated item is in 1776.  The majority of the items have a yellow background (indicating facts rangers included to tell a more complete story).

Unfortunately the alt text field is too short to include a transcript of all the items on the timeline. :(
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Shout out to my local library for having database access! (I had also found some other sources on random blogs and websites, but not all of them had references -- and on the ones that did, I wasn't able to directly track those references down, so I wasn't certain how authoritative they were. 😅)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Thanks for sharing that story in the first place! I hadn't heard it before and it was delightful learning a bit more aviation history. :)
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
According to www.jstor.org/stable/44524..., Orville is quoted as saying "I enjoyed every minute. I guess I ran the whole plane for a minute, but I let the machine take care of itself. I always said airplanes would fly themselves if you left them alone."
Screenshot of text:

"Hesitant at first, Mr. Wright smiled happily as he settled in his seat and soon gave the appearance of being perfectly at ease. Throughout the flight he gazed raptly at the earth, calling attention several times to various landmarks he once viewed from his own flying machine.

"Colonel Hatcher suggested that Mr. Wright take the controls, but the inventor shook his head. Hatcher again motioned toward the dual controls in front of Mr. Wright.

"Hesitantly, Mr. Wright placed his hands on the control column. Getting the feel of the plane, he shrugged his shoulders and beamed at Hatcher. The plane flew along at an even keel and a moment later Mr. Wright relinquished the controls.Screenshot of text:

"Later General Carroll ... took control of the ship. While Hatcher left the pilot's position so that General Carroll could slide into his seat, Mr. Wright again handled the controls."

When interviewed after the flight, Mr. Wright was beaming. Miss Stevenson quotes him: "It's absolutely marvelous," he said of the plane.

"You can say that I ran the whole thing. Put exclamation points and question marks after that---because all I had to do was just let it take care of itself."Screenshot of text:

He admitted that 40 years ago at Kitty Hawk, N. C., he never dreamed his invention would assume such proportions. He seemed impressed but not awed, as if long before this he had learned to take remarkable aerial development in his stride.
 
"Each one that comes along is a little better than the one before," he commented.

Starrett also quoted Wright as saying: "I enjoyed every minute. I guess I ran the whole plane for a minute, but I let the machine take care of itself. I always said airplanes would fly themselves if you left them alone."
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Orion Lyau @orionll.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Visited some redwood trees today!
Picture of tall coast redwood trees (sequoia sempervirens) in Muir Woods National Monument. Dappled sunlight shines through to lush undergrowth on the forest floor.
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