‘I love it when it just turns into a star!’ Christina Koch exclaimed. The NASA astronaut and three colleagues, dressed in blue flight apparel, were standing on a knoll at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida peering into the night sky as the most powerful rocket that had ever launched turned into a pinprick of light.

Minutes earlier, at 1:47 a.m. on November 16, 2022, the 32-story flying machine known rather prosaically as the Space Launch System (SLS) had lifted off. Through my binoculars, the rocket’s orange pillar of exhaust was nearly blinding. Every crackle of its 8.8 million pounds of thrust—equivalent to 31 jumbo jets—rattled my lungs.

That colossal rocket, hurtling downrange at more than 17,500 miles an hour, hoisted aloft the Orion spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts farther into space than they have ever ventured. To measure how deep space will affect astronauts, the gumdrop-shaped crew module carried a mannequin named Campos and two female “phantoms,” or artificial torsos. Over the subsequent 25 days, 10 hours, and 53 minutes, the test dummies would soar to more than a quarter million miles from Earth before plunging back through the atmosphere at nearly 25,000 miles an hour. The next Orion will have four people on board as it voyages around the moon. Koch (whose name is pronounced Cook) hoped to be among them. 

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Before Artemis ever sends humans to the lunar surface, NASA will run high-fidelity tests on Earth. When astronauts Drew Feustel and Zena Cardman conducted mock moonwalks last October, they each wore a training suit weighing more than 80 pounds to simulate a real suit’s range of motion and weight in lunar gravity.

The Artemis moon program will fly its crews atop a rocket called the Space Launch System. NASA ran early aerodynamic tests for the SLS with this 1:250 scale model, inside a 14-inch-wide wind tunnel at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This tunnel was also used to design Apollo’s Saturn V rocket and the space shuttle.

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To get the astronauts moon bound, SLS relies on a pair of 177-foot-tall side boosters filled with solid polymer fuel. When ignited, as seen here during a July 2022 test firing in Utah, just one of these boosters chews through about six tons of propellant a second and gives off 3.6 million pounds of thrust. The boosters are the biggest of their kind ever built.

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The launch of this 2022 mission, named Artemis I, marked a milestone for NASA, which aims to put humans back on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. If all goes as planned, Artemis II could send a crew on a lunar flyby as soon as November 2024. Then comes Artemis III—a crewed landing—as soon as late 2025, followed by more missions to establish a lunar presence.

Why go back to the moon? For one, the lunar surface remains a scientific wonderland. Its rock and dust chronicle the sun’s changing activity over 4.5 billion years. Its craters could reveal secrets from the ancient bombardments that also hit Earth. The icy schmutz around the lunar north and south poles might offer insights into how water finds its way through the solar system. Artemis plans to land crews near the south pole to study these suspected frozen water deposits, a step toward possibly harvesting ice for water, oxygen, and rocket fuel.

There are political calculations too: international cooperation, aerospace contracts, skilled jobs.

Beyond that, the moon is preparation for a crewed journey to Mars, perhaps in the 2030s, as part of the agency’s push to find out whether the red planet ever harbored life. The moon and Mars differ, but both are forbidding realms where humans need technologies such as pressurized habitats and advanced space suits to survive. And the moon is only a few days away. With the engines we have today, it could take seven to nine months to reach Mars.

Artemis has faced challenges. Years of delays. Billions in cost overages. Skepticism that humans are even needed for space exploration. But if Artemis succeeds, it won’t just return astronauts to the lunar surface. It could also begin an era of vast possibility and humbling responsibility: one where humankind regularly lives and works on worlds beyond our own. “This is turning the first page on a brand-new chapter of space exploration,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist.

For Artemis missions, SLS launches the habitable Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit. The two vehicles are built separately, so before any launch, NASA must join them within the world’s largest single-story structure: the Vehicle Assembly Building, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The VAB is seen here holding the “full stack” for the uncrewed Artemis I test in March 2022.

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One clear night last October, astronaut Zena Cardman clambered through a field of lava rock in a mock-up space suit, her eyes locked on the moonlike landscape. Cardman, a geobiologist, and fellow astronaut Drew Feustel, a geophysicist, were on a mission to collect rock samples near Arizona’s S P Crater, an 820-foot-tall cinder cone that formed during an ancient volcanic eruption.

Long shadows slithered across the craggy landscape. At a distance, a scientist in a baseball cap wheeled a spotlight around on a small cart, keeping it trained on the two astronauts. When Cardman and Feustel dipped out of the glare—meant to replicate the harsh sunlight at the lunar south pole—they couldn’t see more than 30 feet. The duo tried orienting themselves with low-resolution maps, meant to simulate working off satellite images. No GPS or compass bearings were allowed: Neither would be much use on the moon missions. “It was actually remarkably difficult to pinpoint where we were,” Cardman said. “Mission Control is telling us, ‘We’re pretty sure you should see a hill in front of you’ … and we’re like: ‘Maybe!’ ”

The main goal of this simulated moonwalk and other analog missions isn’t to train astronauts. Instead, they’re meant to test everything else, from the chisels that moonwalkers will wield to the procedures that Mission Control will follow back on Earth. And then, after years of careful rehearsal, it will be time for liftoff. 

“It’s starting to sink in that it’s real,” said Jessica Meir, a member of the astronaut corps since 2013. “Nothing of this scale has ever launched during my lifetime.”

Meir has prepared for this moment since she was five years old. When her first-grade teacher asked her class to draw what they wanted to be when they grew up, she didn’t just draw an astronaut—she drew one on the moon. A biologist by training, Meir once focused her research on how penguins and geese respond physiologically to extreme environments. Now she works in one. From September 2019 to April 2020 she lived aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and performed nearly 22 hours of space walks outside the station with crewmate Koch—the first space walks ever conducted by an all-woman team.

Virtual missions have flown many times thanks to the Systems Integration Lab at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Engineers such as NASA contractor Don Biggs run launch simulations for SLS’s intricate flight software on real avionics hardware, which is mounted on a curved stand to mimic its layout inside the rocket.

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In its early days, NASA had a narrow view of the “right stuff” for astronauts: all male, mostly military test pilots. Today they might be submariners or seismologists, programmers or physicians—women and men from an eclectic array of backgrounds. One of the Artemis program’s stated goals is to put the first woman and person of color on the moon. 

“We’re bringing the spirit of the entire planet with us,” Meir told me.

Bill Nelson recalls exactly where he was when Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon: in a hotel room in London, just before 4 a.m., enraptured by the grainy broadcast on a black-and-white TV. He grew up in Melbourne, Florida, as scientists and rocketeers were turning nearby Cape Canaveral—Apollo’s eventual home port—into a missile test site. Later, in his career as a congressman and senator from Florida, he established himself as a legislative leader on space policy. In 1986 he even flew on a six-day space shuttle mission. Now 80 and NASA administrator, he is overseeing Artemis’s first missions. 

Artemis as we know it today grew out of a Trump-era push to put humans on the moon as a stepping stone to Mars. The Biden administration has embraced it with minor tweaks. But arguably, the Artemis era began on February 1, 2003, when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry and killed its seven crew members. The disaster, precipitated by mid-launch damage to the shuttle’s fragile heat shield, hastened the fleet’s retirement—and raised the question of what would follow. 

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Left: In April 2023, SpaceX conducted the first full test flight of the silvery rocket known as Starship. The reusable vehicle has more thrust than SLS, and a variant of its upper stage will act as Artemis III’s lunar lander. Many tests await Starship: Four minutes into flight, SpaceX blew up this rocket for safety after it began to flip uncontrollably.

Right: Unlike NASA, SpaceX rapidly builds and tests many prototypes of its rockets, speeding up the design process and increasing the risk of “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” This fireball, one such “disassembly,” occurred in December 2020 during a landing attempt for a Starship upper stage. In May 2021, an updated vehicle landed successfully.

NASA has long sought moonscapes here on Earth to prepare for lunar missions. Among them is Arizona’s lava-encrusted San Francisco Volcanic Field, which is peppered with hundreds of extinct volcanoes. Last October, astronauts Cardman (at left) and Feustel trekked for miles across this terrain to test how well Artemis crews will be able to navigate in harsh lunar lighting with only maps.

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In 2004, the George W. Bush administration unveiled a moon-to-Mars strategy to replace the shuttle, enshrined into law as the Constellation program. The initiative, which included Orion, soon blew its budget and fell behind schedule, and in 2010 the Obama administration proposed canceling it. But lawmakers, co-led by Nelson, voted to keep Orion going and backed two new rocket strategies: the Commercial Crew program, which contracts with SpaceX and Boeing to ferry astronauts to the ISS; and the SLS, whose design borrowed as much technology as possible from the 1970s-era space shuttle.

All of this represents a substantial national commitment. The NASA Office of Inspector General estimates Artemis’s total cost through September 2025 will hit $93 billion. Still, total spending on Apollo exceeded $280 billion in today’s dollars, and after adjusting for inflation, Apollo’s peak annual cost was roughly 60 percent more than NASA’s entire budget today.

At 1:47 a.m. ET on November 16, 2022, the Artemis I mission roared into the skies, at the time the most powerful rocket launch ever witnessed. To capture this image safely, photographer Dan Winters placed a sound-triggered camera a thousand feet from the launchpad. During the launch, Winters and other spectators had to stand more than three miles away. Even at that distance, the rocket was louder than a rock concert.

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For all the superficial similarities to Apollo—the big rocket, the gumdrop capsule—Artemis has modern ambitions. The missions it will fly will be longer: Orion was designed to keep a crew of four alive for up to 21 days. And the electronics on board SLS and Orion are more sophisticated. But NASA’s newest vehicles still rely on Apollo’s manufacturing network.

Both are born in New Orleans 15 miles east of downtown at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. For decades the 43-acre plant has played a key role in the agency’s rocket manufacturing. Once a French sugar plantation, the facility was taken over in 1961 by NASA, eager for a site with a deepwater port to build Apollo’s Saturn V rocket. The first stage was made here. So was the space shuttle’s fuel tank. “Until recently, you didn’t get out of Earth orbit unless you went through Michoud,” said Amanda Gertjejansen, an engineer with Boeing, an SLS prime contractor.

The construction of SLS core stages moves across Michoud from east to west. Curved aluminum panels, which arrive in gigantic wooden crates, are welded into cylindrical segments that get stacked and then welded together. After welds are checked, insulation is added, and avionics systems are installed, finished core stages are floated by barge to Florida. Orion also makes its way to the Sunshine State: Following construction of its main metallic skeleton, led by Lockheed Martin, it’s shipped to Kennedy Space Center for assembly.

Nothing of this scale has ever launched during my lifetime … We’re bringing the spirit of the entire planet with us.

Before that barge ride, the core stage sits in a cavernous room on its side for final assembly. Safety glasses on, Gertjejansen led me around the rocket. At 27.6 feet in diameter and 212 feet long when fully assembled, it felt preposterously big: a pharaonic monument awaiting a final lift into place. Silvery piping ran along the outside to feed fuel to the engines. When we poked our heads into the engine section—the part of the rocket she manages—the plumbing-stuffed cavity had the feel of a cramped jungle gym.

As sophisticated as this behemoth is, artisans contribute its finishing touches. Some of the foam insulation is hand-sprayed. Chessboard-like markers along the rocket’s sides—used to track its orientation and speed from afar—are hand-painted. “When you think of building a rocket, you think of rocket scientists,” Gertjejansen told me. “Those are only a very small part.”

At NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, a wall of TV monitors features live video feeds, from every conceivable angle, of Launch Complex 39B, the Artemis launchpad. During tests and launch attempts, this room holds a team of experienced SLS engineers, ready to troubleshoot a problem. “You put plans in place to deal with the things that you don’t plan on, so when they happen, you’re not reacting—you’re responding,” said David Beaman, who manages this team and hundreds of other engineers.

The Artemis II mission will be the second voyage into space for astronaut Christina Koch, seen here in Building 9 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Koch previously set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, with a total of 328 days in space, and participated in the first all-female space walks.

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NASA’s Reid Wiseman and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen will be joining Koch when Artemis II, the program’s first crewed mission, flies around the moon. Wiseman is the mission’s commander.

Astronaut Victor Glover will be piloting the four-person voyage. The California native has logged more than 3,000 flight hours and nearly six months on the International Space Station. “You hear people refer to ‘moon shots’ anytime humans do something great,” he says. “It’s going to be amazing for our generation to have its own actual moon shot.”

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Beaman’s father was one of the engineers for the Saturn V rocket, and eventually Beaman found himself in his father’s line of work. He started with the shuttle program and took over its booster team. Then Beaman helped establish the structure of NASA’s SLS team, painfully aware of the failures that the shuttle had endured—not just the technical ones but the organizational ones too. 

He considers NASA’s current safety approach to be less susceptible to human error: a strategy based on taking the extra time to make sure every nagging concern is resolved. “If it means making a few hard decisions, and waiting a few more days, and getting a little more data, we’re gonna do that,” he told me. 

NASA scrubbed Artemis I’s first launch attempt in August 2022—attended by VIPs including Vice President Kamala Harris—amid concerns over weather, a misbehaving temperature sensor, and a hydrogen fuel leak. The following month another attempt was called off because of more leaking. Next came Hurricane Ian, and then in November, Hurricane Nicole, which buffeted the rocket on the launchpad with hundred-mile-an-hour gusts. Then another leak appeared, hours before its scheduled November 16 launch. With the rocket almost fully fueled—and dangerous to approach—NASA sent a “red crew” out to hand-tighten nuts on a valve. “The rocket, it’s alive. It’s creaking. It’s making venting noises. It’s pretty scary,” said Trenton Annis, who helped make the repair.

There’s nothing inevitable about us venturing beyond Earth’s atmosphere, let alone going to the moon.

Finally, after meeting the 489 criteria necessary for launch, Artemis I was on its way. On November 28, Orion flew beyond the moon to more than 268,500 miles away—nearly 20,000 miles farther than any other “human rated” round-trip mission—and then on December 11 plunked into the ocean off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. “This is what mission success looks like,” a relieved Mike Sarafin, Artemis I’s mission manager, said after splashdown.

Artemis II is a go, a 10-day sojourn around the moon that will come within 6,500 miles of the lunar surface. Koch, who watched alongside me as Artemis I launched, received the historic assignment in March. Agency officials had tried to surprise her and her NASA crewmates with a clandestine in-person meeting. Two of them ran late; the third dialed in while coming from a doctor’s appointment. Mild embarrassment soon gave way to elation. 

Koch, an electrical engineer and one of Artemis II’s mission specialists, has spent her career chasing the allure of the remote, from working at a South Pole research station to helping build a science instrument that’s aboard Juno, a spacecraft now orbiting Jupiter. Three military pilots will be joining her: NASA’s Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen.

Wiseman, Artemis II’s commander, served as NASA’s chief astronaut—who chooses crews but can’t join them—until two days before Artemis I launched. He regained his flight eligibility just in time. Glover, Artemis II’s pilot, was the second-in-command on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the ISS, during which he spent 168 days in orbit. Hansen, Koch’s fellow mission specialist, was the first Canadian to supervise the training of a NASA astronaut class. Artemis II will be his first spaceflight.

Last October, NASA’s space exploration vehicle, a concept rover that can house two people for two weeks, traversed the Arizona desert for tests conducted with Japan’s space agency, JAXA, which may provide similar vehicles to future Artemis crews. Long term, NASA envisions using pressurized rovers to transport astronauts across the lunar surface. One day, such vehicles may even roll across the surface of Mars.

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Glover will be the first Black astronaut to venture beyond low Earth orbit. Koch and Hansen will be the first woman and non-U.S. citizen, respectively, to do the same. 

Preparations for the mission are well under way. The SLS core stage for Artemis II is nearly ready for its barge ride to Florida. In a bright room in Kennedy Space Center, technicians in white “bunny suits” have been testing and assembling the mission’s Orion spacecraft, with the Artemis III Orion taking shape nearby. A team led by astronaut Stan Love has been training to serve as Artemis II’s capcoms, the main points of contact between the crew and Mission Control, ready to relay technical directions or detect the quaver in an exhausted astronaut’s voice.

Then, as soon as November 2024, NASA plans to start launching pieces of a small space station called Gateway into orbit around the moon. The space station will act as a staging ground for weeks-long missions to a lunar outpost with habitats, power stations, landing pads, and pressurized rovers—all of which are still in the concept stage.

This immense infrastructure would be too much for the United States to build alone. So Artemis is teaming up with foreign partners. For more than 22 years, the ISS has orbited 250 miles above our heads with humans on board, thanks to collaboration among the U.S., Russia, Canada, Europe, and Japan. This union has spread the station’s costs around and made canceling the program diplomatically difficult. NASA has drawn on those lessons for Artemis: The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Orion’s service module, which contains the spacecraft’s solar arrays and main engine. That cooperation also extends to Gateway, which NASA is building with ESA and the space agencies of Canada and Japan. 

And NASA is courting private companies to act as moon couriers, in hopes of becoming one of many customers in a lunar economy. A flotilla of privately owned robotic landers will transport science instruments and an ice-hunting rover to the moon. At its base in Texas, SpaceX is developing Starship, a reusable rocket even more powerful than SLS. The Artemis III astronauts who land on the moon will leave Earth in an Orion launched by SLS, but then they’ll transfer to a version of Starship’s upper stage to make their lunar descent.

Whether this vision will really yield a sustained human presence on the moon, let alone Mars-bound astronauts, is an open question. Artemis is still in its early days. Starship’s first full test flight exploded minutes into launch in April. There’s also public support to consider. Since 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, multiple polls have found that less than a quarter of Americans thought that sending people to the moon should be a top NASA priority. Even during Apollo’s days, human spaceflight attracted criticism for spending billions that could address earthbound concerns. Now we’re returning to the moon at a time of climate and biodiversity crises, rising political extremism, glaring racial inequalities, and war between Russia and Ukraine. 

Against this grim backdrop, NASA astronauts are acutely aware that they’re not just public figures but also inspirational symbols: of exploration, of science, of the national spirit. Koch has wrestled with how to handle these expectations. For 328 days, she lived and worked aboard the ISS, setting a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Her impulse was to downplay the milestone. Then a former colleague reminded her that her achievement might give people a sense of greater possibilities. 

There’s nothing inevitable about us venturing beyond Earth’s atmosphere, let alone going to the moon. In microgravity our blood breaks down. Our bones get brittle. Our eyesight worsens. Without constant vigilance, we can perish in an instant. Overcoming our biological limits, hundreds of thousands of people have dreamed, planned, and built for decades to make the journey outward not only possible but routine. If Artemis’s vision is realized, that could extend all the way to the moon—and maybe even farther. As Koch sees it, these launches are hard-won victories, with setback after setback giving way to one of the purest of human emotions: joy at surpassing our limits.

“How awesome it is that as a species, as humanity, we are undertaking this right now—that we have decided that it’s that important,” Koch said. “It’s because we love exploration. It’s because we believe in the power of learning.” 

Michael Greshko, a former staff science writer, gave readers a tour of a well-preserved dinosaur fossil in the August 2023 issue. 

This story appears in the October 2023 issue of National Geographic magazine.

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brewers shortstop Willy Adames has been hospitalized after he was hit in the dugout by a foul ball from teammate Brian Anderson during Milwaukee’s game against the San Francisco Giants Friday night.

Anderson batted at the end of the second inning when he hit a line drive that hit Adames. Video appeared to show Adames was hit in the head or face. Brewers manager Craig Counsell said after his team’s 15-1 defeat that the tests had revealed no breaks.

“He was alert and responsive when he left, and then we got some pretty good news at the hospital, too,” Counsell said. “Obviously he’s in pain. But I think overall it’s not bad news considering how scary it was.”

Counsell said Adames will remain in hospital overnight “for surveillance purposes only” and will be placed on the injured list.

“I expect he’ll be released tomorrow morning,” Counsell said. “It’s going to be a concussion. It will be an IL.”

The game was suspended for a few minutes to allow Milwaukee’s coaching staff to attend to Adames, who was on the bench. Anderson’s concern was evident on his face as he waited near the batter’s box.

“Initially I thought it hit the padded pad based on the sound,” said Brewers infielder Mike Brosseau, who was on deck at the time. “The way they reacted to that scares you and after they sat on the bench for a few seconds I realized it was a bit more serious. I heard it more than I saw it.

“The chance is one in a million,” Brosseau added. “It’s just scary. I don’t know how hard BA hit the ball, but I do know he came across as hot. To make such a direct contact, yeah, that’s really bad to watch.”

The situation seemed to affect the Brewers emotionally for the rest of the night.

After Brice Turang replaced Adames at shortstop, Milwaukee committed two errors and allowed seven runs early in the third inning as the Giants opened the game. Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta, who is close friends with Adames, gave up ten runs, the best of his career.

“It’s hard to see someone you love enjoying the moment,” Peralta said.

Adames has been one of the Brewers’ emotional leaders and most popular players since they acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays in May 2021. He was named the team’s Most Valuable Player by the Milwaukee Division of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for the last two seasons.

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Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed, or redistributed without permission.

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Mark SchlabachESPN Lead WriterMay 19, 2023 9:30 PM ET9 minute read

Rory gets his first birdie of the day with a long putt

Rory McIlroy sinks the long putt on the ninth hole for his first birdie of the day at the PGA Championship.

ROCHESTER, NY – At last year’s PGA Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Michael Block finally found he belonged in the field.

Block played a few holes behind a large group that included Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas at Southern Hills Country Club and scored a 3-over-73 in the second round in front of hundreds of fans.

“Every hole I played was ten holes,” Block said. “I shot 73 with everyone there. My [general manager] even said, “That’s because you’re not a club professional anymore.” So it was a big moment for me. I’ve been making a living from it ever since.

Block, 46, is still a club pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, a daily fee golf course in Mission Viejo, California. But Block proved in the first two rounds of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club that he’s also a great player.

While some of the best players in the world including Tom Kim, Cameron Young, Sungjae Im and Sam Burns are heading home after missing the cut, Block remains to play the final two rounds this weekend. He sits in 10th place on even par, having dealt 70 cards each in the first two rounds.

Reigning PGA of America Pro Player of the Year Michael Block is hoping to become the first PGA club pro to make the top 10 in 40 years. Getty Images

According to a study by ESPN Stats & Information, Block is only the second club pro to make the top 20 in the PGA Championship after playing 36 holes in the past 20 years.

“I feel extremely comfortable,” said Block. “A couple of my friends in Orange County, to be honest [California] are Beau Hossler and Patrick Cantlay. I’ve played a lot of golf with them now [and] They have become my friends. I understand where they stand in the world. I understand my game isn’t quite up to par with them, but I’m pretty damn close and I can keep up with them.”

On Friday, Block was pretty close to securing at least part of the lead. He made three of his first five holes and also #1, his tenth hole of the round, with a birdie to move to 3 under, just one shot behind the leaders. But then he had a bogey on the #4 and a very improper swing on the par 3 fifth. He made his tee shot and landed a double bogey 5.

“I don’t know,” Block said. “I had the same momentum as I had all week. It was a nice little 8 iron, front left pin. I love hitting the baby draw with my 8 iron. I’ve been doing well all week, overall. Suddenly we were all there, doing that, and we look up and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ The ball went straight up, kind of hit the tree, almost killed someone, and then he went off and landed in the deep rough. I was actually lucky enough to do a double bogey afterwards.”

Block has had an impressive career in smaller circles. He is the current PGA of America Professional Player of the Year. He placed second at the 2023 PGA Professional Championship, which earned him a spot at Oak Hill field. In 2019 he set a course record in Arroyo Trabuco at 59. On April 17, he won the Stroke Play Classic at his home court, taking home $1,600. He raised an additional $500 for second place in the Pro-Pro Scramble at the San Juan Hills Golf Club in California a week earlier.

Block says he rarely hits more than a bucket of balls a week. He spends most of his time teaching, for $125 for a 45 minute session and $500 for a 9 hour hour of play. Wherever Block finishes on Sunday, he can earn a nice payday.

It is his fifth appearance in the PGA Championship. He also played at the US Open in 2007 and 2018. He failed to make the cut in any of his previous starts in the majors. He had made four of 24 PGA Tour starts and made about $38,038.

Block’s form has been good this year. In January, he scored a 7-under 65 in the first round of American Express (he was fielding for the third time to win the PGA Section Championship in Southern California). The next week, Block beat both tour pros he was paired with in the first two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open (he reached 74-73).

“I’ve gained that confidence from placings in the rounds where I’m like, ‘Why not?'” Block said. “Why don’t you come here and compete? Why not break through here at Oak Hill? To be honest, I’m not afraid of them anymore.”

The best result by a PGA club professional to make it to the PGA Professional Championship was an 11th-place tie between Lonnie Nielsen in 1986 and Tommy Aycock in 1974. Block may be the first in the last 40 years in the top 10.

“As strange as it may sound, I will be competing,” Block said. “I promise you that.”

As it says on his TaylorMade golf balls: why not?

foreign taste

Norway’s Viktor Hovland is tied at the top going into the third round with 5 under.Getty Images

The Americans have won each of the last seven PGA championships. The last non-American player to win it was Australian Jason Day in 2015. But after 36 holes, Oak Hill’s rankings have a distinctly foreign note.

Canadian Corey Conners and Norway’s Viktor Hovland are tied at the top with Scottie Scheffler at 5 under. England’s Callum Tarren is sixth with 2 unders and his compatriot Justin Rose is eighth with 1 unders. The Austrian Sepp Straka is in 10th place with the same odds.

No player in England has won the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes, who won the first two tournaments in 1916 and 1919.

“I think in the past I’ve usually won on more difficult golf courses, so I think it fits my profile from that perspective,” Rose said. “Yes, that’s at the top. It feels a bit like a hybrid PGA-US Open sort of thing this week. I’m looking forward to the test, I think.”

How far is too far back?

Jon Rahm rallied all the strength to make the breakthrough, but it may be too late for him to make a real run. Getty Images

During the stroke-play era of the PGA Championship since 1958, 63 of the 65 eventual champions were in the top 20 ranked after 36 holes, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The exceptions were Collin Morikawa, who won 2020 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco (tied 25th place) and Padraig Harrington at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, 2008 (tied 26th place).

Each of the winners of the six major championships played at Oak Hill Country Club was in the top three after round two: Jason Dufner (first, 2013 PGA Championship), Shaun Micheel (tie first, 2003 PGA Championship), Curtis Strange (1st, US Open 1989), Jack Nicklaus (same runner-up, PGA Championship 1980), Lee Trevino (runner-up, US Open 1968) and Cary Middlecoff (same third, US Open 1956).

That could be bad news for some of the best players in the world including Adam Scott (tie 30th, 2 overs), Hideki Matsuyama (tie 35th, 3 overs), Max Homa (tie 35th, 3 overs) and Xander Schauffele (same 48th, 4 over), Cameron Smith (same 48th, 4 over), Jon Rahm (same 48th, 4 over), Tony Finau (same 59th, 5 over) and Justin Thomas (same 59th ., 4 over) 5 over).

“It was a blast again,” said Thomas, the defending champion. “It was a struggle. I just had a bad start.”

to be on the way home

Rickie Fowler was among the prominent names who missed the cut. Getty Images

Most of the big-name players in danger of missing the cut, including Thomas, Rahm and Jordan Spieth, rallied and moved across the finish line on Friday. There were a few notable exceptions including Rickie Fowler (over 6), Billy Horschel (over 6), Matt Fitzpatrick (over 6), Tom Kite (over 8), Jason Day (over 8), Cameron Young (over 9), Sungjae Im (over 13) and Sam Burns (over 14).

LIV Golf League star Talor Gooch finished the game with 10 overs and also missed the cut. He was ranked 63rd in the official golf world rankings this week. It took Gooch, a two-time LIV Golf League winner, a good week to finish in the top 60 by Monday or June 6 and qualify for the US Open.

Gooch secured a 2022 season-ending Tour Championship spot, which in the past would have been enough to put him in the US Open field. But the United States Golf Association changed the wording of that exception this year to include players who were both qualified and eligible for the Tour Championship. Gooch was ineligible to play after PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan suspended him for attending LIV golf events without a clearance. He doesn’t score points in LIV Golf League tournaments, so he’ll miss the field for next month’s US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.

Oh Canada

Corey Conners is hoping to become the second Canadian to win a major. Getty Images

The drive from Rochester to Toronto takes about three hours, so there were a lot of Canadian fans in the galleries this week. There has been plenty of reason to celebrate so far. Not only is Conners tied at the top, but Taylor Pendrith is 1-under in eighth and Adam Svensson is 11th on par. Adam Hadwin is in 35th place with 3 overs.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, only three Canadian players have made the top 10 in the PGA Championship: Graham DeLaet (tie seventh place, 2017), Mike Weir (three times), and Nick Welock (tie ninth place, 1936). Weir is the only Canadian to win a major at the 2003 Masters.

“It’s been a very special week so far,” said Conners. “I think since I’m so close to Canada, there are a lot of Canadian fans out here. They cheer me on It definitely feels good.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty exciting. Both Taylor and Adam are very close.” [Svensson]. It’s fun to be part of the group of Canadian golfers at the moment. I think whether it’s me or one of them or the others, someone makes noise every week. It’s fun to be a part of.

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HVAC maintenance tips heading into the fall season

Facility managers who take a proactive rather than a reactive HVAC maintenance approach heading into the fall heating season will benefit in the long run.

By Mike Miazga

The Labor Day time frame signals a changing of the guard on the calendar. Children typically are headed back to school, those summer hours at the office are a thing of the past, and that long holiday weekend likely involved one last late-summer outdoor gathering with family and friends.

Mark Orlovsky

That time of the year also signals a changing of the guard when it comes to HVAC equipment and preparing it for the fall season and the ensuing heating demand onslaught.

“After Labor Day typically is where we see a huge surge in the call center because people are starting to turn on the equipment and prepare for the fall,” says Mark Orlovsky, PE, service, warranty, and quality manager at Racine, Wisconsin- based Modine Mfg. Co. “You can tell the customers who have a really good preventive maintenance (PM) schedule vs. more of a reactive maintenance—almost an emergency maintenance mindset.”

Common Problems

Orlovsky hopes facility managers and building engineers have a PM schedule already in place looking at common pain points such as filters and belts. “The simple things,” he says. “A common thing we see in the fall after the equipment has not been operating over the summertime is you can wind up with dirt and bugs in the units—either it won’t light completely or not light at all. That solution is as simple as cleaning off a pilot assembly and burners. We also see a lot of pressure switch or pilot assembly replacement.”

Orlovsky says a PM strategy in a building depends on what’s going on in that space and the amount of equipment needed to maintain operations.

“Some equipment is used for more process-related applications,” he explains. “For instance, HVAC equipment in a greenhouse is pretty critical. You are at high risk if you lose a crop. A lot of greenhouses have redundant equipment, stock extra parts, and do PM checks. Some equipment might be less critical. If you have a factory with multiple unit heaters, it’s not the end of the world if you lose one. In that instance, they can do reactive maintenance rather than proactive.”

Eye On Energy Efficiency

With energy efficiency continuing to be an important topic in the HVAC realm, Orlovsky stresses the need for facility managers and building engineers to have that PM plan of attack firmly in place as buildings head into the fall heating season.

“A lot of times, people are spending money upfront to get an efficient piece of equipment, and when we get pictures of that piece of equipment, some simple things such as a filter change or cleaning out the coils could help them with efficiency,” he points out. “Over time, the performance degrades and the energy efficiency degrades because people have not kept up with that maintenance. Again, it could be as simple as brushing out the dirt that gets into the coil. Even an AC outdoor unit can get bugs, dirt, and cottonwood in there—all of that reduces the efficiency of the products.”

To that point, Orlovsky notes Modine sees more buildings and facilities trending toward the reactive side of maintenance as opposed to taking a more preventive and proactive approach.

“It’s probably related to not having a core maintenance group anymore because of reduced staffing in that maintenance area,” he says.

Orlovsky’s solution is as simple as having a pen and paper nearby.

“I’m really big on checklists,” he says. “Modine has a checklist it publishes. From an asset management standpoint, take a look at how critical a particular piece of equipment is to the application and that will dictate how much time you spend on maintenance. If it’s redundant, you spend less time. We would rate process-related heat at a lot higher risk than if there is redundant equipment. Even with reduced staffing, there are some really good software programs to help you manage preventive maintenance.”

And high atop that PM checklist, Orlovsky suggests, is simply turning on the unit. “Fire it off and let it go completely through its sequence of operations,” he says. “Verify that the connections are tight, the belts are tight, and the filters have been replaced. Many times, you can determine an issue based on where it stops in the sequence of operation, and that could be as simple as a control or switch or input into the control. Also, check the inlet gas pressure to the unit to make sure the right amount of heat is coming out. Control settings are very important in getting the longest length out of a piece of equipment.”

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Another topic that has risen in importance, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, is indoor air quality. Orlovsky says IAQ has to be front of mind when putting a fall PM action plan in place.

“The pandemic brought indoor air quality to the forefront of everybody’s thinking,” he says. “One strategy is to increase the efficiency of the filters, or we are seeing schools bringing in additional outside air to improve air quality. With that, it’s even more important to do that regular maintenance. The filters are doing their job collecting more of the particles, but they have to be changed more often.”

Looking ahead, Orlovsky sees a third leg to the maintenance stool being added—predictive.

“One of the things Modine is looking at in some of the larger rooftop units is that more predictive type of maintenance where by adding additional sensors it gives you a target window and allows for scheduling the replacement of critical parts prior to failure,” he explains . “With some of the simpler units, you have control boards with additional diagnostics to help ID problems through a trouble code, so if you are doing that fall maintenance, you can ID an issue and narrow things down rather than keep replacing parts until you find the problem.”

Orlovsky’s advice to facility and building maintenance stakeholders is simple: Go the preventive route in the fall rather than find yourself in a reactive situation when heat is badly needed in an emergency situation.

“If people spend time to do PM up front, they will reduce emergencies during the season and reduce or eliminate that downtime to repair and service equipment,” he says.

Miazga is a 30-year media/public relations veteran whose award-winning writing and editing career has spanned newspapers, sports magazines, a professional sports league. and business-to-business trade publications. This article was written on behalf of Ripley PR, a leading public relations agency serving the manufacturing, construction, franchising, and home services industries.

Click here for more facility management news related to HVAC.

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We asked our audience what you think of the new Giants’ safety protocols for entering a game and you didn’t hold back.

SACRAMENTO, California – The recently announced San Francisco Giants fans will be welcomed back to Oracle Park with evidence of a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination.

We asked you on Facebook how you felt about the policy change and you didn’t hold back with reasons as to why you weren’t going to be in a game.

The ABC10 team dug a little deeper into the top comments for more information on why the players aren’t ready to get involved with the home team at the stadium just yet.

INFORMING FANS ABOUT COVID-19 SECURITY PROTOCOLS

That type of comment was the most popular we received. As of Friday April 2, the Giants website states that they have “been approved to operate at up to 22% capacity with testing / vaccination requirements for entry” and that “information is subject to change”.

While we can’t verify that this information was not provided prior to the Thursday announcement, we can tell you that the Giants have been working to make the information available to fans since the announcement. The organization emailed updated information on ticket sales and COVID-19 security protocols to Visa cardholders on Friday April 2. The official website for the Giants now has a full breakdown of the security protocols and everything you need to know before visiting Oracle Park.

COVID-19 CHECK

While not everyone is currently eligible to receive the vaccine, anyone can get a free COVID-19 test.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, “COVID-19 tests are available free of charge at health centers and select pharmacies nationwide. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act ensures that COVID-19 tests are free for everyone in the US, including those who are not Additional testing sites may be available in your area. Contact your health care provider or state or local health department for more information. “

Dignity Health, the Giants’ health care provider, has also partnered with the Giants for access to rapid COVID-19 molecular tests (PCR) at certain emergency centers in Northern California.

THE COST OF THE TICKETS

We went through the Giants official ticketing website and picked a Saturday night home game to find out how expensive it would be for a group of four to attend.

The most expensive four-person tickets are $ 82 per ticket for patio-level promenade seating. After taxes and fees, the total is $ 392.50. However, cheaper tickets like those in the reservations area for the top view are available for $ 27 per ticket for a total of $ 129.50.

There are high ticket prices on third party websites where people want to make a profit. For the same game, we found one person selling Field Club tickets for $ 358 per ticket, which makes a grand total of $ 1,783.68 after taxes and fees for a group of four.

There are still affordable ways to see a live game if you are comfortable with the family.

GET REFUND

If you’re feeling like Kathie and don’t want to play a game at all this season but still have a coupon from last season, there are options to get your money back.

First, ticket holders must ensure that their account information for MySFTix is ​​updated. This can be done by going to your account, clicking Payment Info, editing, or adding a new payment method.

To request a refund, use the link in previous emails sent by the Giants organization on April 29th, June 12th or June 25th.

If you purchased tickets through a third party such as stubhub.com or seatgeek.com, you will need to contact that company to coordinate a credit.

Whether you want to stay home and watch from the comfort of your couch or head back to the ballpark, we know fans will still be cheering for the orange and black.

Would you go to a Giants game with their new COVID-19 precautions? Join the conversation on Facebook.

California Allow Large Indoor Gatherings Starting April 15th California will allow large indoor gatherings starting April 15th

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ABC7 News meteorologist Mike Nicco says the first storm is expected to arrive on Wednesday.

RELATED: How Meteorologists Calculate the ABC7 Storm Impact Scale

“It’s a 1 on the Storm Impact Scale with the highest rainfall in North Bay. It can only add up to a quarter of an inch,” Nicco said.

The rain on Wednesday is expected to arrive around 11 a.m.

Nicco says there will be some brief downpours by at least noon, and then as the storm moves across the Bay Area – it will fall apart and turn into scattered showers by 5 p.m.

“After that? It goes away completely,” Nicco explained.

A second storm is expected on Thursday and Friday.

“So have the umbrella ready,” said Nicco.

The wet weather can last until next week.

Nicco is also tracking a possible storm on Monday.

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