Posts Tagged atlantis
All Lit Up
Photograph © collectSPACE/Robert Z. Pearlman
Check out this fantastic photo gallery of space shuttle Atlantis during one of her final powered-up moments. I look at her, and all I can think is that she’s been nerfed. It’s sad.
Shuttle Plume Pierces the Moon
Image Credit: Pat McCracken, NASA
This photo is fantastic, but you already knew that because now you’ve seen it. The subject says it all!
Why would the shadow of a space shuttle launch plume point toward the Moon? In early 2001 during a launch of Atlantis, the Sun, Earth, Moon, and rocket were all properly aligned for this photogenic coincidence. First, for the space shuttle’s plume to cast a long shadow, the time of day must be either near sunrise or sunset. Only then will the shadow be its longest and extend all the way to the horizon. Finally, during a Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the sky. Just after sunset, for example, the Sun is slightly below the horizon, and, in the other direction, the Moon is slightly above the horizon. Therefore, as Atlantis blasted off, just after sunset, its shadow projected away from the Sun toward the opposite horizon, where the Full Moon just happened to be.
Four Months Later
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives, Picspam on November 8, 2011
Four months ago I was with a group of #BetaHouse friends at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, watching the final launch of the space program. (As I recall, it was considerably warmer than it is today. Brr.) It’s still hard to believe that it’s over (the launch, the Space Shuttle Program) in general, let alone that it’s been four months! Good times, great memories, and one final light show from Atlantis on her way to orbit. Happy launch-iversary!
Shuttles
Posted by Danielle in Art & Architecture, Perspectives on August 26, 2011
I mentioned on Twitter last week that I noticed the other day, all of the space shuttles I drew in high school happened to be either Discovery or Atlantis, the two launches I saw in person. (Strange coinkydink, dontcha think?) @deliciousblur asked me to post them, so here they are (belatedly.) I have a much larger Atlantis in a frame which I may scan in future (if it’s easy to remove and put back, that is. Pen and ink pointillism is sorta my thing, by the by. Hope you like them!
Final Fire
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives, Picspam on August 9, 2011
A month and a day ago, I watched space shuttle Atlantis leave Earth for the final time (not as close up as the above photo suggests, but nearby.) It’s hard to believe it’s been a month already, and hard to believe there’s no more space shuttle launches. The next time I see any of the three orbiters, it will be significantly closer up, but in a museum.
I love standing underneath (or near) a Saturn V rocket. It gives me a pang of regret that I never witnessed a launch, but also gives me a thrill. I imagine what it must have been like to see one of those babies take off. The Space Shuttle, I have seen take off. To stand under an orbiter and look up will pang me much more, in a different way…
Slow Pan
As far as shuttle photos go, I do believe this is a centerfold. Gaze at it longingly. Are you still upset by the end of the Space Shuttle Program? Good, me too. We can be sad together.
And yes, I did forget to post today. Better late than never, right?
ISS028-E-174501(19 July 2011) — This picture of the space shuttle Atlantis was photographed from the International Space Station as the orbiting complex and the shuttle performed their relative separation in the early hours of July 19, 2011. The Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, which transported tons of supplies to the complex, can be seen in the cargo bay. It is filled with different materials from the station for return to Earth. Onboard the station were Russian cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko, commander; Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev, both flight engineers; Japan Aerospace Exploration astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and NASA astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan, all flight engineers. Onboard the shuttle were NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; and Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists.
The End
Posted by Danielle in News & Happenings, Picspam on July 21, 2011
Well… this is it. Get your fill of landing (and launch!) photos here. The landing was beautiful… and sad, very sad. The thing with perhaps the most sustained influence on my life, is over today.
Goodbye, Space Shuttle, and thank you.
Reflecting
Hard to believe it’s been nearly a week since I watched space shuttle Atlantis lift off on its final mission! This picture was taken the night before the launch, and it’s just gorgeous. (It also illustrates the massive amounts of rain the Space Coast received that day; it’s amazing Atlantis lifted off on-time, given the 30% chance of favorable weather conditions.)
Space shuttle orbiter Atlantis left planet Earth on Friday, July 8, embarking on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. The momentous launch was the final one in NASA’s 30 year space shuttle program that began with the launch of the first reusable spacecraft on April 12, 1981. In this reflective prelaunch image from July 7, Atlantis stands in a familiar spot on the Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A, after an early evening roll back of the pad’s Rotating Service Structure. The historic orbital voyages of Atlantis have included a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, deployment of Magellan, Galileo, and the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory, and seven trips to the Russian space station Mir. Scheduled to dock once again with the International Space Station on Sunday, Atlantis has now made its 33rd and final trip to orbit.
The Grand Finale
I had the privilege of witnessing the last shuttle launch this morning – there really are no words, except to say that it was wonderful, and I saw it in the company of great friends.
Building Atlantis
Credit: Boeing
I found these historic photos of Atlantis’ construction courtesy of this gallery @ Space.com. Here are a few of my favorites. Above: “The space shuttle Atlantis gets its name at Rockwell’s Palmdale plant in this image from March 15, 1985.”
Credit: Boeing
Below: “Shuttle Atlantis’ crew module is transported to Rockwell’s vacuum chamber test cell, at the Downey facility on March 31, 1983.”
Credit: Boeing
And finally, some Presidential business takes place at the business end of Atlantis: “President Reagan stands in front of Atlantis’ aft fuselage at Rockwell’s Downey facility in this photo from May 25, 1982.”
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About Silver Rockets
This blog celebrates space exploration, human spaceflight and the heavens, through lots and lots ofimages.
My name is Danielle Signor, and I am a space cadet. STS-133 NASA Tweetup Attendee!
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