Posts Tagged imagine this

Phenomenal rocket power

STS-124 launch on May 31

STS-124 launched on May 31, and pictures of the launch are available here. A space shuttle launch is an amazing thing to behold, even through still photography. The sheer power, the billowing clouds of steam erupting from flame trenches on each side of the launch structure… if that doesn’t inspire awe, frankly I don’t know what will.

Once in a while, though, all that flame and steam and power gets a little more powerful than we expect. After the launch, Kennedy Space Center reported seeing debris flying away during liftoff. It was hard to tell at the time whether the debris came from the launch pad or the shuttle. Turns out it was the pad:

Damaged flame trench; STS-124 launch on May 31

“Wow” was the first thing out of my mouth, followed by the relieved thought, “phew, at least it wasn’t the shuttle.” From the above photo, you can’t really tell how large or extensive the damage is. It looks damaged, don’t get me wrong, but to give an idea of just how much power is coming out the back end of the space shuttle during launch, here’s a sampling of debris photos taken later on: Read the rest of this entry »

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What is this?

Space collage

I have no idea where I found this space collage image (download date of early February 2007), what the little cards are, where they came from or their age. The artwork is beautiful! I’d love to know more about them — anyone know? Click the image for the larger, original version.

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Naturally-occurring shuttle?

Shuttle-shaped crystal

This is a bit of a stretch, I admit. If my readership drops over this post, I will consider myself duly punished….

A rather strange Etsy find, this crystal really does (to me) look a bit like a space shuttle. Even in nature, spacey things can be found?

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