Posts Tagged launches
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!
Revealing GRAIL
Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (LaunchPhotography.com)
The latest Moon mission (unmanned) launched on September 10th. Would love to have been there, but alas, many other things going on around then. Enjoy this beautiful time-lapse image by Ben Cooper of the rollback.
This dramatic time-lapse photo traces a 20 minute long, late evening rollback of the lighted Mobile Service Tower at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17. Twin spacecraft are snug inside the 13 story tall Delta 2 rocket poised for launch. The duo will journey to the Moon on NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission, GRAIL, using precision formation flying to map the Moon’s gravity field. The scene was captured prior to the first launch attempt, canceled due to upper level winds, on September 8. Further launch opportunities for GRAIL begin this morning, September 10. The GRAIL launch is the last one planned from Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral’s oldest still active pad, in use since 1957.
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…
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.
Atlantis Rolls
Posted by Danielle in News & Happenings, Picspam on June 24, 2011
Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography, launchphotography.com)
Two weeks from today (we hope!), space shuttle Atlantis will make her final climb into orbit, on the final space shuttle flight of the program. I, along with many, many others, will be there to see her off. I grew up with space shuttles, they defined my dreams for most of my life, and it seems fitting to be in Florida for the final sendoff. I’ll be at the Space View Park Tweetup event, please join us! (Registration is FREE.)
Three Months Later
It’s been three months since I witnessed the last liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup group. I’m still thinking about it, still processing in a way — how bright it was, the sounds, the vibrations, and the way the launch plume was swept away by the wind, until the only indicator that a launch had taken place was the absence of the shuttle on the pad. (Well… that, and the amazing amount of traffic we drove home in. Clearly a launch had taken place!)
I feel so fortunate, given STS-134′s experience with low cloud cover, that we could watch the shuttle until it disappeared over the horizon, sans SRBs. I feel so fortunate to have met such wonderful people during both trips, friendships which I hope last a lifetime. It’s repetitive, but it sums it up: I feel so fortunate to have seen this, and done this.
There’s only one launch left now — STS-135, shuttle Atlantis — and NASA is having one last launch tweetup. I strongly encourage anyone to register: go here, it opens at noon EDT on on June 1st.
Bon Voyage
Space shuttle Endeavour launched into cloudy skies yesterday morning — being on the West Coast (and absentminded), I missed the whole thing. Fortunately, NASA has pictures!
If you’re wondering what the launch looked like on the other side of those clouds, Stefanie Gordon (@Stefmara) has the answer for you (via Mashable):
Space shuttle as seen from airplane, photo by Stefanie Gordon (@Stefmara)
Hey! I know that guy!
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives, Picspam on April 5, 2011
It’s a funny feeling, following a spaceflight launch where you’ve seen one of the crew in person. Astronaut Ron Garan (@Astro_Ron) spoke at the first STS-133 Tweetup on November 1, 2010, and yesterday he launched into orbit as part of the Expedition 27 crew of the International Space Station. He sure looks happy to go! (He’s in the middle, in the above photo.)
Expedition 27 crew members from top, Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan, and Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev wave farewell from the bottom of the Soyuz rocket prior to their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, April 5, 2011.
The Soyuz, which has been dubbed “Gagarin,” is launching one week shy of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Yuri Gagarin from the same launch pad in Baikonur on April 12, 1961, to become the first human to fly in space.
Hey @Astro_Ron! There’s someone special waiting for you on the ISS, ready to serve your every need – a sleek, attractive feat of modern technology:
……..whoops! Wrong picture. Here you go:
Don't you like me?
Enjoy!
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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!
This is a blog, NOT A SHOP. Click the images for their source or purchase link, if available.
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