Posts Tagged shuttle
White Ship, White Sands
Saw this image on Twitter yesterday: STS-3 Columbia landing at White Sands, New Mexico. Very cool picture! Not sure where the original image came from, but I’m sure it’s buried in the NASA media archives somewhere….
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!
1972 Shuttle
A beautiful concept of the Space Shuttle from 1972, courtesy of x-ray delta one. It’s interesting to see how the external tank evolved — here it looks like a larger SRB, with a penthouse (or whatever other purpose that little top spike is supposed to serve.) The orbiter itself has a bit of a streamliner/Art Deco look to it.
The Enterprise and her crew
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives, Picspam on September 23, 2011
35 years ago, on September 17, NASA unveiled the space shuttle Enterprise to the delight of her TV crew. (Why Bones, you look so STYLIN’ in those gold bell-bottom slacks!)
In 1976, NASA’s space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities and was greeted by NASA officials and cast members from the ‘Star Trek’ television series. From left to right they are: NASA Administrator Dr. James D. Fletcher; DeForest Kelley, who portrayed Dr. “Bones” McCoy on the series; George Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series creator Gene Rodenberry; an unnamed NASA official; and, Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).
CREDIT: NASA
SPACE.com has a nice article about the Enterprise, a prototype and test vehicle that never felt the chill of space, but paved the way for the rest of the fleet!
The space shuttle prototype Enterprise flies free after being released from NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft over Rogers Dry Lakebed during the second of five free flights carried out at the Dryden Flight Research Center, in Edwards, Calif., as part of the shuttle program’s Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). The tests were conducted to verify aerodynamics and handling characteristics in preparation for orbital flights with the Space Shuttle Columbia, which began in April 1981.
CREDIT: NASA
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.
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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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