Comments on: MESSENGER moves off

By: RocketScience

RocketScience — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:01:28 +0000

The Messenger spacecraft moves faster than Apollo because it speeds up incredibly as it approaches Earth (it is falling — all orbits are just falling) and Apollo is trying to speed up against gravity. The probe does slow down as it moves away too. As far as the gravity-assist speeding it up or slowing it down, that depends on approach angles and timing and all that.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 18:16:49 +0000

Makes you realize that we are just one tiny part of the world and that the solar system makes us feel super super super super super super small

By: prowler67

prowler67 — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 18:31:44 +0000

Kond of makes you realize how alone we are here on earth. I guess most people assume that the solar systen is much smaller. Great video, really makes you appreciate astronomy more.

By: Delance

Delance — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 01:53:20 +0000

From the point of view of Earth, Earth is the center of the universe. Take that Heliocentrism!

By: Ray Gray

Ray Gray — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 01:12:50 +0000

Like an earlier poster wrote about Messenger moving much faster than Apollo’s trip to the Moon and back to Earth over several days, It looks like the “myth” of the Greeks are turning into the Truth:

[start paste]Hermes (Mercury) became a messenger because his father Zeus sought to curb the thieving tendencies Hermes demonstrated. On the day of his birth, Hermes stole his brother Apollo’s cattle in order to create the first sacrifice to the Olympians.[end paste]

So, Apollo’s fire has been ripped off again… :*)

By: icemith

icemith — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:28:18 +0000

Tom, do you mean it’s the singer, and not the song? Aw gee.

Ivan.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 21:24:02 +0000

Nothing more awesome than a living Earth.

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 20:54:49 +0000

icesmith, In space, no one can hear you sing

By: icemith

icemith — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:30:17 +0000

Thomas, I’m glad space IS silent, because with those lyrics of the Star Trek show theme song (?), we’d all have to ‘Faith the Muthic’ otherwise!

But the ‘movie’ sure was great.

Ivan.

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:41:32 +0000

My lyrics are from the title song to the TV-show Firefly.

http://www.wavsite.com/sounds/70605/FireflyTheme.mp3

SFwriter’s lyrics are from the Star Trek Enterprise TV-show theme song.

By: Melusine

Melusine — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:24:43 +0000

I’m mystified as to why I haven’t seen that before. It’s very cool, and I’m happy to be a taxpayer during these moments. In fact, I could sit here and watch a longer and longer version all day.

Thanks, Phil, for posting that; it made my day yesterday. Congratulations to those who put it together. It should be evident that more $$ need to go to space imaging.

@ Thomas Siefert and SFwriter: Where are each of those lyrics from?

By: SFwriter

SFwriter — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:07:33 +0000

Wrong lyrics, Thomas Siefert… Try these:

It’s been a long road,
Getting from there to here.
It’s been a long time,
but my time is finally here.

And I can feel a change
in the wind right now.
Nothing’s in my way.
And they’re not gonna
hold me down no more.
No they’re not gonna hold me down.

‘Cause I’ve got faith of the heart.
I’m going where my heart
will take me.
I’ve got faith to believe.
I can do anything.
I’ve got strength of the soul.
And no one’s going to bend
or break me.
I can reach any star.
I’ve got faith,
I’ve got faith,
Faith of the heart.

It’s been a long night,
Trying to find my way.
Been thru the darkness,
Now I finally have my day.

And I will see my dream
come alive at last.
I will touch the sky.
And they’re not gonna hold
me down no more.
No they’re not gonna change
my mind.

I know the wind’s so cold,
I’ve seen the darkest days.
But now the winds I feel,
Are only winds of change.
I’ve been thru the fire,
And I’ve been thru the rain,
But I’ll be fine.

‘Cause I’ve got faith of the heart.
I’m going where my heart
will take me.
I’ve got faith to believe.
I can do anything.
I’ve got strength of the soul.
And no one’s going to bend
or break me.
I can reach any star.
‘Cause I’ve got faith,
‘Cause I’ve got faith,
Faith of the heart…

Faith of the heart.
I’m going where my heart
will take me.
I’ve got faith to believe.
And no one’s going to bend
or break me.
I can reach any star.
‘Cause I’ve got faith,
‘Cause I’ve got faith,
Faith of the heart…

By: CR

CR — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 06:08:24 +0000

Re: Sun’s reflection on the oceans… Yes, it’s there in other pics of Earth, but sometimes it takes animation to notice it. A lack of cloud cover helps, too.

By: Scott Panzer

Scott Panzer — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 03:19:50 +0000

Eighthman,

Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering why it was lit from the left, and about to post the question here.

By: CousinoMacul

CousinoMacul — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 02:48:49 +0000

BA,

I don’t care how long the video’s actually been around. Just like it’s said that most people rarely travel more than a few miles from their homes, I rarely travel more than a couple links from my Bookmarks. So it’s new to me! And I love it!

Maybe I’ll edit it to run backwards and a little slower. That way I can tell some of my more naive friends that it’s a movie of Neptune and see how quickly they figure out that they’ve been had.

By: The Bad Astronomer

The Bad Astronomer — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:28:29 +0000

Moonage, I hate to say this, but the animation has been around a while. I just finally got around to posting it.

By: Irishman

Irishman — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:05:45 +0000

Eighthman, you are correct that the Earth is going faster than MESSENGER, but you are incorrect that MESSENGER has to slow down. All data at this site indicates MESSENGER is speeding up. The Gravity Assist maneuvers are adding velocity to MESSENGER.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/mission_design.html

See for example the heading for Table 1.
“The spacecraft orbit shrinks as speed increases”
and look at the data in the table.

By: Moonage Spacedream

Moonage Spacedream — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 19:33:50 +0000

Messenger: The Motion Picture…

The main reason I love Bad Astronomy Blog is because he gets a hold of the coolest stuff way before it usually shows up anywhere else. For instance, this: This is the Messenger fly by of Earth on it’s way…

By: 2020 Hindsight » Beautiful Rotating Blue Marble

2020 Hindsight » Beautiful Rotating Blue Marble — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 17:42:58 +0000

[...] Courtesy of Bad Astronomy, a link to Messenger (a space mission to Mercury: MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) — since Mercury zips so fast around the sun, the spacecraft has to be bounced here and there around the inner solar system to pick up speed. And so it flew by Earth last August. Taking pictures. Which have been made into a must-see movie. [...]

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 17:31:36 +0000

Very cool clip. Just “wow!”

Isn’t our planet pretty?

By: Michelle Rochon

Michelle Rochon — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 17:29:08 +0000

That’s just awesome! You even see the Sun’s glare! It’s gorgeous.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 16:34:07 +0000

Wow! I really love seeing animations like that; they make the Earth seem so alive. Unlike a photo, which shows only a static, stationary planet, animations show a dynamic, changing world. I wonder if they’ll have similar animations of the other planets as they pass by.

I’ve never noticed the glowing reflection of the Sun (specular highlight?) off the water before; now I’ll be looking through other Earth images to see if it’s there.

By: The Supreme Canuck

The Supreme Canuck — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 15:34:01 +0000

Fwa! Now that’s just fun, BA. I also almost did the volume thing, but caught myself before I did it.

Eighthman:

It is correct to say that Messenger flew by Earth, or that Earth flew by Messenger. Or even that they both flew by each other. All are true. Don’t you love relativity?

By: Eighthman

Eighthman — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 15:15:34 +0000

Actually, Earth flew by Messenger — Earth was traveling faster. As noted in the earlier blog entry, Messenger has to slow down to get closer to the Sun. That’s why Earth in the movie is illuminated on the left side as it gets smaller. Your not viewing the planet as if you’re seeing it “through the back window,” but from the front.

By: Grand_Lunar

Grand_Lunar — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 14:44:01 +0000

Great movie. Similar to the one by Galileo on it’s way to Jupiter.

Messenger sure is moving. I had no idea one would have to move so fast to catch up with the Iron Planet (could there be a connection to the Iron Chef?).