I’m working on a short post about the eclipse last night, and trying to decide what pictures to use, when NASA puts up this fantastic shot of the Orbiter Discovery sitting on the launch pad, with the eclipse in the background:
Wow. Click to enumbranate, and they have wallpaper at that link as well. I wanted y’all to see this as soon as possible; I’ll have more eclipse stuff up soon.
Discovery is rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to undergo further tests and get patched up for launch, which was delayed due to problems with the external tank. NASA just announced the earliest possible launch date for her last flight as February 3, 2011.
December 21st, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Stunning! Watching the moon rise in full eclipse last night was magical (I’m in southeast Queensland, Australia).
December 21st, 2010 at 1:27 pm
How many of these delays are just NASA not wanting to end the shuttle program?
I’m torn about ending the program since it’s continued to generate interest in the space program as a whole, but I certainly understand that low earth orbit is not where we need to focus long-term. I think I’m just going to be saddened to see the end to such a successful and inspiring program with no clear successor.
And a beautiful shot, Phil – thanks for sharing it with us! That’s about as late as I could stay up as well.
December 21st, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Obviously faked. No stars.
December 21st, 2010 at 1:43 pm
The shuttle is being eclipsed. Return of astronauts to the moon is a darkened picture.
NASA is saying a lot unintentionally with that image.
December 21st, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Last night I wondered about the people working on the shuttle retraction. I wondered if, after it was postponed, they had a chance to watch the eclipse near the orbiter. Guess that answers my question! Thanks for pointing out this photo.
December 21st, 2010 at 2:16 pm
perhaps, but what to we have when the eclipse is over? A brilliant full moon on display to serve as a beacon on this the longest night of the year.
Never you mind what other connotations “full moon” has
December 21st, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Beautiful. Is that a bicycle strapped to the nose?
John
December 21st, 2010 at 4:26 pm
It looks like the shuttle is carrying a bicycle on top – has it become an RV?
December 21st, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Not a bicycle, but related – it’s a braided cable used to secure the orbiter to the gantry so that nobody can steal it.
Well, either that, or weather covers for the RCS thrusters.
December 22nd, 2010 at 9:29 am
“Cut here for emergency rescue”
Do they need to cut the sloppily applied poster from the outside with a pen knife before they open the escape hatch? Is it made of super-strong space grade NASA paper?
December 22nd, 2010 at 10:57 am
Is it possible to have a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse within the same 24 hour period?
December 22nd, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Great image, Phil. It brings to mind a laser print I used to have of the Challenger (I think it was Challenger!) on the pad, with a full moon in the background. That in turn, brought back memories of a very, very old movie: Destination Moon (1950). There was a beautiful shot of the spacecraft on the pad at White Sands, with a full moon. That movie was one of the things that stirred my interest in space. And yeah, I realize that’s showing my age!
That image came to mind again, back in the 90′s, when I got a chance to attend the adult Space Camp at Huntsville, AL with some friends. There’s a ‘rocket park’ at Huntsville with rockets from various eras of the US space program, including a Saturn I. One evening, I was walking back to the dormitory; when I passed the rocket park, there was a nearly full moon. So, I got to see the Saturn I rocket , lit by floodlights, with a moon in the background.
December 22nd, 2010 at 1:15 pm
If you look at the full-size picture the space shuttle looks really crappy. I have respect for the brave people using it to get to space.
December 22nd, 2010 at 5:15 pm
> Is it possible to have a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse within the same 24 hour period?
Solar happens at a new moon, lunar at a full moon, so… no.
December 23rd, 2010 at 4:15 pm
The “bicycle” is the interconnected covers over the RCS thrusters on the nose. There are Tyvek covers that keep the rain out while it’s on the pad. They fall off automatically a couple of seconds after launch. I’m not sure if the cables connecting them are removed before launch or if they pull off with the covers.
The poster isn’t at the hatch. In case the shuttle crash-lands (such as the landing gear doesn’t deploy or collapses or they go off the end of the runway), and the hatch is too badly damaged to open properly, the poster is there to let rescuers know the right place to cut through the hull to get to the cabin. They won’t cut into anything toxic (hydrazine tanks) or dangerous (electrical or hydraulic lines or high-pressure tanks) or useless (a wheel well or the cargo bay or someplace the crew can’t get to from the inside), if they cut where labeled. Also, the crew knows where the hole would come out on the inside, and can stay out of the way of the saw.
The hatch is on the other side of the shuttle. Most aircraft, especially commercial aircraft, have markings like that, for the same reasons.
December 23rd, 2010 at 9:55 pm
@ ^ Buzz Parsec – thanks for that info.
@ 4. Gary :
Yeah, I definitely get a poignant, bittersweet vibe from it too. There always had to be a very last shuttle flight eventually I guess; but I really hate the fact that there’s no better more capable successor spaceplane replacing it. (Yet.)
@13. Johan Stuyts : I also have a huge amount of respect for the Shuttle astronauts but I would disagree with your description of the Shuttle. I consider it a modern world wonder of engineering technology and one of the most awesome machines we’ve ever build – albeit it didn’t quite live up to expectations and is now aged and starting to fade into the past.
December 23rd, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Incidentally check out this :
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1281242597482
my personal all-time favourite video of a Shuttle launch via Michael Interbartolo III & on facebook. I could watch that clip a hundred times and never tire of it – in fact, I probably already have.
Sheer. Awesome. Spectacle.
Plus note too the news item here :
http://dvice.com/archives/2010/12/mini-space-shut.php#more
on a mini-shuttle plan and whatever did happen to Plan B featured here? :
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/07/03/nasas-plan-b/
Or, for that matter, some of the *other* alternatives such as Shuttle-C & DIRECT that were proposed but never flew? I really wish NASA had pushed these & other such ideas harder. Sigh.
December 26th, 2010 at 2:48 am
[...] hij maakte er een prachtige tekening van. Heel artistiek hoor. Bron: voor de Discovery-foto is dat Bad Astronomy en voor de tekening is dat Universe Today. Gerelateerde Astroblog:De maansverduistering van [...]