Comments on: Time lapse: the Space Shuttle orbits the Earth

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:15:37 +0000

Click on my name for another superb Space Shuttle video this one via Michael Interbartolo III’s Youtube channel – the final ascent highlights for STS-135 ‘Atlantis’ plus the last ever ‘Endeavour’ landing and more – fairly long video but well worth watching, IMHON.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:15:35 +0000

Beautiful video clip.

@9. Robert Gibson : Thanks for that info. – appreciated.

@14. Jeroen Versteeg : “Actually, the title should read “Space Shuttle orbits the WATER”

Yes, given it is two-thirds oceans to one third land, planet Earth really is a little misnamed isn’t it? Being particularly pedantic we could point out that it’s not just the Space Shuttle but also the International Space Station doing much of the orbiting here too.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:25:08 +0000

Really amazing; one of the best time lapse videos I’ve ever seen. Too short though!

By: icemith

icemith — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:29:54 +0000

Can anyone identify ANY feature that is flown over? Some bits are vaguely familiar, but I really just can’t put names to them. They just look odd. (Reminiscent of a half completed crossword, with an incorrect entry or two that don’t allow another clue to be answered properly).

I realise that some views are upside-down, or otherwise, compared to our “usual” orientation of maps with North at the top. The preponderance of cloud does not help either.

I thought I had a good handle on Our World map!

Ivan.

By: ASFalcon13

ASFalcon13 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:14:22 +0000

Actually Dr. Sid, gravity gradient would tend to turn the stack on end. The stabilization you see here is all due to the control moment gyros (CMGs).

I’ve actually seen this happen, by the way. I got to sit in Mission Control and observe during the STS-130 docking. Once the Shuttle and Station soft dock, both vehicles are set to free drift mode to reduce stress on the docking apparatus. If the docking rings are aligned, they immediately crank them in to hard dock. If the rings are sitting at an angle to each other though, they have to wait for the stack to settle out, and this is what happened during STS-130. They’re still in free drift mode while they’re waiting, and the stack is essentially a single-ended barbell, so gravity graident causes the whole stack to slowly turn Shuttle-end down. Once that happens, the rings should be pretty well aligned, so they crank the rings in to hard dock, then go back to active attitude control with the CMGs to get the stack pointed the right way again.

By: Jeroen Versteeg

Jeroen Versteeg — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:46:14 +0000

Actually, the title should read “Space Shuttle orbits the WATER”

By: Maxx

Maxx — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:11:15 +0000

The Shuttle is nice but it’s the blue ball under it that’s really wonderful!

By: Jean-francois Marchand

Jean-francois Marchand — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:23:53 +0000

This might be one of the most beautiful video ever.

By: After tracking every shuttle, antenna is shut down – msnbc.com | Tucson AZ News and Weather

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:49:06 +0000

[...] My Eyes: Waxing Nostalgic for NASASulphur Southwest Daily NewsSpaceflight Now -Tech2 -Discover Magazine (blog)all 130 news [...]

By: Wayne on the Plains

Wayne on the Plains — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:49:11 +0000

Typo alert:
I believe it’s customary to spell Flight with an F, unless there is a Space LIGHT Center I’m not aware of…

By: Robert Gibson

Robert Gibson — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:37:20 +0000

@Joel & Dr. Sid – the music is Prelude #1 in C major from the Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1, by J.S. Bach. It’s either played very fast or sped up to match the length of the video. My version of it runs 4:17.

By: Dr.Sid

Dr.Sid — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:30:01 +0000

As for the music, I think it’s a piano .. but I’m not an expert ..

By: Joel

Joel — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:22:45 +0000

Beautiful vid. What’s the music though? I’m sure I know it, and it’s driving me mad.

By: Dr.Sid

Dr.Sid — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:59:32 +0000

I know gravitational gradient has such stabilizing effect .. but I didn’t think it’s so strong. For example landing of the shuttle should affect speed of rotation quite dramatically. But on the video, the horizon is just fixed. Btw yes ! Drag could be another good reason to orient the whole station in one way.

By: Zzay

Zzay — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:57:29 +0000

I guess we will see a bunch of different ferries carying cargo every other month.
No one tried to replace the proton ships with the new designs.. Where are the russian space companies?

@ Dr Sid The ISS moves all the time, It has gyroscopes that controll it made by the US and when they aren’t working or a fast movement is necessary the ISS uses jets on the Russian segment. The solar panels heve to rotate so that they can maximize their electric output.

By: Trebuchet

Trebuchet — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:53:33 +0000

Lovely. And never to be seen again. It makes me sad, but we’ll move on.

@ Dr. Sid: I don’t think they have to actively control the station to maintain the orientation toward Earth. It’s within the gravitational field and will naturally stay in the same position. More or less!

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:33:09 +0000

It’s over so quick! But so cool too.

A lot of it seems like it’s over the ocean. Small wonder there, I suppose!

@1. Dr Sid,

The panals do rotate. I think they do follow the sun.
I read on the entry on Wiki that when in shadow, they are rotated in a manner to reduce drag.

By: Dr.Sid

Dr.Sid — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:51:22 +0000

What striked me is that the shuttle and ISS rotate to face the Earth all the time. End they do it with high precision. You can see the shuttle against horizon .. and the horizon does not move at all.
I guess this is useful for communication, but even then any antenna dish will have to track .. but what about the solar panels ? Do they rotate all the time to face the Sun ?

By: César

César — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:50:25 +0000

i’ll never get tired of these videos. thank you so much, phil!