STS129 – Go Atlantis !

Such a beautiful day for a launch, I hope you got to watch… If not, look for the replays. I continue to be impressed every time I see one. /;^)

STS129 Mission Patch

Ares I-X launches !!

First launch of the Ares Rocket

The stars and stripes on the American flag reflect NASA’s commitment to teamwork as the Constellation Program’s Ares I-X test rocket roars off Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket produces 2.96 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and reaches a speed of 100 mph in eight seconds. Liftoff of the 6-minute flight test was at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. This was the first launch from Kennedy’s pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program’s Saturn rockets were retired. The parts used to make the Ares I-X booster flew on 30 different shuttle missions ranging from STS-29 in 1989 to STS-106 in 2000. The data returned from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will be used to refine the design of future launch vehicles and bring NASA one step closer to reaching its exploration goals. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

ISS and Discovery in orbit

Tonight I managed to catch the International Space Station and the Discovery orbiter about 6 hours after they separated. I caught them in this two minute exposure with a Nikon D-40 as they drew a line in the sky from Texas to Michigan. It doesn’t take long at 17,500 miles per hour. You can’t tell from this time exposure photo, but Discovery was about 5 seconds ahead of ISS, and not nearly as bright. You may have gone outside to watch about 8:15 CDT… It is always very special to me to see them playing chase so far above. It seems so far away, but they are only about 200 miles above the surface of the earth.

ISS & Discovery leave streak across the sky.

You can use the excellent web site http://heavens-above.com for accurate predictions from your location. I have saved my Latitude and Longitude in my login profile, and I can quickly find details on overhead passes for ISS and/or any other visible satellite. The pass detail provides links to star charts and a ground track for reference. This sample illustrates the ground track for the pass in the picture above. The picture shows from about 8:15 to 8:17 CDT.

Sample image of ISS groundtrack

Heavens-Above also has a neat little program that shows me where the ISS is currently located, and I show that in the sidebar of this web site. The ISS should be visible again Wednesday and Thursday nights in the southeastern US.
Enjoy /;^)

Appreciating Hubble

Everyone now has heard about and seen many incredible images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Hubble ULTRA Deep Field

Not as many understand or have much grasp of what this device has taught us about our universe. I recently encountered this web page that has a very clear and concise explaination of how Hubble has changed our view. You owe it to yourself to follow that link and read that page. This is a very powerful new perspective, as the universe is much bigger and more populated than we thought. There is an embedded YouTube video at the bottom of the page that is well worth watching, and is a great piece to share with your friends that may want to appreciate Hubble, without having to become an astrophysicist. More amazing Hubble images can be found on this STSCI web site.
/;^)