Showing posts tagged space

unknownskywalker:

Vesta Full Rotation

In this movie, strung together from a series of images provided by the framing camera on NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, we see a full rotation of Vesta, which occurs over the course of roughly five hours.

(Source: jpl.nasa.gov)

(Reblogged from feedergoldfish)
#USSR #Russia #moon Lunokhod 2 I believe this is a picture of Lunokhod 2 (‘Moon Walker’) replica - a record-setting rover used in the Soviet space program in 1973. It is shown on display in the Space Pavilion at Moscow’s Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (I’m using the old Soviet name for this exhibition park). While the first Lunokhod looked mainly at dirt. Its success resulted in Lunokhod 2 being fitted with all sorts of electro-magnetic radiation and magnetic field measuring devices; long distance laser ranging equipment; and TV and panoramic photographic equipment. During the two-week lunar nights it hibernated … kept warm by a Polonium-210 radioactive heating unit. Between January 15 and mid-May 1973, it covered a record distance of 23 miles - about the distance from the World Trade Center to Great Neck, Long Island - but not in heavy traffic. photo from: Museums In and Around Moscow; I Baikova; 1983; Raduga. View high resolution

#USSR #Russia #moon

Lunokhod 2

I believe this is a picture of Lunokhod 2 (‘Moon Walker’) replica - a record-setting rover used in the Soviet space program in 1973. It is shown on display in the Space Pavilion at Moscow’s Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (I’m using the old Soviet name for this exhibition park).

While the first Lunokhod looked mainly at dirt. Its success resulted in Lunokhod 2 being fitted with all sorts of electro-magnetic radiation and magnetic field measuring devices; long distance laser ranging equipment; and TV and panoramic photographic equipment.

During the two-week lunar nights it hibernated … kept warm by a Polonium-210 radioactive heating unit.

Between January 15 and mid-May 1973, it covered a record distance of 23 miles - about the distance from the World Trade Center to Great Neck, Long Island - but not in heavy traffic.

photo from: Museums In and Around Moscow; I Baikova; 1983; Raduga.

Yuri Gagarin’s Flight - 12 April 1961 (Moscow time) 0907hr Multi-stage rocket lifts-off at Baikonur cosmodrome. 0951 Automatic orientation system switched on. After emerging from Earth’s shadow, solar sensor locks on the Sun and orientates Vostok 1 to it. 0952 Vostok 1 passes over Cape Horn, moving north-east. Gagarin radios he is well and equipment working normally. 1015 Automatic programming unit commands sequence for switching on retro-rocket; Vostok 1 approaching Africa. 1025 Retro-rocket fired to begin descent trajectory. 1035 Vostok 1 re-entry capsule - now separate from instrument/retro-rocket module - enters dense layers of Earth’s atmosphere. 1055 Capsule lands in predetermined area. from Manned Spacecraft; Gatland; 1967; London View high resolution

Yuri Gagarin’s Flight - 12 April 1961

(Moscow time)

0907hr Multi-stage rocket lifts-off at Baikonur cosmodrome.

0951 Automatic orientation system switched on. After emerging from Earth’s shadow, solar sensor locks on the Sun and orientates Vostok 1 to it.

0952 Vostok 1 passes over Cape Horn, moving north-east. Gagarin radios he is well and equipment working normally.

1015 Automatic programming unit commands sequence for switching on retro-rocket; Vostok 1 approaching Africa.

1025 Retro-rocket fired to begin descent trajectory.

1035 Vostok 1 re-entry capsule - now separate from instrument/retro-rocket module - enters dense layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

1055 Capsule lands in predetermined area.

from Manned Spacecraft; Gatland; 1967; London

Diagram: Earth and Planetary Motion (as documented on Earth and drawn looking down at the top of Earth) Last summer they were selling off this little book cheap at an Ottawa museum and I finally got to it a couple of months ago: Uncentering the Earth - Copernicus and The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres; 2006: William T. Vollman (Not an astronomer) Ptolemy lived in Egypt, under Roman rule and wrote in Greek. His life span was 90-168 CE. In 1543 CE when Copernicus published his book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres it presented a new model to replace Ptolemy’s old understanding of planetary motion shown above. For about 1500 years, people in astrology-astronomy had polished their advanced math skills, star catalogues, and had extensive experience tracking all the heavenly bodies … But until Copernicus came along … the Earth was still at the centre of the solar system and the universe. They had their reasons: some philosophical and logical, some based on religious texts … Check this yourself: obviously we’re NOT moving and the sun IS: the sun rises, the sun sets - every day. So without the benefit of telescopes and Newtonian physics (from Isaac Newton 1643-1727) people accepted that the sun went around the Earth. And they accepted that those wacky planets (unlike the ‘fixed’ stars) changed direction in the sky and did these little ‘epicycles’. They even had metal planetary models with built in sub-loops for the planets as they orbited Earth. I certainly didn’t master all the ideas presented in the book. But it necessarily goes through many BASIC details of our solar system geometry which most of us don’t know, or at least don’t think about very often (see the last line of this post). It is often interesting ‘in the history of history’ to learn how people have worked so hard to measure, experiment and reason their ways to new understandings - ‘people’ can be pretty ingenious. And I’ve always thought the idea of building a whole physical model with planet ‘epicycles’ was a strangely interesting way to see things. Parting rhetorical query: How far is Mars from us? If you don’t know this right now, could you memorize a value to be ready in case you are asked some other time? View high resolution

Diagram: Earth and Planetary Motion

(as documented on Earth and drawn looking down at the top of Earth)

Last summer they were selling off this little book cheap at an Ottawa museum and I finally got to it a couple of months ago:

Uncentering the Earth - Copernicus and The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres; 2006: William T. Vollman (Not an astronomer)

Ptolemy lived in Egypt, under Roman rule and wrote in Greek. His life span was 90-168 CE.

In 1543 CE when Copernicus published his book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres it presented a new model to replace Ptolemy’s old understanding of planetary motion shown above.

For about 1500 years, people in astrology-astronomy had polished their advanced math skills, star catalogues, and had extensive experience tracking all the heavenly bodies … But until Copernicus came along … the Earth was still at the centre of the solar system and the universe. They had their reasons: some philosophical and logical, some based on religious texts … Check this yourself: obviously we’re NOT moving and the sun IS: the sun rises, the sun sets - every day.

So without the benefit of telescopes and Newtonian physics (from Isaac Newton 1643-1727) people accepted that the sun went around the Earth. And they accepted that those wacky planets (unlike the ‘fixed’ stars) changed direction in the sky and did these little ‘epicycles’. They even had metal planetary models with built in sub-loops for the planets as they orbited Earth.

I certainly didn’t master all the ideas presented in the book. But it necessarily goes through many BASIC details of our solar system geometry which most of us don’t know, or at least don’t think about very often (see the last line of this post).

It is often interesting ‘in the history of history’ to learn how people have worked so hard to measure, experiment and reason their ways to new understandings - ‘people’ can be pretty ingenious.

And I’ve always thought the idea of building a whole physical model with planet ‘epicycles’ was a strangely interesting way to see things.

Parting rhetorical query:

How far is Mars from us? If you don’t know this right now, could you memorize a value to be ready in case you are asked some other time?

Astronomy Themed Mobile At noon - just below freezing. View high resolution

Astronomy Themed Mobile

At noon - just below freezing.