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Pictures of Spacecraft
IKAROS performs his theme song!
Filed under pretty pictures, fun, art, spacecraft, IKAROS
Voyager 1 at the edge of the solar system
Voyager 1 has entered a new region between our solar system and interstellar space, which scientists are calling the stagnation region. In the stagnation region, the wind of charged particles streaming out from our sun has slowed and turned inward for the first time, our solar system's magnetic field has piled up and higher-energy particles from inside our solar system appear to be leaking out into interstellar space.
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2
Scientists hope to use a balloon such as this one, 9 meters in diameter, to study the atmosphere of Venus from below its clouds. A helium-filled Teflon balloon could stay high enough above the ground (at an altitude of about 56 kilometers) to avoid cooking at Venus' high surface temperatures, and would be resistant to corrosion from the sulfuric acid in Venus' clouds.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, future technology, Future Mission Concepts
The first three-astronaut spacewalk
Three astronauts ventured out in space at the same time on STS-49, Endeavour's maiden flight, in May 1992.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, human spaceflight, astronaut, Space Shuttle program
The descent stage of the lunar module Intrepid is seen perched next to Surveyor Crater, and the Surveyor 3 robotic probe. Astronaut foot trails to other nearby craters are also visible. The inset features Pete Conrad next to Surveyor 3, with Intrepid in the distance.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, human spaceflight, the Moon, NASA lunar missions before 2005, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Ebb, Flow, New Horizons, MESSENGER, and Dawn, all to the same scale (about 1:50).
Filed under pretty pictures, fun, spacecraft, GRAIL, New Horizons, MESSENGER, Dawn
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter view of Apollo 14 landing site. Tracks from a cart used to carry ALSEP equipment from the lunar module Antares are visible in this photo. The inset shows a picture taken from the ALSEP site, looking back at the Antares.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, human spaceflight, the Moon, NASA lunar missions before 2005, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
At Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on May 31, 2003, the first half of the fairing for the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2, also known as MER-A or Spirit) is seen behind the spacecraft.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit
The descent module of the lunar module Challenger is seen in this image, halfway between the ALSEP site and the final resting spot of the lunar rover. In the inset photo, the rover is also at its final stop, with the Challenger seen in the background.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, human spaceflight, the Moon, NASA lunar missions before 2005, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
HRSC is a pushbroom camera that builds up long images as it flies above the Martian surface. When it is at its closest approach to Mars, at 250 kilometers, the swaths are 52 kilometers wide. HRSC has nine channels: five panchromatic and four color. The five panchromatic channels are pointed at different angles -- one nadir, two forward, and two backward -- which allows HRSC to do near-simultaneous stereo imaging of every spot it photographs on Mars. The blue and green color channels are near-nadir, while red and infrared color channels are pointed forward and backward along-track, respectively.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Mars Express, explaining image processing
In early 2014, the Orion MPCV will be sent on Exploration Test Flight 1, a shakedown cruise to test the capsule's capabilities. Because the SLS is still under construction, Lockheed Martin has selected a Delta IV Heavy to use for the test. In this photo, a Delta IV Heavy stands ready to launch NROL-26, a classified U.S. satellite.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, rockets
Diagram of the Dawn spacecraft
Filed under art, spacecraft, Dawn
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, art, Dawn
Curiosity and its Centaur departing Earth
The Curiosity rover on its way to Mars, taken around 16:30 UT on November 26, just over an hour after its launch. The yellow circle shows the spacecraft; the fan-shaped plume is from the Centaur upper stage, the rocket that had just fired to send Curiosity from Earth orbit on to Mars.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, art, Cassini, Huygens
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, art, human spaceflight, Future Mission Concepts
A 1971 concept of the space shuttle at a rendezvous with a propellant depot.
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, Future Mission Concepts
The ChemCam instrument for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission uses a pulsed laser beam to vaporize a pinhead-size target, producing a flash of light from the ionized material -- plasma -- that can be analyzed to identify chemical elements in the target.
This image from testing of ChemCam shows a ball of luminous plasma erupting from the surface of an iron pyrite crystal in the sample chamber approximately 3 meters from the instrument. The laser beam itself is invisible.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
A rendering of the Aqua satellite orbiting Earth. Aqua carries six instruments used to study Earth's water cycle, one of which is AIRS, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, art, Earth observing missions
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