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Pictures of Spacecraft
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, Russian Mars missions
The Mars 3 rover may have been the first mobile vehicle to set tread on Mars. Unfortunately, following a successful entry, descent, and landing, the lander operated for only 20 seconds before failure, probably because it was blown over by the wind. This rover may possibly have been deployed before then.
Filed under pretty pictures, animation, spacecraft, Russian Mars missions
The Mars 2 and 3 rover, which landed on Mars in 1971. This may have been the first rover on Mars! Their range was to be 15 meters from the lander. The rovers moved by using skis set on either side (see photograph). The two thin bars at the front of the lander (if you look closely at the photograph, you'll see the division between them) are sensors to detect obstacles in the rover's path. The vehicle could determine on which side the obstacle lay, step back, change direction and try to go around it. Unfortunately, neither vehicle completed its mission: Mars 2 crash-landed on the planet and Mars 3 ceased transmissions 20 seconds after landing.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Russian Mars missions
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, Russian Mars missions
On sol 182, Spirit looked back at tracks she made at the foot of the Columbia Hills, exploring rocks named "End of the Rainbow," "Pot of Gold," "Jaws," and "Shredded," among others.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, amateur image processing, Mars, Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit
Six robotic spacecraft as they appeared on or close to August 5, 2012. The images are rendered, with the exception of Venus Express, in NASA's "Eyes on the Solar System" simulator. From top to bottom: MESSENGER at Mercury, Venus Express, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at Earth's moon, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the spacecraft carrying the Curiosity rover just before it landed on Mars, Cassini at Saturn.
Filed under pretty pictures, explaining image processing, pics of spacecraft in space, MESSENGER, Venus Express, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory), Cassini
The Mars Descent Imager camera captured this remarkable moment: the heat shield separating and falling away from the spacecraft that carried the Curiosity rover as it descended to the surface. There are flying saucers, but they came from Earth to Mars, not the other way around.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Mars, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
SpaceShipTwo just after she is released from WhiteKnightTwo for another successful test flight. This was her 24th glide flight and the 6th in-flight test of her patented feathered re-entry system. The flight also successfully verified SS2's nitrous loading and venting system, another key milestone on the way to her first powered flight.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, private spaceflight
SpaceShipTwo just after she is released from WhiteKnightTwo for another successful test flight. This was her 24th glide flight and the 6th in-flight test of her patented feathered re-entry system. The flight also successfully verified SS2's nitrous loading and venting system, another key milestone on the way to her first powered flight.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, private spaceflight
SpaceShipTwo glided past the Moon as she came in to land at the Mojave Spaceport after another successful test flight. This was her 24th glide flight and the 6th in-flight test of her patented feathered re-entry system. The flight also successfully verified SS2's nitrous loading and venting system, another key milestone on the way to her first powered flight.
Filed under best of, pretty pictures, spacecraft, private spaceflight, the Moon
Curiosity Points to Its Landing Site
A model of Curiosity the day before it departed for Gale Crater, which is found on this globe of Mars just above the model's robotic arm.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
An Atlas V rocket lifts the spacecraft carrying the Mars Curiosity rover into the morning sky.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, rockets, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Galileo, launched in 1989, flew by the Earth twice for gravity assists on its 6-year journey to Jupiter.
Filed under pretty pictures, Galileo, Earth, spacecraft, art
Taken on April 4, 2011, during a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand close to a Mars rover.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Cropped from the amazing color self-portrait photo of Curiosity standing on Mars, on sol 84 (October 31, 2012). The photo is a mosaic of images shot with MAHLI, the camera on the end of the robotic arm.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, Mars, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Possibly problematic "edge welds" on the CHIMRA 150-micrometer sieve
This image shows the location of the 150-micrometer sieve screen on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, a device used to remove larger particles from samples before delivery to science instruments. The sieve lies within the Collection and Handling for In-situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) structure, which is on the end of the rover's turret, or arm. This sieve on an Earth test unit of CHIMRA has suffered popping of its edge welds, which presents the possibility that particles larger than 150 microns in diameter could pass by the sieve.
Filed under mission status, explaining technology, spacecraft, Mars, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Chang'e 2 en route to asteroid Toutatis (animation)
A four-frame animation of Chang'e 2 on its way to Toutatis, captured by the 0.4-meter Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at the Great Shefford Observatory in West Berkshire, England. The image set was captured on August 28, 2012.
Filed under mission status, pretty pictures, animation, spacecraft, amateur astrophotos, pics of spacecraft in space, Chang'E program
Chang'e 2 in interplanetary space
A 15-exposure image stack capturing Chang'e 2 on its way to asteroid Toutatis, captured by the 0.4-meter Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at the Great Shefford Observatory in West Berkshire, England. The images were captured on August 18, 2012.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, amateur astrophotos, pics of spacecraft in space, Chang'E program
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