APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5373
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by APOD Robot » Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:54 am

Image Night Launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour

Explanation: Sometimes, the space shuttle launches at night. Pictured above, the space shuttle Endeavour lifted off in yesterday's early morning hours from Launch Pad 39A in Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, bound for the International Space Station (ISS). A night launch, useful for reaching the space station easily during some times of the year, frequently creates vivid launch imagery. The shuttle, as pictured above, is framed by an enormous but typical exhaust plume ejected as the shuttle's powerful rockets began lifting the two million kilogram space bus into Earth orbit. Endeavour's mission, labeled STS-130, includes the delivery of the Tranquility module to the space station. Tranquility will provide extra room for space station astronauts and includes a large circular set of windows designed to bestow vastly improved views of the Earth, the night sky, and the space station itself.

<< Previous APODDiscuss Any APOD Next APOD >>
[/b]

petsie
Ensign
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:03 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by petsie » Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:06 am

Hi all,

isn't (very, very) most of these impressive clouds made out of steam (H2O) used do cool down the rockets before take off?

Thanks in advance,
Peter

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by neufer » Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:54 pm

petsie wrote:isn't (very, very) most of these impressive clouds made out of steam (H2O) used do cool down the rockets before take off?
Water is used for sound suppression (and I imagine as a coolant for the launch pad).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle wrote:
<<Water is released onto the mobile launcher platform on Launch Pad 39A at the start of a rare sound suppression system test in 2004. During launch, 300,000 US gallons (1,100 m³) are poured onto the pad in only 41 seconds.
Image
When the three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) start, the water from the
sound suppression system flashes into a large volume of steam that shoots southward
.>>
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
emc
Equine Locutionist
Posts: 1307
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:15 pm
AKA: Bear
Location: Ed’s World
Contact:

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by emc » Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:55 pm

blasting billowing bursting… boldly breeching banking… bouncing bumping being… beautiful benign buoyant… building booming breathtaking… braking burning bouncing… bountiful beyond belief
Ed
Casting Art to the Net
Sometimes the best path is a new one.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by neufer » Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:46 pm

emc wrote:blasting billowing bursting… boldly breeching banking… bouncing bumping being… beautiful benign buoyant… building booming breathtaking… braking burning bouncing… bountiful beyond belief
Billions of billious barbecued blue blistering barnacles!

Capt. Haddock calling his flying whiskey bubble back into his glass.
ImageImage
http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/lists/curses.html wrote:
Captain Haddock's Curses

Baboons! Baby-snatchers! Bagpipers! Bald-headed budgerigar! Bandits! Bashi-bazouks! Bath-tub Admiral! Beast! Belemnite! Big-head! Black beetles! Black Marketers! Blackamoor! Blackbird! Blackguards! Blistering Barnacles! Blistereing blundering birdbrain! Bloodsuckers! Blue blistering barnacles! Blue Blistering Bell-Bottomed Balderdash! Blunderbuss! Bodysnatcher! Bootlegger! Borgia! Bougainvillea! Brat! Breathalyser! Brigands! Brutes! Bucaneers! Bully! Butcher!
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21577
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by bystander » Tue Feb 09, 2010 3:17 pm

The Moody Blues
To Our Children's Children's Children

Higher and Higher
Graeme Edge
  • Blasting, billowing, bursting forth
    With the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes
    Man with his flaming pyre
    Has conquered the wayward breezes

    Climbing to tranquility
    Far above the cloud
    Conceiving the heavens
    Clear of misty shroud

    Higher and higher
    Now we've learned to play with fire
    We go higher and higher and higher

William Roeder
Ensign
Posts: 59
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:46 pm

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by William Roeder » Tue Feb 09, 2010 3:23 pm

petsie wrote:isn't (very, very) most of these impressive clouds made out of steam (H2O) used do cool down the rockets before take off?
If you look at the moment of launch you'll see two clouds, one white, one dirty white in the opposite direction. The white one is the steam, the other is from the solid rocket boosters.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by neufer » Tue Feb 09, 2010 3:51 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquility_%28ISS_module%29 wrote:
<<On April 14, 2009, astronaut Suni Williams appeared on The Colbert Report, and announced the name of the node would be Tranquility. The name was chosen in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the first lunar landing of Apollo 11 on the Sea of Tranquility. However, the treadmill the astronauts use for exercise will be named "C.O.L.B.E.R.T." for "Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill" and will be located in Tranquility. Colbert was thrilled and happily accepted this offer. The treadmill traveled to space aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-128 on August 28, 2009, for eventual installation in the Tranquility node during STS-130.>>

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colber ... ce-odyssey
http://www.areavoices.com/astrobob/?archive=2010-02 wrote:
<<During the two week mission, [STS-130] astronauts will deliver and install the Tranquillity node and its cupola, a dome-shaped extension with seven windows for keeping an eye on robotic operations outside the station. The node will house the station's environmental control equipment which removes carbon dioxide from the air and converts urine to drinkable water. There's even room for the treadmill which has been taking up needed space elsewhere on the station.>>
Image
ImageImage
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
emc
Equine Locutionist
Posts: 1307
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:15 pm
AKA: Bear
Location: Ed’s World
Contact:

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by emc » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:19 pm

Be it sight, sound, smell, or touch,
There’s something inside that we need so much.
The sight of a touch or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an oak with roots deep in the ground.
The wonder of flowers to be covered and then
To burst up through tarmac to the sun again.
Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing -
To lie in a meadow and hear the grass sing.
To have all these things in our memories hall
And to use them to help us to find… Ha ha ha!

Ride! Ride my see-saw!...

Moody Blues, "Ride My See-saw"

(Edited to correct my post...)
Last edited by emc on Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ed
Casting Art to the Net
Sometimes the best path is a new one.

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21577
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by bystander » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:36 pm

Actually, the first part of that is Departure by Graeme Edge, the introduction to In Search of the Lost Chord. Graeme Edge wrote most of the opening and/or closing poems to the Moody Blues' early albums, although I think Ray Thomas might have done a couple.

User avatar
emc
Equine Locutionist
Posts: 1307
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:15 pm
AKA: Bear
Location: Ed’s World
Contact:

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by emc » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:48 pm

“Departure” is the lead in to “Ride My See-saw” and thanks for posting the poem’s title. The Moody’s speak to my spirit.
Ed
Casting Art to the Net
Sometimes the best path is a new one.

User avatar
geckzilla
Ocular Digitator
Posts: 9180
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:42 pm
Location: Modesto, CA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by geckzilla » Thu Feb 11, 2010 4:33 am

The Departure is also the title of my favorite song.
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21577
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by bystander » Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:04 am

I like classical or neo-classical music, but I pretty much have to be in the mood to listen to it. I even occasionally go to see our local orchestra perform classical pieces (but not opera, and even though people look at me strange be because I'm not formally dressed). We have a wonderful Music Hall with great seating and acoustics and the orchestra seems quite good to me (don't have any thing to compare it to). But I have to say, I like this Departure better. (I'm an avid Moody Blues fan).
Click to play embedded YouTube video.

User avatar
geckzilla
Ocular Digitator
Posts: 9180
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:42 pm
Location: Modesto, CA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by geckzilla » Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:05 am

Hehe, yeah, Nyman is pretty much minimalist classical. It's a relatively new genre and many of the pieces tend to be love-it-or-hate-it. The reason I love it is because I'm an escapist and when I draw or work I need either good ambient music or something low-key and ambient music usually lacks emotion so I have tons of movie soundtracks. If there's any lyrics in a language I understand it's ridiculously distracting to me.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

User avatar
emc
Equine Locutionist
Posts: 1307
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:15 pm
AKA: Bear
Location: Ed’s World
Contact:

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by emc » Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:16 pm

departure – I like the thought especially at times… the poem relates well to shuttle space treks… and so does see-saw… up and down… up down… etc… except for the “free” part (mentioned in the song)

which reminds me... a "departure-see-saw" can be purchased for a $20k down payment…
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
http://www.virgingalactic.com/

personally, I'm waiting for a more distant trek... but if I don't win the big lottery... well... :(
Ed
Casting Art to the Net
Sometimes the best path is a new one.

User avatar
emc
Equine Locutionist
Posts: 1307
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:15 pm
AKA: Bear
Location: Ed’s World
Contact:

Re: APOD: Night Launch of the Space Shuttle... (2010 Feb 09)

Post by emc » Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:38 pm

geckzilla wrote:Hehe, yeah, Nyman is pretty much minimalist classical. It's a relatively new genre and many of the pieces tend to be love-it-or-hate-it. The reason I love it is because I'm an escapist and when I draw or work I need either good ambient music or something low-key and ambient music usually lacks emotion so I have tons of movie soundtracks. If there's any lyrics in a language I understand it's ridiculously distracting to me.
I find it relaxing to create with no sound and no light with my eyes shut. Works well at night... sometimes all too well :wink:

Below is a rendering that I like of a starfield with license to remove objects that clutter the beauty of empty space.

Image

speaking of empty space... Pink speaks to mine
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Ed
Casting Art to the Net
Sometimes the best path is a new one.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Apollo 11 launch

Post by neufer » Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:36 am

neufer wrote:
petsie wrote:isn't (very, very) most of these impressive clouds made out of steam (H2O) used do cool down the rockets before take off?
Water is used for sound suppression (and I imagine as a coolant for the launch pad).
Art Neuendorffer

Post Reply