APOD: Rocket Launch as Seen from the Space... (2021 Apr 01)

[APOD Robot]

[img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_210401.jpg[/img] Rocket Launch as Seen from the Space Station

Explanation: Have you ever seen a rocket launch -- from space? A close inspection of the featured time-lapse video will reveal a rocket rising to Earth orbit as seen from the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian Soyuz-FG rocket was launched in November 2018 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying a Progress MS-10 (also 71P) module to bring needed supplies to the ISS. Highlights in the 90-second video (condensing about 15-minutes) include city lights and clouds visible on the Earth on the lower left, blue and gold bands of atmospheric airglow running diagonally across the center, and distant stars on the upper right that set behind the Earth. A lower stage can be seen falling back to Earth as the robotic supply ship fires its thrusters and begins to close on the ISS, a space laboratory that celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018. Astronauts who live aboard the Earth-orbiting ISS conduct, among more practical duties, numerous science experiments that expand human knowledge and enable future commercial industry in low Earth orbit.

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[heehaw]

OMG! --- This is truly WONDERFUL!

[Marially3]

Lovely, although I have to admit I was looking forward to the annual April 1 APOD.

[orin stepanek]

And I thought we were going to get April Fooled!

[E Fish]

That was beautiful, and I really appreciate the helpful arrows. I lost track a couple of times.

[johnnydeep]

Wow - this beats the best CGI all to hell!

[ta152h0]

It's good to see this film. I would like to see the picture of Gemini 4 ascending thru the atmosphere as seen from the cockpit of the Phantom jet rising with it so long ago. I've never seen that film; maybe you have and can publish it. Pass the ice cold one

[alter-ego]

And I thought we were going to get April Fooled!

Yeah, me too.
I got my April Fool fix from this S&T article:
CAKES, CATS, AND STARS — ASTRO APRIL FOOLS

[zebulon 1er]

Hello,

Thank you for this amazing video.

I noticed something strange in it :
Just before the end box, on the Earth (in the middle of the screen at ~1:21), we see two things flashing, distant, but in sync, with a reddish color. Maybe a thunderstorm, given the shape of the lightning? But it flashes too regularly to be natural (and chaotic). I can't figure out what it could be at all. Does anyone know what it is ?

[johnnydeep]

Hello,

Thank you for this amazing video.

I noticed something strange in it :
Just before the end box, on the Earth (in the middle of the screen at ~1:21), we see two things flashing, distant, but in sync, with a reddish color. Maybe a thunderstorm, given the shape of the lightning? But it flashes too regularly to be natural (and chaotic). I can't figure out what it could be at all. Does anyone know what it is ?

Good eyes! Not sure what that is, but I'd suspect a reflection of a blinking light from inside the space station, assuming that the video was taken from an internal (that is, behind a window) camera.

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Just before the end box, on the Earth (in the middle of the screen at ~1:21), we see two things flashing, distant, but in sync, with a reddish color. Maybe a thunderstorm, given the shape of the lightning? But it flashes too regularly to be natural (and chaotic). I can't figure out what it could be at all. Does anyone know what it is ?

Good eyes! Not sure what that is, but I'd suspect a reflection or a blinking light from inside the space station, assuming that the video was taken from an internal (that is, behind a window) camera.

[hdewolf]

I assume that the explosion of the rocket at 0:24, just after crossing the border of the atmosphere was the April 1 fun part

[Chris Peterson]

I assume that the explosion of the rocket at 0:24, just after crossing the border of the atmosphere was the April 1 fun part

It's not exploding. That's a staging operation.

[astrogb]

As the best fantasy movies, that is marvelous. But also real!
Congratulations to the authors!