NASA’s stunning Image of the Day shows STS-130 mission astronaut Nicholas Patrick finishing up the newly-installed cupola window viewport on the ISS. Since the cupola’s successful installation last week the Space Station crew has been enjoying unprecedented views of Earth through the seven large window panes. Like visiting the Grand Canyon or looking out the…
Tag: orbit
Along the Edge
Moons Rhea and Enceladus orbit along the ringplane in this view from Cassini, taken November 6, 2009. That is, I think it’s Rhea and Enceladus in this image. It’s hard to tell for sure from this distance. (Cassini was over 1.2 million miles from Saturn when this was shot.) If anyone knows for sure, I’m…
It’s a Marvelous Night for a Moondance
In another animation made from raw images taken by Cassini, Mimas passes in front of Rhea (?), whose face is partially covered by Saturn’s rings…which in turn are darkened by the shadow of the planet itself. I removed distracting background stars, as well as dust and streaks often seen in raw photos. Rhea is 950…
Just Passing By
Tethys, shown in my previous post, orbits Saturn outside the rings in this animation made from 17 raw images taken by Cassini. After passing the dark side of Saturn Tethys follows the curve of the rings, and is passed on the “inside track” by the smaller Mimas (top). Meanwhile another moon, perhaps Atlas or Pandora,…
One Last Look Back
The Messenger spacecraft took this photo of Earth as it sped off toward Mercury in August of 2004. This view of our planet shows the western coast of South America, with the Peruvian Andes curving around and down into Chile before disappearing into the dark of night. Just above and to the right of the…
Lights in the Dark 