Wow - now *this* is a great launch picture!

originally posted by: spiritualarchitect
Nice. Looks like it is coming back down to crash.

Flat earth theorists unite!

I love that arc.
a reply to: Riffrafter

a reply to: BrianFlanders

Well there's this:

sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov...

and this

en.wikipedia.org...

and Skylab also did some detailed solar observing.

Also, this isn't really a NASA project, it's an ESA one. NASA's main involvement was the launch site.

originally posted by: spiritualarchitect
Nice. Looks like it is coming back down to crash.

It's headed over the horizon, just like it should if it wants to reach orbit.

If the rocket and payload went straight up, the payload would never get to orbit; gravity would pull it back to the ground.

Granted, gravity pulls it back even when it's in orbit, but since it is also moving sideways/parallel to the ground (as it does when it heads over the horizon), it has enough sideways speed that as it gets pulled back down by gravity, the earth curves away from it, so it never hits the ground.

It's like cannonball C below in the Newton's Cannon thought experiment:

originally posted by: OneBigMonkeyToo
a reply to: BrianFlanders

Well there's this:

sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov...

and this

en.wikipedia.org...

and Skylab also did some detailed solar observing.

Also, this isn't really a NASA project, it's an ESA one. NASA's main involvement was the launch site.

I had forgotten about the SOHO mission and all the great pictures and science that came from that. Thanks for the reminder. From my reading, it appears that this mission is going to be taking different kinds of readings and measurements than SOHO, and obviously the science has advanced an awful lot since then.

It's also going to be a lot closer to SOL I believe than SOHO ever was. It needs a heat shield that contains animal bones for protection...wow!

I'm looking forward to seeing Solar Orbiter's pics and findings. And it shouldn't be too long of a wait...

At least nobody is running around claiming it was a Helicopter

YET

LoL

Cool shot

wow what a great pic

thanks for posting

at the risk of getting political
Trump seems to want to spend more on space stuff

(this could be the Space Corps' image)

originally posted by: OneBigMonkeyToo
a reply to: BrianFlanders

Well there's this:

sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov...

and this

en.wikipedia.org...

and Skylab also did some detailed solar observing.

Also, this isn't really a NASA project, it's an ESA one. NASA's main involvement was the launch site.

Well, that's comforting.

It was a really great launch. Was moving impressively fast to make escape velocity.

originally posted by: Riffrafter
Picture of today's NASA/ESA launch of the Solar Orbiter.

And the science it will perform is going to be amazing and really inform our understanding of our own sun - Sol.

This photographer got one helluva shot...

Beautiful image. What bit of kit did you take that on? Looks like a Canon F-1 or maybe a Nikon FA. Anyway stunning images, son. Reminds me of the first time I made love to Mrs H.

originally posted by: DougHole64

originally posted by: Riffrafter
Picture of today's NASA/ESA launch of the Solar Orbiter.

And the science it will perform is going to be amazing and really inform our understanding of our own sun - Sol.

This photographer got one helluva shot...

Beautiful image. What bit of kit did you take that on? Looks like a Canon F-1 or maybe a Nikon FA. Anyway stunning images, son. Reminds me of the first time I made love to Mrs H.

I didn't take the picture - it was posted by NASA. I'm on one of their email lists. But I'll try and find out more about the pic as I'm curious too.

And I'm not going anywhere near your comment about Mrs. H...

Looks like it can't get outside of low earth orbit

Great picture, I try to avoid watching launches and returns now a days, I saw in real time 2 shuttles come apart not sure I can handle a third incident like that.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
Great picture, I try to avoid watching launches and returns now a days, I saw in real time 2 shuttles come apart not sure I can handle a third incident like that.

I so remember both of those incidents.

They are two of those "you always remember where you were when you saw it or heard about it" events.

a reply to: Riffrafter

After the second I got to my base and that's where they brought the remains and the parts of the shuttle they recovered in the early days.

I would love to go into space, but it broke my heart to watch those people die both times.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: Riffrafter

After the second I got to my base and that's where they brought the remains and the parts of the shuttle they recovered in the early days.

I would love to go into space, but it broke my heart to watch those people die both times.

That's awful.

Your memories must be seared deeper than most regarding those events.

originally posted by: cooperton
Looks like it can't get outside of low earth orbit

True.

I learned long ago that when it comes to watching things like this, point of view and frame of reference all play a role.

originally posted by: Riffrafter
They are two of those "you always remember where you were when you saw it or heard about it" events.

That's what some people believe, but the facts say otherwise.

People think they know where they were, but they are often wrong, and there's no correlation between confidence in that memory, and accuracy of the memory.

We don't like to admit we have bad memories, but the truth is our memories are much more flawed than we would like to admit, even in cases like remembering where we were when the shuttle disaster occurred.

You Have No Idea What Happened

R.T. first heard about the Challenger explosion as she and her roommate sat watching television in their Emory University dorm room. A news flash came across the screen, shocking them both. R. T., visibly upset, raced upstairs to tell another friend the news. Then she called her parents. Two and a half years after the event, she remembered it as if it were yesterday: the TV, the terrible news, the call home. She could say with absolute certainty that that’s precisely how it happened. Except, it turns out, none of what she remembered was accurate.

R.T. is not an exception. Shocking perhaps, but true.

a reply to: Riffrafter

I used to live on the west coast of Florida all during the shuttle era. The night launches were SPECTACULAR when it was clear enough to see them. Through a telescope you could literally see the three main engines as bright stars as it flew out over the Atlantic. We usually got double sonic booms when the shuttle came in to land as well. I miss those days. You really felt a connection to space living there back then.

Cool shot, thanks for putting that up here, beautiful launch. a reply to: Riffrafter