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Subscribe to RSSOne day after unveiling still images from the "ultimate space photo op," showing the shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station docked in orbit, NASA upped the ante by releasing the high-definition video footage from the same photo op on May 23. The video clips, like the stills, were captured on camera by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli as he and two crewmates were leaving the station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
The video and the stills were brought down to earth on data storage cards that had to go through Russian cargo processing before they could be released, which explains why it took two weeks for the imagery to hit the Web. You can see wide-angle shots as well as close-ups in the seven and a half minutes' worth of clips. Perhaps the most poignant part comes in the final two minutes or so, when the space station moves off into the distance ... eventually fading away to a speck of light.
Only one space shuttle flight remains, with the launch of Atlantis due on July 8, and there are no plans for a similar fly-around during that mission. So this may be the only video ever seen in which a space shuttle and the space station appear together.
Yet another out-of-this-world perspective on this scene has been caught on video — strangely enough, from our own world. Check out this somewhat fuzzier view of the shuttle-station complex, as seen through Thierry Legault's telescope from the south of France on May 29. Like Nespoli, Legault has made a name for himself through his astrophotography. Click on the links below to see more of his amazing pictures:
You can connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. Also, give a look to "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Now this.. this is just amazing. If only the world saw this stuff more frequently and appreciated the achievement this thing is - who knows what we could do next.
There are some amazing missions on the horizon. The next big thing for American manned-spaceflight is probably going to be a mission to an asteroid if the current plans are followed. Several private companies have big aspirations, like Bigelow Aerospace for example with their space station plans and Space Adventures with their circumlunar trip. And that's just the beginning...
Oh how I hope that this stays on course. It was royally disappointing to see the X-33 ditched so close to completion.
I'm eternally optimistic about space exploration, and it always feels like a gut-kick every time a politician get's all 'budgety' on NASA while completely ignoring other spending that is actually a huge waste!
Seriously, If I could have voted your comment up more times I would have. Amen my friend.
You too...it's nice that there are others that share my sentiment
"I regret that I have but one vote to give my country." ~Nathan "Mob" Hale, patriot
America! F*ck Yeah!
Not to mention Orion gutted.
Ditching Orion REALLY pissed me off...
Because my sons name is Orion,
and it was kind of cool to have the connection...
Regarding X-33... I found this...
http://www.spaceprojects.com/x33/
and got mad all over again...
@ V...
That was a bit of a biased article, but I don't necessarily disagree with much of what it stated:
The parts which I disagree with
In all. The take that I think people should take away from this is that NASA is treated as a pork program by mush-headed Congress-critters with no appreciation for actual science or exploration!
Lockheed's X-33 may have been chosen over the others in the 1990's because the business was almost entirely done out of California, a firmly voting blue-state and the CLinton Administration was in power.
The 85% complete X-33 was killed by the Bush Administration in 2001 over questionable reasoning, and ultimately replaced by an underfunded program whose main goal was to utilize all the Shuttle launch parts that are made by Floridian, Georgian and Louisianian contractors...all Red states.
I want NASA to be given the same kind of independence as DARPA and the DoD. It's aggravating that they always have to be the lapdog of one idiot administration or another.
I think that Presidential Administrations can try to set a goal for NASA, but I don't think that they should be able to pick and choose programs as directly as they can by comparison to our Defense Department.
I love the part of the video showing the shuttle and ISS passing into the shadow of the Earth. It changes colors and then gets into the darkness. SO COOL!!
total sexiness!
This is clearly a hoax and what we're looking at is just a model. Jeez, NASA forgot to put the stars in the background AGAIN!!!!
(attempted sarcastic wit)
σ_σ
That space station is one ugly model. Guess they couldn't really reinvent the wheel!
Watched the video and then looked at the photos again. There should be a Pulitzer prize in this for Nespoli and crew.
It doesn't look like a 30 year life outpost.
I wonder if NASA, well known for for their superfluous documentation, is keeping track of the remaining useful life of the entire thing? Knowing the limited life of each component is one thing but interpolating that data to calculate and even measure the remaining useful life of the entire assembly is next to impossible.
So, has NASA placed built in alarms to know exactly when this thing is fully cooked? Or will we all find out along with them when it comes burning down?
Still looks like a lot of space junk to me, even if some of the boxes embedded in the modules are my design.
Looking at this fully assembled and the mistakes we have made putting it up there, including the STSs, I really regret spending my time and energy on such a rudimentary endeavor.
We are not even close in thinking of a manned mission to Mars. It would be a suicidal mission.
To think, how far we have truly come as a species, and to know how far we still must go is absolutely awe inspiring. I am a true Sci-fi buff, always have been. And to see that in this day and age information travels at nearly the speed of light, and how the world is constantly getting smaller via our ability to communicate and share ideas and innovation is just startling.
I do hope i live long enough to see a permanent outpost on the moon, though i doubt i will ever have the funds to visit it. I hope that we do start to realize, in the long term our only true option for the survival of our species is to expand, and grow.
Here is to hoping the trivial matters that effect the world we live in today will eventually be put to rest and the greater good for our species as a whole will prevail over our tendencies for self destruction.
Wow, that is some great footage!
I can see the wires!
:)
This looks shopped, I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.