MetaFilter posts tagged with landing

Curiosity's descent is our ascent

Burhanistan — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:44:42 -0800

Take the ride down to the surface of Mars in full 1080p glory. [YouTube]

Prime Martian-Science Real Estate

mhoye — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 08:16:40 -0800

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA has narrowed the target for its most advanced Mars rover, Curiosity, which will land on the Red Planet in August. The car-sized rover will arrive closer to its ultimate destination for science operations, but also closer to the foot of a mountain slope that poses a landing hazard. "We're trimming the distance we'll have to drive after landing by almost half," said Pete Theisinger, Mars Science Laboratory project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "That could get us to the mountain months earlier." It was possible to adjust landing plans because of increased confidence in precision landing technology aboard the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, which is carrying the Curiosity rover.

Flying High

gman — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:39:27 -0800

GE has posted a searchable bird's-eye view of the 6,000 most popular airports in the world.

Shooting cats with a chronophotographic gun

furtive — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:53:55 -0800

Do cats always land on their feet? No. Unless...

O to speed where there is space enough and air enough at last!

BeerFilter — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:52:40 -0800

High-def twilight landing at LAX From the author's comments: "The video is sped up to somewhere between Mach 1 and Mach 2 (depending on actual airspeed about 8X). The original idea was to a) compress a 30 minute approach into three minutes; and b) to see what it would look like if you you were riding on the back of a cruise missile." The same, in real time, with no music.

Moon turns out to be giant tree

dearsina — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:50:07 -0800

A rock given to the Netherlands as a gift by the American Ambassador to commemorate the Apollo-11 moon landing is tested and found to be nothing but petrified wood. Expect a "I told you so" from your neighbourhood conspiracy theorist at any moment. Looking forward to reading about your favourite encounter with / link to conspiracy theorists!

Let the Eagle Soar

designbot — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:38:42 -0800

40 years ago today, a man walked on the frickin' Moon. [prev iously]

Exclusive Flight 1549 Salvage Pictures

mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:10:49 -0800

"On Jan. 15, 2009, a few Canadian geese with bad timing became snarge, a steely pilot became a hero, and the world became fascinated with images of a jet splashing into the Hudson River and then floating calmly as passengers crowded its wings.

But until now, few people have seen the equally surprising pictures of the second half of this story: when a salvage team used the biggest floating crane on the East Coast to pluck the ill-fated Airbus A320 from the frigid water."

Striker, listen, and you listen close: flying a plane is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.

KokuRyu — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 12:00:37 -0800

Amazing 747 landings at in the St. Martins [youtube] YouTube has a great collection of 747 landings at Princess Juliana International Airport in the St. Martin Islands, famous for its short landing strip — only 2,180 meters. Here's the view from the cockpit. Most of the videos seem to have been taken at Maho Beach. Here's an Airbus. Previously.

Your tax dollars at work.

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 20:20:26 -0800

Space Shuttle Discovery lands. (WMV) Watch for the view from the cockpit.

TerRARists!

nathan_teske — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 10:48:33 -0800

Yesterday United Flight 735 from Chicago to Sacramento made an emergency landing in Denver when an unruly passenger tried to open the cabin door. (bugmenot/bugmenot) A member of the Flyertalk forum was on the flight, and provided a first hand account of the emergency.

Fast-moving Jeep fixes flying Cessna

Saucy Intruder — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 06:01:49 -0800

Yesterday morning in Florida, the landing gear on a student-piloted Cessna failed to lock into place. After the plane circled for an hour, the airport president drove a Jeep underneath the plane at 80 mph while his passenger took a stick and knocked the wheels into place. And that, as they say in the business, was caught on tape.

Mars Exploration Rover Spirit lands on Mars

mad — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 07:58:18 -0800

We landed on Mars. The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has captured its first color image of Mars. It is the highest resolution picture ever taken of another planet. Fascinating.

Flying an injured Warthog by the seat of her pants

Slithy_Tove — Sun, 13 Apr 2003 22:45:46 -0800

"It's been a rough few days for the A-10," the pilot told her father after she landed, but she assured him that the A-10 'Warthog' is a "a durable and reliable plane." It. Sure. Is. But the pilot brought it back from Baghdad in this condition with dead hydraulics, using only manual controls, and landed safely. The A-10 may be slower than birds, but it's loved by the Army.
via The Cellar's Picture of the Day