Space Twits
March 16, 2009 7:02 PM Subscribe
A space shuttle is fired to sky. People from all around the place gets a camera and shoots it. They publish the photos on Twitter. Result: Awesomeness.
I spent an enormous portion of my day today fantasizing about being the first person to Mars.
Sigh...
posted by Rinku at 7:11 PM on March 16, 2009
Sigh...
posted by Rinku at 7:11 PM on March 16, 2009
At first I was like :-/
But then, I was like :-o
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:11 PM on March 16, 2009 [5 favorites]
But then, I was like :-o
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:11 PM on March 16, 2009 [5 favorites]
#tcot? On a shuttle launch?
Oh, and this post is great.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:22 PM on March 16, 2009
Oh, and this post is great.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:22 PM on March 16, 2009
By coincidence, I was just reading the Wikipedia article on Gravity's Rainbow.
posted by Joe Beese at 7:25 PM on March 16, 2009
posted by Joe Beese at 7:25 PM on March 16, 2009
I said "lunch," not "launch!"
posted by kimota at 7:26 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by kimota at 7:26 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Am I the only one who thought before clicking the links that the crowdsourced photos were going to be stitched together into a zoomable, navigable 3-D representation of a single moment of the shuttle launch? In retrospect, that seems a bit much to ask. I guess we're not living in the future yet.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 7:34 PM on March 16, 2009 [9 favorites]
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 7:34 PM on March 16, 2009 [9 favorites]
I guess we're not living in the future yet.
No, we are in the future. But the future ain't what it used to be.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:39 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
No, we are in the future. But the future ain't what it used to be.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:39 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Also, was prepared to be underwhelmed. But those are some cool shots.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:41 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:41 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Quite lovely. A testament to human will and knowledge. And to the artistic sensitivities of countless 'average' people.
This was the first comment on the photos. I snickered at it.
posted by therubettes at 7:48 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
This was the first comment on the photos. I snickered at it.
posted by therubettes at 7:48 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
People from all around the place gets a camera and shoots it.
I think this should be:
People from all around the place get their cameras to shoot it.
posted by ornate insect at 8:05 PM on March 16, 2009
I think this should be:
People from all around the place get their cameras to shoot it.
posted by ornate insect at 8:05 PM on March 16, 2009
People from all around the place
I snickered at this too. Sorry.
posted by therubettes at 8:21 PM on March 16, 2009
I snickered at this too. Sorry.
posted by therubettes at 8:21 PM on March 16, 2009
I snickered at it.
I snickered at this too.
Somebody get this person a Snickers bar!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:07 PM on March 16, 2009
I snickered at this too.
Somebody get this person a Snickers bar!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:07 PM on March 16, 2009
Wanna get away?
posted by dirigibleman at 9:13 PM on March 16, 2009
posted by dirigibleman at 9:13 PM on March 16, 2009
ohh myy :( The picture of the kid on the dad's shoulders looking over the backyard fence up into the atomsphere makes me so sad. What I would pay to see that just once in Australia, a single event that everybody can see from their own place in life, that is for everybody's future.
siggh, I'm moving to america sometime.
posted by Submiqent at 10:58 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
siggh, I'm moving to america sometime.
posted by Submiqent at 10:58 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Camera shortage?
posted by Brocktoon at 11:32 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Brocktoon at 11:32 PM on March 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
A collection of 20 cameraphone photos? You win the Internet today, sir!
I did not expect a whirly 3D stitch thing but you could have included at least one decent non-amateur photographer in the links. Also, most of us know that you can find event-related posts (and TwitPics) on Twitter by searching for a hash-tag. I would have searched Flickr instead - usually much better photos for widely-covered events.
The plane in the Hudson River TwitPic? That was pretty cool, honestly. This collection? Meh.
(Also: I've seen a shuttle launch from afar-but-not-that-far, at night in complete darkness, and it was 20x more awesome than this one. Unfortunately, the glowing arc thing just isn't as good as what I saw. So these pics really had that as a disadvantage from the start. Sorry.)
posted by brianvan at 1:58 AM on March 17, 2009
I did not expect a whirly 3D stitch thing but you could have included at least one decent non-amateur photographer in the links. Also, most of us know that you can find event-related posts (and TwitPics) on Twitter by searching for a hash-tag. I would have searched Flickr instead - usually much better photos for widely-covered events.
The plane in the Hudson River TwitPic? That was pretty cool, honestly. This collection? Meh.
(Also: I've seen a shuttle launch from afar-but-not-that-far, at night in complete darkness, and it was 20x more awesome than this one. Unfortunately, the glowing arc thing just isn't as good as what I saw. So these pics really had that as a disadvantage from the start. Sorry.)
posted by brianvan at 1:58 AM on March 17, 2009
I'm really looking forward today when this happens multiple times a day from various points on the planet.
posted by PenDevil at 2:17 AM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by PenDevil at 2:17 AM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
We decided last minute to go down to Kennedy Space Center and watch the launch. Here are the results. I feel very very lucky, we got to see the launch from the NASA causeway. It was a sunset launch and very spectacular.
There are just 8 planned shuttle launches left. If you've ever harboured the desire to go you should, it is absolutely amazing.
posted by schwa at 4:57 AM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
There are just 8 planned shuttle launches left. If you've ever harboured the desire to go you should, it is absolutely amazing.
posted by schwa at 4:57 AM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Oh and I was tweeting some rather shitty iPhone photos of the launch. But no one noticed Guess I should have used hashtags.
posted by schwa at 5:06 AM on March 17, 2009
posted by schwa at 5:06 AM on March 17, 2009
I'm waiting for the day when I can be the one taking pictures of the common man on the ground, from the shuttle, as *I* am being launched into space. Why is it taking soooo long?! I was 4 years old, not quite 5, when I watched Neil Armstrong step onto the moon. We were supposed to have a big colony on the moon by now, lotsa jobs, all that stuff. *taps foot impatiently*
posted by jamstigator at 7:06 AM on March 17, 2009
posted by jamstigator at 7:06 AM on March 17, 2009
It's weird to think that one day people are going to think it really cute we took pictures of the shuttle launch - just as waybackwhen children dropped their toffees and stared agog as a man walked down the road while driving... a mechanical horse.
posted by MuffinMan at 7:18 AM on March 17, 2009
posted by MuffinMan at 7:18 AM on March 17, 2009
If I'm in front of the computer, I usually watch the launches on the NASA-TV stream. Because of the sunset launch launched, with the liftoff in near-darkness and the booster separation lit by the setting sun, STS-119 was probably the most best one I've ever seen. Check out the SRB separation around 3:15 and the plasma ring around the 8:00 mark.
posted by vibrotronica at 8:57 AM on March 17, 2009
posted by vibrotronica at 8:57 AM on March 17, 2009
Yes, it was the most best!
posted by vibrotronica at 8:57 AM on March 17, 2009
posted by vibrotronica at 8:57 AM on March 17, 2009
At first I was like :-/
But then, I was like :-o
YES!
posted by humannaire at 10:18 AM on March 17, 2009
But then, I was like :-o
YES!
posted by humannaire at 10:18 AM on March 17, 2009
Huh, it takes them about 10 minutes to get into orbit and 2 days to dock with the ISS (docking expected on Tuesday, according to schwa's link). I must have watched too much Star Trek, because I expected them to zoom up there, knock on the airlock, and get on with the mission.
Probably a dumb question, but why so long for docking? Are they maneuvering their way delicately toward the ISS the whole time, or do they park in orbit for a while and take care of some stuff first, or what?
MeFi space nerds, you know we need an FPP on the docking. See you Tuesday!
posted by Quietgal at 11:22 AM on March 17, 2009
Probably a dumb question, but why so long for docking? Are they maneuvering their way delicately toward the ISS the whole time, or do they park in orbit for a while and take care of some stuff first, or what?
MeFi space nerds, you know we need an FPP on the docking. See you Tuesday!
posted by Quietgal at 11:22 AM on March 17, 2009
Quietgal, they can only adjust orbit once per orbit. And I don't know how much they can adjust it by each orbit (probably not by much). To go from a highly elliptic orbit that you're in just after launch to the ISS' near circular orbit takes a lot of adjustment.
I imagine being cautious has a lot to do with it also - the initial shuttle orbit is an easy orbit to return to earth from (in case of emergency, like oh shit I left the oven on) - which might mean it isn't the best orbit to reach the ISS on.
That's all just guesswork though. I learnt all my orbitial mechanic skillz from playing Orbiter
posted by schwa at 12:12 PM on March 17, 2009
I imagine being cautious has a lot to do with it also - the initial shuttle orbit is an easy orbit to return to earth from (in case of emergency, like oh shit I left the oven on) - which might mean it isn't the best orbit to reach the ISS on.
That's all just guesswork though. I learnt all my orbitial mechanic skillz from playing Orbiter
posted by schwa at 12:12 PM on March 17, 2009
Although when I play Orbiter I can dock with the ISS in just a couple of orbits.
Wimps.
posted by schwa at 12:13 PM on March 17, 2009
Wimps.
posted by schwa at 12:13 PM on March 17, 2009
Nice photos. I watched the launch from 10,000 feet and about 40 miles from Kennedy.
posted by indyz at 12:37 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by indyz at 12:37 PM on March 17, 2009
*squints at calendar* Crap, it is Tuesday. Where's my ISS docking FPP?
Schwa, thanks for the explanation - that sounds pretty reasonable. Short of a NASA engineer weighing in, I'll go with your idea. (Star Trek made it look so easy ... but I guess it really is rocket science!)
Indyz, you win. We can all go home now. *sobs quietly*
posted by Quietgal at 1:57 PM on March 17, 2009
Schwa, thanks for the explanation - that sounds pretty reasonable. Short of a NASA engineer weighing in, I'll go with your idea. (Star Trek made it look so easy ... but I guess it really is rocket science!)
Indyz, you win. We can all go home now. *sobs quietly*
posted by Quietgal at 1:57 PM on March 17, 2009
Quietgal, it has to do with energy usage. The Shuttle can barely get into orbit at all with a full payload, and the more dramatically you maneuver once up there, the more fuel it takes -- fuel you don't have much of since the big fuel tanke is bye-bye. So once in orbit all adjustments are as tiny as possible within the scope of the mission. If four hours takes fifty percent of the onboard fuel reserves and two days takes seven percent, they'll take the two days because generally the Shuttle has more reserve crew life support than it does fuel.
posted by localroger at 5:46 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by localroger at 5:46 PM on March 17, 2009
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They publish the photos on TwitterPublish the pix on Twitter, they do.Unfixed that for ya.
posted by localroger at 7:08 PM on March 16, 2009