Posted: 2/10/2010 7:30:52 PM EDT
From WJXT. Taken over the Intercoastal in Jacksonville. |
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What is it? Not sure. Meteor? Sign of the zombie apocalypse? ETA: I wouldn't think its the shuttle since its a line of light. The Shuttle The Shutte with a longer exposed picture. Looks like the camera guy shifted a little the stars look like lines and not dots. (edit: no that's not a good explination becuase everything would be off if the person shifted) |
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What is it? Not sure. Meteor? Sign of the zombie apocalypse? ETA: I wouldn't think its the shuttle since its a line of light. The Shuttle The Shutte with a longer exposed picture. Looks like the camera guy shifted a little the stars look like lines and not dots. (edit: no that's not a good explination becuase everything would be off if the person shifted) Maybe just the normal rotation of the earth during the duration of the launch. |
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This is a view from the north of the shuttle launching to the east. The stars have moved in the sky due to the earth's rotation, but the moon hasn't moved as much as the stars. The moon will not move in correlation to the celestial background because it rotates around the earth. You will typically see the moon move 13.5 degrees up the sky from west to east per night, but the celestial rotation is much faster relative to that because of the earth's 24 hour rotation.
trivia question: why does NASA launch the shuttle to the east? |
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snip... trivia question: why does NASA launch the shuttle to the east? Given that the Earth rotates from west to east, launching the shuttle to the east gives it an approximate 900 mph boost in speed in order to reach escape velocity. ..... or something like that. 
I'm not a NASA rocket scientist, but I did spend the night with one once. 
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snip... trivia question: why does NASA launch the shuttle to the east? Given that the Earth rotates from west to east, launching the shuttle to the east gives it an approximate 900 mph boost in speed in order to reach escape velocity. ..... or something like that.
I'm not a NASA rocket scientist, but I did spend the night with one once. part in red is mostly correct, with the added point that the closer to the equator, the faster it is moving in relation to the rotation of the earth. Florida being the southernmost state, it became the obvious choice for space flight. Why we dont' launch in Tampa is pretty obvious - if a shuttle, or rocket at the time, were to blow up, then debris would rain on the center of the state. This isn't good. Russia typically launches polar orbits (as most surveilance satellites travel (North to South or South to North) and they try to launch as close to the north pole as possible. It is cheaper for them that way. Russia is forced to use MASSIVE rockets for manned flight though, since they have a high latitude launch site and must reach the speed of the space station without the rotational assist. Ideally, we would launch rockets and shuttles ON the equator, but we don't have domestic interests that can sustain such a program safely in such latitudes. Florida will always be the space capital of the United States. Simply put, there is no better location to launch from with a heavy payload. Did you know that the ISS is visible in the sky at magnitude 1? You can see it with the naked eye, but you might confuse it for a jet. When you ponder, "why haven't I heard the engines yet?" you will know that you have been duped by the ISS into thinking it was a jet. |