Questions tagged [identify-this-object]
Questions which ask for an object in a photograph or other media to be identified and/or have its function described.
138
questions
6
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2answers
239 views
What are the bumps on the Vega rocket
In the image below, we see some bumps at the conical section of what I believe is the transition from the first to the second stage.
What function do they serve?
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
3
votes
1answer
96 views
What exactly are Tindallgrams? (spaceflight related)
The word "Tindallgram" appears in three posts:
this answer to How complex was the math and physics necessary to place Apollo 11 on the moon?
What is a “Lear Processor” and how did it work?
this ...
2
votes
1answer
408 views
What is this red spacesuit made out of, and why is it red?
The BBC News website often uses this file photo on spaceflight-related pages such as this one.
Is it possible to identify the following?
the astronaut
the spacecraft
the spacesuit
the external red ...
1
vote
0answers
165 views
What are these white cylindrical objects pointed in different directions in this photo of the Saturn V instrument unit?
The BBC News article Apollo in 50 Numbers; The Technology shows an image of the Saturn V's computer along with the caption:
The Saturn V's computer was probably the largest computer ever blasted ...
5
votes
0answers
120 views
What's this purple donut in the video of the Falcon 9 fairing's atmospheric reentry?
This SpaceX tweet (found in CNET's SpaceX camera captures incredible view of rocket part returning to Earth) shows a video taken by a camera in one half of the fairing on the recent STP-2 mission and ...
6
votes
1answer
153 views
How do you plot a porkchop plot like this one?
I was looking around for gravity gradients then got sidetracked by looking at pork-chop plots because they're extremely cool. I'm still struggling to fully understand them, but I did find an ...
9
votes
2answers
691 views
Apollo Mission Operations Control Room 2 display, what do these numbers indicate?
There are some really beautiful photos in Ars Technica's NASA’s restored Apollo Mission Control is a slice of ’60s life, frozen in amber
See also NYTimes' NASA Reopens Apollo Mission Control Room ...
3
votes
1answer
121 views
What's this part of Curiosity?
What's this part here used for? The thing that looks like if you poured dirt into it, that it'd sift through it. Not the antenna, the white thing in center that looks as if it could spin.
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Are there payload lights turning on and off in orbit on SpaceX STP-2?
In the video of the SpaceX STP-2 Mission during satellite deployment after around T+01:21:35 there are some areas that abruptly blink brightly. It's too fast and ...
5
votes
1answer
8k views
Is this the golf ball that Alan Shepard hit on the Moon?
The BBC News article The Five Greatest Space Hacks of All Time shows a photo of Alan Shepard on the Moon swinging an improvised golf club.
Is the spot in the upper right corner of the photo a golf ...
4
votes
1answer
115 views
What's this mini-cupola-looking object in this photo from the ISS?
(I went through this exercise for my own benefit, so I figured I'd post it)
Recently stay-extended astronaut Christina Hammock Koch posted this image to Facebook today and the object indicated by the ...
16
votes
2answers
4k views
Does anyone recognize these rockets, and their location?
I clicked an advertisement in the sidebar of an Economist article and it took me to this infomercial from Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Group's Spectra website How new technology is democratizing access ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
What is this long black tube snaking up to the capsule payload of the Antares rocket?
Scott Manley's video The Antares Rocket - NASA's Less Famous Ride To The Space Station includes some file footage of Antares rocket launches.
There is a long black tube or cable snaking its way up to ...
14
votes
2answers
2k views
What are they doing to this rocket following its test fire?
Watching video of today's test of Northrop Grumman's OmegA first stage SRB after the test is over and the flames have died down a bit, it looks like they are sticking something into the back end of ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views
How does the JEM/Kibo connect to the “Porch Module”?
In this answer I saw Figure 35 of the encyclopaedic ISS Interface Mechanisms and their Heritage also shown croped below, and in this answer I see the second image (though an SE/imgur bug shows it with ...
2
votes
1answer
164 views
What spacecraft part is Mike Pence touching in this photo?
In this photograph, Vice President Mike Pence is touching an item labelled "Critical Space Flight Hardware". What is it? Has the photo been doctored?
2
votes
1answer
1k views
What are these giant NASA boxes?
In this answer I saw Figure 35 of the encyclopaedic ISS Interface Mechanisms and their Heritage and from the link I saw Figure 37, and I've included both below (click for larger size).
What are these ...
0
votes
0answers
101 views
What is the function of this Merlin engine's tube, and why is it getting red hot?
In the video of the recent SpaceX Starlink launch, one view of the Falcon-9 2nd stage engine shows a cane-shaped tube that glows red hot at the "handle" end and seems to get hotter over time.
...
2
votes
0answers
93 views
What caused these strange lights around the Falcon 9 grid fins (Starlink launch)?
Early in the video of the launch of the first sixty SpaceX Starlink satellites we can see that after stage separation the first stage grid fins open.
Around that time there are some phenomena I don't ...
20
votes
1answer
2k views
What is the function of the corrugations on a section of the Space Shuttle's external tank?
There is a section of the Space Shuttle's external tank that appears to have large corrugations. I spotted them and saw how deep they are in a photo in this answer, a cropped section of which is shown ...
20
votes
1answer
4k views
What were the “pills” that were added to solid waste in Apollo 7?
In the BBC News Worldservice podcast 10, 9, 8, 7: The dramatic missions that made the Moon landing possible told by retired astronaut Nicole Stott (Expeditions 20, 21, STS-128 and STS-133) after ...
11
votes
2answers
301 views
What does this SpaceX tweeted photo show and what causes the pure red and blue color?
This May 4, 2019 SpaceX tweet says
More photos from Falcon 9’s 40th successful launch from Pad 40 in Florida and 39th first stage rocket booster landing to date → http://flickr.com/spacex
and ...
6
votes
1answer
139 views
Are mechanical pencils used on the ISS?
I have read through this question ("Is it possible to use mechanical pencil instead of space pen in ISS?") and it seems that without specially made pencils, it's unlikely as there are better options. ...
5
votes
1answer
204 views
What is this strange, liquid-cooled tube hanging in a wind tunnel?
Near the end of the NASA video Rocket Engine Testing the NASA Way! there is an image that appears to be archival an possibly quite old. It's a long cylinder densely wrapped with what I assume is ...
3
votes
1answer
102 views
Help identifying this archival NACA/NASA image of a wind tunnel test object
Near the end of the NASA video Rocket Engine Testing the NASA Way! there is an image that appears to be archival an possibly quite old. It's a metal model of a launch vehicle with two very long ...
3
votes
0answers
74 views
Why does the Electron rocket throw sparks; especially at SECO?
The RocketLab YouTube video STP-27RD Launch - 05/05/2019 shows the exhaust plume from the second stage engine evolve as the atmospheric pressure drops. During this time there are frequent outbursts of ...
1
vote
0answers
47 views
What object is visible in the background of the Dragon view from the CRS-17 launch?
In the livestream of the CRS-17 Mission, at 28:02 into the livestream (T+13:02) there is a flashing object visible in the bottom, left third of the screen. This object moves "up" in the frame. It is ...
1
vote
1answer
87 views
How did fictional asteroid 2019 PDC get its name?
Gizmodo's NASA and FEMA Will Simulate an Impending Asteroid Strike Next Week
The hypothetical discovery takes place in 2019, but what does "PDC" stand for?
Perhaps it is another "discovery" by the ...
0
votes
1answer
166 views
Why is DSX two satellites connected by a ring, and what are all those tubes? (upcoming SpaceX STP-2 payload)
Reminiscent of a chrome-plated exhaust manifold from a 20th century vehicle.
The Teslarati article SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy flies a complex mission for the Air Force in launch video discusses the ...
8
votes
6answers
3k views
What is “propulsive passivation” and why will the SpaceX STP-2 mission do it?
The Teslarati article SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy flies a complex mission for the Air Force in launch video discusses the upcoming third Falcon Heavy mission STP-2 and quotes the caption on the linked ...
-2
votes
1answer
215 views
What barge height limit warning sign is Scott Manley describing? (Falcon Heavy core fell into ocean)
In the beginning of Scott Manley's new video The First Commercial Lunar Spacecraft - 20 Years before Israel & Beresheet he takes a moment to talk about recent Falcon Heavy core falling off the ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Does the arrow in this SOHO trajectory animation point heliocentric prograde, or towards the Sun?
This answer links to this NASA page. The first video shows the two STEREO spacecraft use two and three passes by the Moon to leave Earth orbit and enter into an orbit around the sun.
Below is a GIF ...
4
votes
2answers
223 views
What are these big shiny metallic “lumps” on the bottom edge of each Falcon Heavy nozzle?
What are these big shiny metallic "lumps" on the bottom edge of each nozzle of each core of this Falcon Heavy image from the Teslarati article SpaceX reveals Falcon Heavy Block 5 in first official ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
What is the white spray-pattern residue inside these Falcon Heavy nozzles?
What is the white residue in a spray pattern seen on the inside of each nozzle of each side core of this Falcon Heavy image from the Teslarati article SpaceX reveals Falcon Heavy Block 5 in first ...
2
votes
1answer
98 views
What is the point in which metal turns white hot during launch or reentry called?
This is a slow motion film of the Sprint missle. There is a point where to skin goes white hot like a light switch. What is that called?
What metal gets white hot while keeping its shape?
0
votes
0answers
122 views
Are there “Space Jellyfish” in Florida? Would they be possible?
The Wikipedia article Space Jellyfish shows the image below with the caption:
A California space jellyfish from 22 December 2017
I think that when other Q&A here have shown similar space ...
2
votes
1answer
133 views
What steel ball was thrown out of the ISS to help test how well ground stations can track orbital debris?
The question What kinds of things have been tossed out of the ISS? has a broken YouTube link. This is why it's good to include at least the name of the video in your post (which I didn't back in 2016)....
2
votes
1answer
158 views
How would this two-stage Mars Ascent Vehicle work? Where do you sit?
This curious answer shows an image of a liquid-fueled Mars Ascent Vehicle with a sign in front that only says
Two Stage Mars Ascent Vehicle
Question: Is there some NASA program associated with it ...
3
votes
0answers
211 views
Could a steam Engine outperform other electric producing devices in space? [closed]
What would be the Specific Impulse of a steam-based propulsion system like this model in space?
Are there any types of engine that works this way?
Could 2 tanks be designed to rotate slowly in space ...
22
votes
1answer
6k views
Why is this part of the Space Shuttle launch pad suspended so high off the ground?
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-107/images/high/KSC-02PD-1894.jpg
shows a large part of the launch pad suspended off the ground.
What is it for and why is there all that empty space ...
3
votes
2answers
343 views
Help me understand what Farside, a ten “stage” rockoon looked like? How was it configured?
@OrganicMarble's answer links to NASA Sounding Rockets, 1958-1968, A Historical Summary and in Appendix A starting on page 79 it lists:
Farside: A type of rockoon developed by Aeronutronics ...
2
votes
1answer
87 views
Identify this astronaut and shuttle mission
After about 02:00 in the Kinematic video SpaceX Delivers Critical Docking Adapter for NASA to the ISS the astronaut says:
You know the Space Shuttle’s been with ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
What is under these four white covers on the upper part of the Orion capsule?
The New York Times article A NASA Journey to the Moon May Need to Find Another Rocket or Two shows an image of the Orion capsule in a file photo, along with the NASA director.
There are four white ...
4
votes
1answer
81 views
How is atmospheric temperature measured from a satellite?
How does an Earth observing satellite measure the temperature of the atmosphere?
Can they measure temperature at multiple altitudes, or measure the temperature of clouds?
4
votes
1answer
151 views
What kind of “jet engine-like propulsion” does HyperSciences use to accelerate projectiles to sub-orbital altitudes?
The Teslarati article For HyperSciences, geothermal energy builds a path to space describes the use of technology which has been applied to drilling to launching projectiles to sub-orbital altitudes ...
12
votes
1answer
3k views
What is Earthy controling in the ISS cupola?
ScienceAlert.com's Astronauts on The Space Station Liked SpaceX's 'Earthy' Toy So Much They Kidnapped It shows a series of photos of Earthy, the new plushy member of the ISS crew.
In the photo below ...
1
vote
1answer
223 views
ISS location identification; estimate size and direction of astronaut acceleration puzzler
note: This question addresses the same video and phenomenon described in this answer (which I found after posting this) but here I'm asking for an analysis of the trajectories of the test masses (the ...
4
votes
1answer
163 views
Why did Skylab have a thick blue flexible cord running down its central axis?
After watching the video below (found here and here and here) I am reminded of the series of possibly less than 100% serious questions here about being weightless in the middle of a large volume and ...
1
vote
1answer
74 views
Identifying some sort of flare near Earth
Anyone know what this flare is in the top lefthand corner of the picture?
The image was captured from the ISS live feed app for android 28/02/2019 at 18:38 BST
1
vote
0answers
130 views
What light was the Falcon 9 grid fin occulting in todays SpaceX Nusantara Satu Mission live broadcast?
What light was the Falcon 9 grid fin occulting in todays SpaceX Nusantara Satu Mission live broadcast?
I backed up the time slider on the YouTube live broadcast and snapped some screen captures, ...
