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.
261
questions
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1answer
111 views
What flag is flying over the landing site of the Shenzhou 12 crew astronauts returning from Tiangong? What does it say?
NBC News has a short video clip Astronauts Return After 90-day Mission To China's Space Station
A trio of Chinese astronauts touched down in the Gobi Desert after completing China's longest space ...
-2
votes
2answers
125 views
Which Rockwell van ran incredibly rough for the first two minutes? (call to the radio program Car Talk)
A caller to the long-running NPR radio talk show Car Talk described a problem with their Rockwell van. While it started fine, it ran "incredibly rough" for the first two minutes.
Is it ...
1
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1answer
150 views
What are these squiggly lines in Jonathan McDowell's tweets about Yunhai-1?
Anton Petrov's new video Another Satellite Collided in Space, But Everyone Missed It Until Now (below) is fun to watch, and links to Jonathan McDowell's tweet string which begins
Space-Track catalog ...
13
votes
1answer
2k views
What spacesuit helmet is this?
There's a classic series of black-and-white photos from the mid-80s showing early shuttle astronaut Anna Fisher in a helmet; one was reportedly on the cover of Life magazine.
Image source: reddit, ...
2
votes
1answer
176 views
Which two spacecraft are being shown disconnecting here, and what was the connection for?
The new Wall Street Journal video China's Answer to the Aging International Space Station: The Tech Behind Tiangong | WSJ shows what looks like it might be a fuel transfer connection decoupling at <...
15
votes
1answer
3k views
Cartoon-like characters on the side of the Tianwen-1 Mars lander?
Scott Manley's excellent new video China's Mars Rover Zhurong Has Completed Its Primary Mission, Reaches New Milestone is chock-full of space-sleuthing goodies and interesting information about the ...
1
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0answers
63 views
Does the beeping satellite shown at the end of NASA Goddard videos represent any spacecraft in particular?
Just as an example, the end of the NASA Goddard video NASA’s OSIRIS-REx: Mission to Bennu has a double-beeping satellite at the end, which performs a flyby of the camera.
It's shiny and spherical and ...
1
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0answers
45 views
What is this complicated experimental apparatus being pulled out of another complicated apparatus inside the ISS?
The new NASA video Science Launching on SpaceX's 23rd Cargo Resupply Mission to the Space Station a bit after 01:20 shows a large experimental apparatus which looks ...
0
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1answer
70 views
What is the origin of this space station design concept and animation?
In the beginning of the ABC News video STEM industries are growing, but face shortage of qualified workers an illustration of a space station is shown, first with two cross-trusses each with solar ...
4
votes
1answer
96 views
What are these two devices extending from each end of the Progress MS16 cargo ship's solar panels?
CNET's See astronaut's wild view of a discarded ISS module burning up includes the image below. I've cropped, magnified and sharpened bits from each end of the Progress module's solar panels to reveal ...
2
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1answer
67 views
What is "Mission Alpha" and why does Expedition 65/66's Thomas Pesquet's tweet have the #MissionAlpha hashtag?
Expedition 65/66's Thomas Pesquet's tweet says:
So long DC1! After almost twenty years of service, instead of getting a medal First place medal, one of the @Space_Station's oldest @roscosmos ...
7
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1answer
704 views
Which spacecraft are models in this Astronaut Group 1+2 photo?
The picture below of NASA Astronaut Groups 1 and 2 was taken in February 1963. Astronaut Group 1 was the original Mercury 7, and are seated in the front row (Cooper, Grissom, Carpenter, Schirra, ...
5
votes
1answer
162 views
Are there any markings that uniquely identify each Saturn-Apollo combination?
This question made me wonder: are there any markings on the Saturn I/IB/V launch vehicle, Apollo service module or command module that uniquely identify each vehicle (i.e. AS-5xx)?
It doesn't have to ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
Viking 1 - Cydonia Face on Mars Photograph Multitudinal Black Dots
The "Face on Mars" photograph taken by Viking 1 in 1976 of the Cydonia region on Mars has multitudinal similar sized small dots in a seemingly random pattern all over it. Are all those dots ...
7
votes
1answer
202 views
What is this thing on the right of the frame in this photograph? (STS-71)
What is this (blurred) thing that can be seen to the right of the frame in this photograph?
(some versions crop it out)
It is a photograph taken from Soyuz TM-21 of Mir and STS-71 Atlantis docked in ...
1
vote
1answer
126 views
What is an "Aceteria improved Ryan suborbital sounding rocket"?
Why does the Minotaur I wear a yellow jacket that "banana-peels" off as it launches? links to the NASA Wallops video NRO L-111 Launch (already cued at the statement in question).
At the end ...
37
votes
1answer
5k views
Why does the Minotaur I wear a yellow jacket that "banana-peels" off as it launches?
Videos available of the recent Minotaur I launch at Wallops for NROL-111 show a yellow jacket on most of the four stage SRB-to-orbit launch vehicle. I read or heard somewhere that wires attached to ...
6
votes
1answer
227 views
What are these Martian space-whale (or seagull) shaped features?
In this recently released image of CNSA's ZhuRong lander and rover
China releases new Mars image taken by Tianwen-1 probe, CCTV (English) Article there are many white features scattered over the ...
3
votes
1answer
148 views
What are these two little valve stem-like projections from the Northrop Grumman STAR 15G upper stage rocket motor? Why doesn't the STAR 20 have them?
NASA Spaceflight's Mars Ascent Vehicle from Northrop Grumman takes shape for Mars Sample Return mission says:
For this, Northrop Grumman will provide a 3 meter tall, two-stage, solid propellant ...
2
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0answers
84 views
What exactly are "launch tables" and "dog bones" in the context of SpaceX's Super heavy-lift launch vehicle?
@geoffc's Pod Bay comment and link
Great aerial photo of launch table with the 'dog bones' being installed. So curious how this will all play out!
https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
What do the banana values mean in this tweeted plot of heavy lift vehicle capabilities?
@FreddieR's answer to What are the longest current rocket payload fairings, capable of carrying long space station sections? contains the following graphic. It's attributed to Ken Kirtland and I found ...
11
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1answer
1k views
What's the small white gadget with two black buttons in this video of the International Space Station?
Does anyone know what's the small white square gadget with two black buttons on the right hand side of the hatch frame in this video on the second 2185 (36:25 minutes)?
...
5
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2answers
447 views
What are these details on (renderings of) the Zhurong rover's wheels?
Looking at some renderings of the CNSA Zhurong rover I noticed some curious (pun intended) details on the wheels:
This Newsy Today article:
In this The Conversation article:
seen in some clips of ...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
What is this long truss associated with Mir?
Google translations: From roscosmos.ru Flight from station to station (Перелет со станции на станцию)
35 years ago, on February 20, 1986, the first module of the Mir orbital complex was launched into ...
3
votes
1answer
132 views
What JPL laboratory is this exactly, and what are the functions of these amazing-looking control panels?
The (somewhat strangely named) video clip How William Shatner Changed the World - Dr. Marc D. Rayman, Chief Propulsion Engineer, NASA, JPL contains several shots of what looks like an ion propulsion ...
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0answers
43 views
Help decoding the US Space Force 45th Space Wing emblem symbology
What is the difference between Cape Canaveral SFS and Patrick SFB? reminds us that the US Space Force now has bases or at least stations. Wikipedia's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station links to the ...
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0answers
97 views
Why so many little pieces of "space tape" on this communications satellite?
Maxar's own blogpost Power and Propulsion Element: Five Questions with Maxar’s Tim Cole contains an image with the caption
The ABS-2 spacecraft at Maxar’s Palo Alto, California factory before its ...
2
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1answer
116 views
Origin, artist, and original purpose of this unusual NASA image from 1996 or earlier? (possibly related to Clementine)
Two astronomy questions below relate to Clementine and poking around I found Ice on the Bone Dry Moon which was
Written by Paul D. Spudis, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, Deputy Leader of ...
9
votes
1answer
318 views
Star-shaped artifacts in SAR images of the "Suez Canal traffic jam seen from space"
Wikipedia's 2021 Suez Canal obstruction links to the Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of the
Traffic jam in the Gulf of Suez caused by the obstruction as seen by the Sentinel-1 ...
3
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1answer
106 views
Identify this Mars helicopter prototype and when and where it was built and tested?
The new NASA video Things are really looking up (on Mars) is a short set of vignettes in anticipation of the Ingenuity helicopter's first tests on Mars.
Below is a screenshot of a historical file ...
1
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1answer
157 views
Did Skylab have several giant spirit levels? That's what these look like to me, except there's no bubble
The BBC's Skylab: The myth of the mutiny in space shows the image below of one big circular end bulkhead of the main Skylab main space, with an astronaut in the center hatch and giant air manifolds ...
10
votes
1answer
900 views
What is all this about? (photo of several small cup-like structures on top of Perseverance)
I have been trying to figure out what this arrangement is for.
Could it be where the mast had its 'face' buried prior to deployment?
The various cups seem to fit exactly with lenses and positioning ...
13
votes
1answer
3k views
What is this unlikely-looking contraption ("plutonium battery and scientific equipment") they're making Jim Lovell cary around a parking lot?
The BBC's Did nuclear spy devices in the Himalayas trigger India floods contains the following image and caption.
Questions:
What scientific equipment and which plutonium battery is this?
Since this ...
0
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1answer
90 views
What "advanced computer capable of faster processing and data compression" is the S. S. Katherine Johnson carrying? (Cygnus NG-15)
CBS News; says:
The primary goal of the Cygnus mission is to deliver science equipment and supplies for on-going research utilizing the microgravity environment aboard the space station.
One ...
2
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2answers
123 views
What were Mars 2's conical aerodynamic braking shield and "gunpowder" engines?
The Soviet Mars 2 and Mars 3 lander missions were the first (human-made) spacecraft to reach the surface of Mars with Mars 3 the first successful landing. They both carried Prop-M's; the first wheel-...
5
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0answers
194 views
What is this ring-shaped part falling from Starship SN9 after launch?
The picture shown is a screenshot during the recent launch of SpaceX's SN9 from a live stream, and I noticed that a black ring fell off the exhaust/engine. It only shows up for around a frame or two ...
3
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0answers
200 views
Likely explanation for the bottom of the SLS rocket being covered with reflective silver "muffler" tape?
NASA.gov's First Artemis Rocket Stage Moved onto NASA Barge Ahead of Green Run contains a high resolution image of the rocket. The bottom end of the rocket's cylindrical shape is closed flat and ...
6
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0answers
114 views
What ever happened to 6Q0B44E - potentially the "artificial satellite (with) the farthest orbit around the Earth"?
I just started flipping through Handbook of Space Engineering Archaeology, and Heritage Space Hardware Ann Darrin & Beth L. O'Leary, Eds. 2009, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1035 pages
It looks as though ...
13
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1answer
1k views
What is your name? What is your quest? What is the story behind Satellite 1963-38C?
Source see also the page On Possible Electric Phenomena in Solar Systems and Nebulae By Kristian Birkeland extracted from The Norwegian Aurora Polaris Expedition 1902-1903 (Book)
Wikipedia's ...
4
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0answers
39 views
What does diiferent colours in orbital path seen in the CRS 21 launch video indicate?
The SpaceX broadcast of Falcon 9 - CRS 21 launch showed the orbital path of the vehicle differently than previous videos. Separate green lines and rectangualar boxes were visible.
What additional ...
3
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0answers
53 views
What radar-trackable steel ball was thrown from the ISS before October 2015? [duplicate]
The question What kinds of things have been tossed out of the ISS? contains a now-rotted link to a YouTube video of a steel ball being thrown from the ISS for radar tracking tests. I'd sourced it from ...
22
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1answer
1k views
Identify these mission photos
My grandfather who was involved with the DFVLR (now DLR) had all sorts of space-memorabilia in his basement, including a roll of pictures I've found. Does anyone know what mission they are from and ...
2
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2answers
226 views
What mission is this Chris Hadfield photo associated with and what is the location? And what is that thing?
Many, many astronauts have gone on to be wonderful orators, educators, advocates for science, education and positive thinking, Major Tom Colonel (ret) and (fmr) ISS Commander Chris Hadfield is just ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there really microfilm on the Moon?
A comment below this answer to Disc mounted on lunar rover? suggests that
...a number of documented microfilms that were on the Apollo missions.
meaning I presume that bits of microfilm were ...
5
votes
0answers
135 views
What are these white garbage-like things on Falcon 9 vacuum engine? [duplicate]
On recent launch I noticed, that some white things jumping on vacuum engine in space. Something like garbage or condensate. See video at right at times when Earth is at left:
...
7
votes
1answer
825 views
Which rocket was shown resupplying the ISS in Designated Survivor?
In the TV show Designated Survivor season 2 episode 12 (S2E12) The Final Frontier at 07:47 the following US rocket is shown launching a resupply mission to the ISS.
The rocket detonates during launch.
...
5
votes
0answers
107 views
What are these strips on the Long March 4B?
There are yellow square strips arranged semi-erratically on the lower stage of the Long March 4. There are also some on the upper stage. What are they, and do they come off before launch? Why are they ...
11
votes
1answer
769 views
Can you help me identify this vehicle outside the VAB?
I found this photo of a house being transported off of Kennedy Space Center property sometime in the 1960s/early 1970s. We managed to track down where the house was moved from/to, but one thing that ...
4
votes
1answer
573 views
What's the new hexagonal structure for in Boca Chica TX, SpaceX
At Boca Chica Texas at the SpaceX launch facility there is a new structure being built. RGV Aerial Photography shows a concrete base with six pillars being built in a hexagonal shape. What is this ...
4
votes
1answer
89 views
Is it the Apollo CM "flowerpot parachute attachment fitting"?
An Apollo 17 recovery image of the top of the CM, ap17-S72-55888 from ALSJ.
What is the structure inside the red polygon (drawn by me)? Is it the "flowerpot parachute attachment fitting"?
...
