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.
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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 ...
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1answer
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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 ...
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1answer
53 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
679 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, ...
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1answer
144 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 ...
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1answer
142 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 ...
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1answer
197 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 ...
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98 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 ...
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1answer
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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
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1answer
224 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 ...
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1answer
139 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 ...
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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/...
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2answers
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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 ...
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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)?
...
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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 ...
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2answers
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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 ...
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1answer
126 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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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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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 ...
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1answer
113 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 ...
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1answer
294 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 ...
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1answer
98 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 ...
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155 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 ...
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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 ...
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1answer
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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 ...
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1answer
88 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 ...
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2answers
118 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-...
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191 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 ...
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190 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 ...
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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 ...
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1answer
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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:
...
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1answer
818 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.
...
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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 ...
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1answer
765 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 ...
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1answer
564 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 ...
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87 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"?
...
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What is the blue and purple glitter dinosaur above NASA astronaut Robert Behnken in this video?
The NASA video Expedition 63 Inflight with New York Times, Fox News, and USA Today - July 7, 2020 includes NASA astronaut Dr. Robert Behnken, and above can be seen a blue and purple glitter covered ...
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Viking Lander descent engine design feature
The Viking Lander Terminal Descent Engine (3 per vehicle) was a ~600 lbf monopropellant hydrazine engine with an unusual exhaust system of 18 small nozzles. Multiple sources state that the reason ...
5
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1answer
103 views
Which shuttle mission is this video from?
At 12 minutes and 19 seconds into the NASA video Space Shuttle Documentary (Narrated by William Shatner), there’s a really neat video of a space shuttle lighting up the clouds from underneath and then ...
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1answer
194 views
On the ISS what is that frame with a criss-cross of rubber bands?
You can see below a picture of Steven Swanson doing a detailed tour of the ISS.
I was wondering what is that frame with rubber bands on the right? It just seems to block access to the racks behind.
...
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1answer
2k views
What is this propeller-like object on top of the SpaceX Hopper?
In the spirit of Why does this rocket have a nose cone “cozy”? I'd like to ask why the SpaceX Hopper has a propellor on top, or at least something that looks reminiscent of Beany's propeller.
What is ...
12
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1answer
394 views
What is this device/object that the SpaceX astronauts are holding?
Watching the SpaceX Demo-2 launch preparation livestream, I saw both Bob and Doug using some sort of little gadget. It looks like a chunky cell phone, or a flat gopro. It appears to have an LCD on the ...
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1answer
138 views
What is this hovering “jet propulsion device” that “moves like a ufo”? [duplicate]
I encountered this reddit post, which is a video of a test of some sort of device hovering precisely in place & maneuvering using some slightly underexpanded reaction control system. I'm also ...
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What's is this very CGI looking clip in this NASA video of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer installation?
This is the NASA video AMS Time Lapse Installation a time-lapse of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) installation at the International Space Station. At about ...
