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.
21
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1answer
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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 ...
2
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1answer
70 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
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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
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1answer
72 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
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1answer
90 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
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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 ...
0
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1answer
192 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 ...
3
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0answers
85 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
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1answer
71 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
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0answers
88 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, ...
1
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1answer
105 views
What is a raptor engine manifold and what's happening in these tweeted pics?
When I think of the words "engine manifold" I think of these.
I saw this tweet by Elon Musk which shows the image below, and then there is a reply image with a checkerboard pattern behind part of the ...
7
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0answers
147 views
What's the shiny triangular feature on this Progress vehicle?
Picture from here
What's the shiny, slightly curved triangular plate with rails above it?
A larger version, cropped from here, thanks to a comment by ohsin.
9
votes
1answer
2k views
What are these stacked panels on the ISS in this image?
I found this image of the ISS in a folder on my computer. I don't know the exact source but a reverse image search shows it in many different websites. Unfortunately I can't pin down a date.
What are ...
1
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1answer
230 views
What are these mysterious white star-like dots near MU69 Ultima Thule? Real objects near the asteroid, noise, cosmic rays, or something else?
NOTE: I think either possibility suggested below is possible, I'm not looking for arguments why one of them would be your favorite like this answer. Instead, I'm looking for a fairly conclusive answer;...
9
votes
2answers
216 views
What is this balloon for in this clean room and what is the proper name for the “stand” that is holding the satellite?
What is this balloon doing in this clean room and what is the proper name for the "stand" (white & blue) that is holding the satellite?
2
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1answer
101 views
What's the smallest kerolox engine that is/was used for spaceflight?
This comment linked in this answer to the question How does the camera make the exhaust of the Electron's RP-1/LOX exhaust transparent? says
Some quick calculation suggests the thickness of the ...
2
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2answers
160 views
Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?
Reading the question What are the effects of orbital reflectors and advertising on scientific observation and orbital debris? I am reminded of a story I read a while ago about an even in the past, ...
3
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1answer
128 views
Why does the Apollo-8 Trans-Lunar Injection burn appear to be pulsing in this photo?
This tweet called my attention to The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum story Photographing Apollo 8's Orbit Toward the Moon. The story is quite an interesting bit of space history and worth a ...
0
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1answer
173 views
What was the first piece of wood to reach the far side of the Moon? Or the first spacecraft?
Chang'e-4 is the first lander/rover mission to reach the far side, but probably doesn't have any wood on it.
What was the first piece of wood that landed on the far side of the Moon, and what was the ...
0
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1answer
124 views
What spacecraft components are in the foreground of this image of the Earth and Moon? What is the camera inside of?
This tweet shows the image below, and says:
Finally, some images from Queqiao, the relay satellite for the Chang'e-4 far side mission, showing the Earth and Moon! Queqiao is in a halo orbit at a ...
1
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1answer
108 views
At what time in the Apollo 14 mission did the maneuver shown in this image happen, and what exactly was happening?
In a search for information for this answer I received this google books link of Comment: The Relevance of Space, by Arthur Kantrowitz, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 197, 4 April 1971, pp 32-33. ...
0
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1answer
169 views
Was New Horizons launched on a copper rocket?
Screenshots below are from Brian May's new music video Brian May - New Horizons (Ultima Thule Mix) [Official Music Video] The beginning shows the launch of a rocket.
I can't tell for sure if this is ...
-3
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1answer
60 views
Has there ever been musical events or performances associated with deep-space spacecraft or their flyby maneuvers?
We've had several questions related to music being played (live, or recorded) in space:
Music played in space (6 answers)
How did Sergei Krikalev get (or build) the drum he is shown playing here? (no ...
6
votes
1answer
193 views
Is there really moon rock in this cathedral window? If so, how, and from where on the Moon?
This Tweet by NASA Space Flight Editor Ian Atkinson says:
Some pictures from the Cathedral before the event starts, they have a table set up with artifacts from Apollo 8, including the flown ...
3
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3answers
252 views
What is the largest antenna deployed in space?
@Tristan's answer says:
The satellites are classified, so details are speculative, but it is believed that the Magnum/Orion and Mentor SIGINT satellites have parabolic antennae around 100 m in ...
1
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2answers
166 views
Where is the “antenna farm” from which this Soyuz launch photo was taken?
The Phys.org article SpaceX Christmas delivery arrives at space station
had a small version of this photo, and I found this large one at wirenews.com's SpaceX Christmas delivery arrives at space ...
1
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1answer
64 views
Which orbit around Earth has the least perturbation?
Which orbit around Earth would have the least amount of perturbation from the moon, Sun etc.? Does an orbit exist where in either direction of travel that the perturbation would be the same?
The ...
3
votes
1answer
288 views
What is the meaning of this writing on the InSight lander, and why is some in Braille?
I spotted this image in this answer and a few things caught my eye.
Both images are cropped from the much larger image PIA22540.
First Braille in Space?
On the left and right sides there is what ...
0
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0answers
102 views
What is an “M motor” used in a full-scale model of a Corporal missile?
The NASA JPL video Corporal: America’s First Guided Ballistic Missile shows that it used an Acid/Analine engine.
That would have been both challenging and unpleasant to reproduce. So instead, the ...
7
votes
2answers
446 views
What is this huge, red, blinking light structure on Earth seen from the ISS in this video?
The video ESA video Progress launch timelapse seen from space is of course striking for many reasons.
However there is a strange, blinking light structure on Earth that's quite puzzling! I've added ...
9
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1answer
194 views
What are the small red cylinders used for on the bottom of the Soyuz Launch vehicle?
They are fitted on each of the first stage strap on boosters and on the second stage core and are all orientated the same way. Pipes and cables connect to the stages from the cylinders. I believe they ...
9
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1answer
2k views
What are the two orange tabs stuck on opposite edges of each window of the ISS cupola?
The YouTube video ONE OF THE MOST DETAILED ISS TOUR!!! is cited in several Q&A here, and shows a tour and explanation of the ISS by astronaut Steven Swanson.
Today I noticed between ...
2
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2answers
80 views
How many CICERO cubesats are in space now? What are their IDs?
Trying to better understand the situation discussed in CICERO orbit design and optimization for GPS occultations? I decided to look these satellites up, but got stuck right away.
Gunter's space page ...
6
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2answers
595 views
What is the most number of stages, including fractional stages?
Falcon 9 clearly has two stages, but the smaller two-stage Electron has a "kick-stage" so some might call that 2.5. The question Quantitative benefits of Atlas II's engine-dropping or 1.5 staging? and ...
1
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1answer
132 views
Help reading this Mercury era NASA “ancient” iconography
In a collectspace.com forum, I found the following (merged) thread containing images, questions and answers: http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum29/HTML/000962.html The two images below are ...
0
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0answers
70 views
CAPCOM Console at Mercury Control Center; what does Desired Retrofire Setting time display mean?
Wikipedia's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station page links to the image Alan Shepard in Mercury Control Center (shown below).
The console has two large digital time displays. One is dedicated GMT but ...
25
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2answers
6k views
What spacecraft control is Margaret Hamilton pressing in this picture?
Margaret Hamilton was the Apollo Director of Software Engineering. In this picture, she is shown inside a mock-up of the Apollo command module.
Hamilton is noted for many accomplishments during the ...
5
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2answers
286 views
RIP Kepler, how shall we call your orbit? Does this cyclic flip-flop process have a name?
So long, and thanks for all the Fish Planets
The captions in the NASA Ames Research Center video What Will Happen to NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft? read as follows:
NASA’s Kepler space telescope found ...
22
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1answer
5k views
What celestial body did NASA carve and why is it eating a spacecraft?
The Mashable.com article No one carves a Halloween pumpkin like NASA engineers shows several interesting examples.
But this one I can't figure out. The caption reads only.
Om nom nom.
Question: ...
5
votes
2answers
84 views
what's this fluffy object on the SAOCOM 1A mission's upper stage? [duplicate]
When watching the upper stage of the Falcon 9, I noticed this white or blue tuft:
It changes shape a bit as time goes on. That makes me think it is something very light (cotton candy, fiberglass ...
50
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1answer
6k views
Did a Soyuz fly with a Union Jack?
In this schematic of a Soyuz rocket, the payload fairing is depicted with the flag of the USSR on one side, and what appears to be the flag of the United Kingdom on the other.
Did the Soyuz ever fly ...
4
votes
1answer
455 views
Is this rocket design from 'The Americans' credit sequence real?
In the opening credit sequence of the TV show 'The Americans', a schematic of a rocket with 5 strap-on boosters is briefly shown:
The diagram appears immediately after an elevation view of a Soyuz ...
1
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1answer
150 views
Which one of these (if any) is the Moon? What are the rest?
I frequently see the Moon in SpaceX videos, "I suspect" the frequency is higher than random, but can't prove it (yet!)
I found the SpaceX video Falling Back to Earth | HD Footage From Space (also ...
2
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1answer
77 views
Need help identifying this (likely to be) phased array antenna used to track launches
I need help identifying the (what I believe to be) flat (and possibly phased) array antenna shown next to the tracking telescope in this photo, which can be found both here and here where the ...
1
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2answers
139 views
What is this combination tracking telescope and helical antenna pair? was it really used, and who is/was FlightLine?
I spotted the image below here which I found here (also seen here).
Zooming in on this combination pair of telescope trackers and pair of RHCP and LHCP (right- and left-handed circular polarization) ...
7
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2answers
524 views
What are these antenna-like structures seen in Oleg Artemyev twitter video?
Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev's Sept 3, 2018 tweet has a narrated video of Earth from the ISS, at the time over the Nile river.
The video is also in YouTube (below).
At the bottom of the screen, ...
4
votes
1answer
232 views
What are these discs on the Crawler-Transporter?
I've just watched this footage of SLS's Mobile Launcher Platform being rolled out to LC-39B for fitting tests.
On the front of the drive trucks are two rotating discs with red markings which are ...
3
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0answers
91 views
How did Sergei Krikalev get (or build) the drum he is shown playing here?
In this answer @horsh shows an image of Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev playing what might be an improvised drum, together with cosmonaut Sergey Volkov on guitar, aboard Mir in 1989.
Is it possible ...
5
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2answers
2k views
What kind of antimatter engine is this?
I found this diagram while looking up diamagnetic machines. Could anyone explain what engine this is?
11
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1answer
527 views
Design of 1970s era orbital fuel depot
Multiple concept art examples for a 1970s orbital fuel depot from Marshall Space Flight Center show cylindrical tanks perpendicular to a central core. But then at one end of the central core are ...
