169
votes
Accepted
How did Apollo 16 capture this full photograph of the Moon's far side?
The photo (frame 3021) appears to have been taken from an approximate altitude of 1180 KM, on the return journey to Earth.
We infer it was taken on the return journey as frame 3005 was taken after ...
- 1,564
106
votes
Accepted
Which Apollo "mystery" was said to be finally solved by a better rendering engine?
NVIDIA rendered Aldrin descending to the surface and discovered that, just as the conspiracies claimed, it couldn't be reproduced with direct light from the sun as the sole light source. Of course, as ...
- 1,534
79
votes
Have spacecraft photographed each other beyond Earth orbit?
Yes, here is a picture of the Curiosity lander spacecraft taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The picture was taken about one minute prior to the landing of Curiosity.
Image from https://www....
- 177k
56
votes
Accepted
Have any of the rovers ever recorded a solar eclipse on Mars?
No, because Mars can't have eclipses. Strictly speaking, Mars has only transits. The difference is that Mars's moons are smaller than the Sun as viewed from Mars, thus they don't block out the entire ...
- 121k
55
votes
Have spacecraft photographed each other beyond Earth orbit?
The Mars Odyssey orbiter was photographed by Mars Global Surveyor in 2005.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mgs_odyssey.gif
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07941
Figure 1: Why ...
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49
votes
Why does the sky of Mars appear blue in this video of pictures sent back by the Chinese rover?
Despite my comments about the sky not always being red, I think there is a simpler explanation.
This video was made by a "content" company on a monetized YouTube channel. The screenshot is ...
- 149k
47
votes
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What did the sky actually look like from the Moon?
The astronauts on the moon had the same problem as the photos - their eyes were adapted to the light levels reflected from the moon's surface, so it was almost as hard to see the stars as it is to see ...
- 166k
44
votes
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Was the "Earthrise" witnessed by Apollo 8 the first available "full" photo of the Earth?
No; the first full views of Earth from high-altitude satellites predate Apollo 8 by at least two years.
This web page has a nice progression of pictures of Earth from space from 1959 on.
A Soviet ...
- 166k
42
votes
Accepted
How did the Apollo astronauts change film in their cameras?
These cameras had magazines that could be exchanged in the middle of a roll (and that was one reason NASA chose them).
Here's a photo of John Young exchanging a magazine during an EVA on Apollo 16:
...
- 125k
41
votes
Accepted
Why is this Planet Labs video wobbly?
Don't look at this from the perspective of why this was so lousy. Look at it from the perspective why this is so good.
I thought Earth-observing satellites need to be extremely stable to provide a ...
- 72.6k
38
votes
How did astronauts frame photos without a viewfinder?
The astronauts did a lot of training with the cameras. The used 60 mm wide angle lens (angular field diagonal 63°, side 47°) and the large image format (53 * 53 mm) helped them in framing.
The 500 mm ...
- 48.7k
35
votes
Accepted
Has anyone in space seen or photographed a simple laser pointer from Earth?
Don Pettit mentioned a an experiment set up with the San Antonio Astronomical Society who pointed both spotlights and a blue laser pointer at the ISS, pictured below in a 5-10 second exposure:
I ...
- 9,367
31
votes
Have spacecraft photographed each other beyond Earth orbit?
some examples:
LRO images of the Apollo landing sites. This is Apollo 11:
Cassini and Huygens: this is Huygens as seen by Cassini, 12 hours after Huygens was released.
Rosetta and Philae. ...
- 125k
30
votes
Accepted
Why is so much of InSight visible in this image?
That image was taken by the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC). It's located on the arm. With the arm in stowed position, it's logical that a section of the deck is in view.
In other words, it's an ...
- 125k
30
votes
Accepted
Why not a "live" visual connection with Curiosity on Mars all the time?
Why not? Because we can't.
We don't have full-time communication with Curiosity: Curiosity sends data to the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey. These are overhead twice a day at 12-hour ...
- 125k
28
votes
Accepted
Who zoomed the video camera in and out when David Scott dropped the feather and hammer on the Moon?
Ed Fendell, a controller in Houston was controlling the rover camera.
It’s in the EVA-3 mission logs.
https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.clsout3.html
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26
votes
Where are the pictures during the time the pictures are sent from space to home?
Spacecraft that take pictures take them similar to a digital camera. However, the camera is very far away. Similar to downloading a movie off of a website so you can watch it on your local device, it ...
- 121k
26
votes
Rock arches on the moon?
There's a saying, "ask 4 geologists about a geological feature and you'll get 5 or 6 answers, maybe more".
My interpretation of what you have highlighted is not a rock arch - an arched rock ...
- 12.5k
25
votes
How did Apollo 16 capture this full photograph of the Moon's far side?
The initial Lunar orbit was roughly 100x300 km, with the further point being at the far side. From the mission transcripts, we learn of a request to photograph the Moon at the terminator, at the far ...
- 121k
22
votes
Accepted
Are pictures taken from ISS geolocalized?
In actuality it works like this:
The location of the ISS at the time Earth photos are taken by the US ISS crew is calculated by the ground. The process is called 'Crew Earth Observation' and it's ...
- 177k
22
votes
Rock arches on the moon?
If it helps, following the citation trail leads to the back side of the same rock formation being visible on three other photographs on the same reel of film:
https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/AS16-...
21
votes
Usage of Apollo Lunar Surface Hasselblad Camera with 500 mm lens?
As it happens, on Apollo 17, Gene Cernan got a picture of Jack Schmitt using a handheld camera with the 500mm lens on the surface of the moon! At the Station 6 site, Schmitt braced himself against a ...
- 166k
21
votes
Was the "Earthrise" witnessed by Apollo 8 the first available "full" photo of the Earth?
Although not a blue marble as it's in black and white, Lunar Orbiter 1 took an earlier Earthrise photo on August 23, 1966. This is the first picture of the Earth from Lunar orbit.
In 2008, the Lunar ...
- 821
20
votes
Accepted
Is the Hubble's orbit larger than that of the moon?
No, Hubble is in low Earth orbit, much lower than the Moon. The shuttle delivered it to orbit, and the Shuttle can't get near the Moon.
The image you reference is very similar to one that came from ...
- 121k
20
votes
Accepted
Have astronauts in space suits ever taken selfies? If so, how?
Several space selfies were made and chances are you already know the very first one Buzz Aldrin took of himself during Gemini 12.
The cameras used are large-ish but imagine even holding a shoe box in ...
- 12.5k
20
votes
Accepted
Could New Horizons take a "Pale Blue Dot"-like image this year?
From the Johns Hopkins University page:
It is possible that another flyby target can be found and reached with
New Horizons' remaining fuel supply. And after that? Another exciting
possibility ...
- 48.7k
19
votes
Where are the pictures during the time the pictures are sent from space to home?
(10 year old version)
The pictures are sent by radio, and the radio signals travel at the speed of light. Although the speed of light is very fast, it is not unlimited, and space probes can be very ...
- 177k
19
votes
Accepted
Did the medium range KTM tracking cameras for the Shuttle really have a "150 inch lens"?
The lens is a Brashear (now L3) SR 150 lens.
Focal length 150" - 3810 mm
Aperture 15.4" - 391 mm
This is a Cassegrain-type lens. The lenses are installed on an L3 Kineto Tracking Mount.
A really ...
- 125k
19
votes
Accepted
Has the Earth's red atmosphere rim ever been photographed?
As discussed here, very few satellites have ever orbited at a higher altitude than the moon, making images from lunar orbiters our highest imagers of eclipses from orbit. In fact, in order to get a 1:...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible