Jet contrail shadows may appear to be cast by a low-altitude bright light shining upwards. In fact, this shadow is normally cast on clouds below the jet and its contrail. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/jet-contrail-casts-a-shadow…
Tag: altitude
Get ready for Perseverance’s landing on Mars February 18
Some call attempts to land on Mars “7 minutes of terror.” The Perseverance mission will provide the most detailed video and photos of a landing yet. We’ll watch ourselves land on another planet, for the first time ever. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/get-ready-nasa-perseverance-landing-feb2021…
Satellite spots SpaceX’s Starship SN9 from space ahead of explosive test flight
New satellite imagery shows SpaceX’s Starship prototype poised on the launch pad ahead of its high-altitude test flight Tuesday (Feb. 2), which saw the prototype crash-land after successfully completing complex maneuvers in flight. Source: https://www.livescience.com/spacex-starship-sn9-satellite-images-before-explosion.html
A robot submarine could explore Titan’s deepest sea
A new study of data from NASA’s bountiful Cassini mission shows that Titan’s largest methane sea, Kraken Mare, is at least 1,000 feet – 300 meters – deep near its center. That’s plenty of room for a future robotic submarine to explore. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/titans-largest-sea-kraken-mare-is-1000-feet-deep…
Darkened SpaceX Satellites Can Still Disrupt Astronomy, New Research Suggests
“SpaceX’s attempt to reduce the reflectivity of Starlink satellites is working, but not to the degree required by astronomers,” reports Gizmodo:
Starlink satellites with an anti-reflective coating are half as bright as the standard version, according to research published in The Astrophysical Journal. It’s an improvement, but still not good enough, according to the team, led by astronomer Takashi Horiuchi from the…
Air pressure makes Mount Everest ‘shrink’ by thousands of feet, new study finds
Seasonal changes in air pressure sometimes make Mount Everest’s “perceived elevation” to shrink by thousands of feet, a new study finds. Source: https://www.livescience.com/mount-everest-air-pressure-perceived-altitude.html
Is that a UFO?! There’s probably an explanation
Most Unidentified Flying Objects aren’t actually unidentified. Here’s a list of phenomena, either natural or human-made, that people often mistake for UFOs. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/if-its-not-a-ufo-what-is-it…
SpaceX’s Successful Starship High-Altitude Flight Ends In a Fiery Explosion
Thelasko shares a report from Engadget: After a successful launch, the Starship rose and successfully maneuvered its way to the landing area. However, it appeared that the spacecraft didn’t slow down enough for a proper landing, and it exploded in thrilling fashion. On the live feed, SpaceX said the test was successful and noted it would be moving on to testing…
SpaceX aborts Starship SN8 prototype test launch at last second
SpaceX’s first attempt to launch a Starship prototype on a high-altitude test flight ended with a last-second abort in Texas on Tuesday (Dec. 8). Source: https://www.livescience.com/spacex-starship-sn8-launch-abort.html
Test flight of SpaceX’s Starship aborted at last second
The first high-altitude test flight of SpaceX’s futuristic Starship was aborted at the last second in Texas on Tuesday. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-flight-spacex-starship-aborted.html…