 |
Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Вид планеты Земля с космического корабля #1 http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1198541/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Scaled Composites
Explanation:
On
June 21st, pilot Mike Melvill made a historic flight
in the winged craft
dubbed SpaceShipOne -- the first private
manned mission to space.
The spaceship reached an altitude of just over 62 miles
(100 kilometers) on a
suborbital trajectory,
similar to the early spaceflights in NASA's
Mercury Program.
So, how was the view?
A video camera on an earlier
test
flight that climbed 40 miles recorded this picture
looking west over the southern California coast and
the Earth's limb.
In the foreground, the nozzle of SpaceShipOne's hybrid
rocket is visible along with
the edge of the wing in a "feathered" configuration
for reentry.
SpaceShipOne was designed and built by
Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites to
compete for the 10 million dollar
X Prize.
Announcement:
The APOD
main server will be unavailable this weekend due to
maintenance.
Scheduled downtime is June 25 (6:00pm ET)
through June 28 (6:00am ET).
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.