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Historic Pairing: Shuttle Docked To the ISS

Posted by timothy on from the hey-baby-want-to-exchange-air-supplies? dept.

astroengine writes "It's been imaged in artists' renderings, but never before in actual photos: the sight of a space shuttle berthed at the International Space Station. This view of shuttle Endeavour, taken by Italian astronaut Paulo Nespoli from aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule on May 23, is the culmination of 36 space shuttle missions to build the outpost over the past 12 years. NASA wanted the shot before it retires the shuttle fleet after one final mission in July."

19 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Here is a very good video by ianare · · Score: 2

    man, at least be a little original !

  2. It's all about the angle by ianare · · Score: 2

    This one has a much better view. It's the mir station though.

    1. Re:It's all about the angle by Anonymous+Freak · · Score: 2

      Wow. That shows the truly massive difference in size between Mir and ISS.

      I thought there had been a similar shot of ISS when it was smaller, too, but I can't seem to find it. Maybe I was thinking of that Mir shot.

      --
      Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
      The purpose of that site was not known.
    2. Re:It's all about the angle by Soft · · Score: 2

      The ISS equivalent would be that one, which gives you a better view of Endeavour, but misses out a lot of the ISS.

  3. Not True by WatcherXP · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Too bad about the "but never before in actual photos" statement, as this is not actually true.

    http://blog.polignostix.com/wp-content/gallery/iss-sun/3.jpg

    --
    09-f9-11-02-9* (G^GCA_++{>. RV>>>>+++ NO CARRIER
    1. Re:Not True by Soft · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Here's a couple of more recent ones, including videos, also taken from the ground (by the same photographer, probably): http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/STS-134.html

  4. What I'll miss most... by Soft · · Score: 4, Informative
    Now that Paolo Nespoli is back on the ground, I'll miss the updates on his photo album, where he regularly treated us with pictures of Earth, cities, and fun stuff on the ISS itself. Fortunately, they're still online!

    (And it's Paolo, not Paulo; he's Italian, not Portuguese...)

  5. Re:It's not just an image... by Soft · · Score: 2

    True enough. But now that the money is spent, shouldn't we at least enjoy the view?

  6. Labels? by Lifyre · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now if someone could just label all the different parts and what they do it would be useful for those of us who think this is cool but don't exactly follow it closely.

    For clarity I mean more than 1) Space Shuttle 2) International Space Station. I think I got that part figured out.

    --
    I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
    1. Re:Labels? by Satis · · Score: 2

      Wikimedia has a bunch of diagrams of the ISS you could probably use.

      https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/Category:Diagrams_of_the_International_Space_Station

      --
      Satis clankiller.com
    2. Re:Labels? by Soft · · Score: 2

      For clarity I mean more than 1) Space Shuttle 2) International Space Station. I think I got that part figured out.

      And 3) Soyuz 4) Progress 5) ATV, for there are three other vehicles docked to the ISS in this picture.

      I'll try (just from memory; hopefully people will correct my mistakes). From top to bottom:

      • 1) Space shuttle Endeavour.
      • 2) Connecting node (which one? There are 3 but I see only 2), with I believe European lab Columbus partly hidden on the left and two-module Japanese lab Kibo on the right. There ought to be a logistics module somewhere there, maybe behind?
      • 3) US lab Destiny.
      • 4) The big truss, with 4x4 solar panels, the big radiators and the arm on its chariot.
      • 5) Connecting node Unity (second launched), with a couple of smaller modules I'm not sure about.
      • 6) Russian module Zarya (first launched), with a dedicated EVA airlock facing the camera.
      • 7) Russian module Zvezda (third launched), with a Soyuz spacecraft and a Progress cargo (don't know which is which) on its ring of docking ports
      • 8) European cargo Johannes Kepler (the X-wing-like thing docked to Zvezda's aft docking port).
  7. Am I the only one... by DG · · Score: 2

    ...who hears the Star Trek - The Motion Picture "Enterprise in Dock Fly-by" music in my head when I look at those pictures?

    The Blue Danube would also be an acceptable answer.

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
  8. Re:Oblig. by h4rr4r · · Score: 2

    I have heard some of this can be attributed to the clearness of the image since it is not being shot through air. Not sure if that is even close to true though.

  9. Re:It's not just an image... by johnlcallaway · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This post and it's parent are why I so rarely read Slashdot anymore. It's occupied by a bunch of self-centered elitists who cannot think outside of their own warped sense of reality based on only paying attention to articles they agree with so they don't have to think, they just repeat sound bites heard elsewhere. Please score them both as -20 ... no content worth reading.

    Then add this post to the same list.

    --
    I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
  10. fake! by jabberw0k · · Score: 2

    Because the moon landing was faked, as are all those "manned" rocket missions, and satellites, and evolution; and the earth is flat and the sun goes around it, and Noah's Ark was real despite the fact that one pair each of seven types of elephants at the zoo standard of 150 pounds of food a day would have eaten 300 tons of food -- six railroad hopper cars full -- in the ten months and 13 days they stayed in the Ark (see Genesis 8:13), and that's just the elephants, but don't bother me with facts, because my mind's made up!

  11. Size by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2

    Either the Shuttle is larger than I thought, or the ISS is smaller than I thought.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  12. Re:It's not just an image... by AngryDeuce · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can think of a hundred other things my money is spent on that I think is more of a waste than the Shuttle Program. I'd rather my taxes go to science and furthering human understanding the universe than, say, prosecuting and incarcerating people for possessing the dried out leaves of a plant that grows wild because (horror of horrors) some people like to smoke it and get high.

    But I guess we all have to accept a little give and take when it comes to our tax money, right?

  13. Yeah, right... by denzacar · · Score: 2

    Russian capsules, Italian photo-taking astronauts (as if...)...

    Clearly the simpler solution is that it was shopped. William of Ockham says so.
    And you can't fight him. Not just cause he packs a blade, but also cause he's been dead for a very long time.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  14. Well, if we're gonna nitpick... by denzacar · · Score: 2

    NASA has 4 Space Shuttles. Only one of them actually flies any more.

    Enterprise never flew to space and has been in a museum for a long time now.
    Discovery got decommissioned earlier this year and is on its way to a museum.
    Endeavour is in the process of decommissioning.
    Atlantis is the only remaining Shuttle that is actually operational.

    Oh and... My original post was a joke. You know... Ha-ha, LOL, +1 Funny and all that...

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens