SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft is expected to complete the CRS-1 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station on Sunday, October 28. The spacecraft will detach from the ISS and return to earth completing its first resupply mission to the station.
Earlier this month, I was able to capture photographs of the ISS and SpaceX/Dragon flying across the night sky just before the craft docked with the station.
ISS and SpaceX/Dragon fly across the sky prior to docking.SpaceX/Dragon mission to the International Space Station
In this pair of images the SpaceX/Dragon capsule races to catch the ISS as the pair move across the western sky separated by about 20 seconds. The first image is a composite of seven images each of 30 seconds duration and show the pair rising up from the west. The second image is a single 30-s exposure that shows the separation and how Dragon trails ISS.
History was made in May when the unmanned spacecraft Dragon, perched atop the Falcon 9, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center by the Space Exploration (SpaceX) company. This was the first privately-built spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS).
The original launch was delayed by a few days when at the last second (literally, at the last half second!) the onboard computers automatically shut everything down.
Once successfully launched Dragon then began the process of matching orbits with the ISS in preparation for docking with the station. It would undergo a series of tests to make certain that the commands were correctly executed before being allowed to dock.
As the pair of spacecraft flew overhead in the early morning of 24 May, I was able to capture a series of photographs that showed the very bright ISS close to the very dim Dragon. As I was capturing the images, however, I wondered where the Dragon was — as I was unable to see it. Only after loading the images onto the computer and zooming in was I able to see the two spacecraft.
ISS and SpaceX/Dragon as they fly in tandem across the early morning sky in northern Arizona.ISS and SpaceX/Dragon as they fly in tandem across the early morning sky in northern Arizona.
The first image is a composite of three images each of 15 seconds duration. If you look very carefully you can see the dim track of Dragon just a few pixels below the bright track of ISS. The second image is a single, cropped image zoomed to 200% that does a better job of showing the two spacecraft as they flew together.
At this time, the Dragon was likely undergoing its command tests and was only a few miles from the larger ISS.
This flight was a historic moment for the true beginning of commercial spaceflight and I feel lucky to have been able to capture a sequence of photographs as it underwent its first space test.
Venus and Jupiter continue to shine brightly in the western twilight sky each evening. The two planets have been converging and will be closest on the evenings of March 12 and 13 when they will have an angular separation of only three degrees (about the same as six moon diameters).
Conjunction of Jupiter, Venus, and the ISS over the Kachina Wetlands near Flagstaff, Arizona.
On the evening of 01 March 2012 the International Space Station (ISS) made an evening transit low in the western sky. Its track placed it just below the planetary pair resulting in a great photographic opportunity. Shooting a total of six 30s exposures captured the ISS rising from the low hills to its high point just below the planets then moving into the southwestern sky. The 1st-quarter moon provided more than enough light to brighten up the scenery of the Kachina Wetlands with reflections of the planets visible in the water.
We all know about the International Space Station (ISS). Many people have watched as it flies overhead as a brilliant point of light moving across the sky.
But now it is no longer the only space station in the sky. On 29 September 2011 China launched its own space station known as Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”). It’s not as bright as the ISS and thus less noticeable to most observers.
Tiangong and Shenzou spacecraft moving across the pre-dawn sky.
Then, on 01 November 2011, China launched the Shenzhou-8, an unmanned spacecraft designed to dock with Tiangong. And early on the morning of 02 November 2011, both spacecraft passed overhead cutting through the constellation Orion. Just a few hours later, Shenzou-8 successfully docked with Tiangong.
As the Endeavour (STS-134) mission comes to an end NASA is one step closer to the final chapter of the Space Shuttle program. The Discovery has already flown its final mission. The upcoming flight of Atlantis will be the final and last shuttle mission.
ISS and STS-134 along with frozen cloud of ice particles from a vented tank over northern Arizona.
Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 8:55 pm MST 29 May 2011 (0355 UTC 30 May 2011) and began a slow separation from the ISS in preparation for its landing on Wednesday. The double flyby of the ISS and the STS-134 Endeavour over northern Arizona early this morning resulted in this spectacular image as the two spacecraft emerged from Earth’s shadow. In preparation for its return to Earth Endeavour had vented its tanks creating an ice cloud in space that was moving along with the two craft.
This is a composite of eight images of 15 seconds duration. There is a small gap between each image as the camera shutter briefly closed. Also visible in this image in the upper right is the faint track of another earth orbiting satellite — most likely COSMOS 2228 Nova 1.
Edit: Received information that the satellite is Nova1.
