Fire & Ice… The red hue comes from the iron oxide which is plentiful in this area of the Namib dessert of Namibia. BUT, the colors are not quite realistic. This is one of the European Space Agency satellite photos that have been recolored as part of an art/science collaborative exhibition called Spaceship Earth.
Here the location via Google maps if you are curious: link.
And here a few more of my favorite images from taken from ESA satellite:
NASA was officially created on October 1st, 1958 to “provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and for other purposes.” However, space and aeronautics research was being conducted for several decades before NASA’s inception under the guidance of NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
The images seen here are just a sample of the gorgeous photographs taken during the infancy of the United States Space Program.
Vintage NASA Photographs
Pictured at the top is the Explorer XVII Satellite, a pressurized stainless steel sphere which measured the density, composition, pressure and temperature of Earth’s atmosphere after its launch from Cape Canaveral on April 3, 1963
This image, taken in 1950, features a 19 foot Pressure Wind Tunnel at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory.
(April 15, 1944) Engine on Torque Stand at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio, now known as the John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
(Sept. 23, 1969) The Apollo 11 astronauts (1st people to walk on the Moon), Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins, wearing sombreros and ponchos, are swarmed by thousands in Mexico City as their motorcade is slowed by the enthusiastic crowd.
(June 16, 1969) A Lunar Landing Training Vehicle, piloted by Astronaut Neil Armstrong, goes through a checkout flight at Ellington Air Force Base on June 16, 1969.
(August 25, 1949) An engine mechanic checks instrumentation prior to an investigation of engine operating characteristics and thrust control of a large turboprop Python engine with counter-rotating propellers under high-altitude flight conditions in the 20-foot-dianieter test section of the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio, now known as the John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field.
The United States had a clear goal — beat the Russians the Moon — and in 1969, we succeeded. However, I can’t help but feel our space program has been a bit lost ever since…
The Cassini space probe was launched back in 1997 and made it to Saturn in 2004 after an interplanetary voyage which included flybys of Venus and Jupiter. I recently stumbled across this article on the Huffington Post, and I decided it might be a good time to share my favorite images from the Saturn portion of Cassini’s journey.
“A Splendor Seldom Seen
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has delivered a glorious view of Saturn, taken while the spacecraft was in Saturn’s shadow. The cameras were turned toward Saturn and the sun so that the planet and rings are backlit. (The sun is behind the planet, which is shielding the cameras from direct sunlight.) In addition to the visual splendor, this special, very-high-phase viewing geometry lets scientists study ring and atmosphere phenomena not easily seen at a lower phase.
Colorful Colossi and Changing Hues
A giant of a moon appears before a giant of a planet undergoing seasonal changes in this natural color view of Titan and Saturn from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, measures 3,200 miles, or 5,150 kilometers, across and is larger than the planet Mercury. Cassini scientists have been watching the moon’s south pole since a vortex appeared in its atmosphere in 2012. See PIA14919 and PIA14920 to learn more about this mass of swirling gas around the pole in the atmosphere of the moon. buy vidalista generic cialisnextdaydeliveryusa.com over the counter
Peeping Mimas
Saturn’s moon Mimas peeps out from behind the larger moon Dione in this view from the Cassini spacecraft.
Mimas (246 miles, or 396 kilometers across) is near the bottom center of the image. Saturn’s rings are also visible in the top right.
Angling Saturn
The Cassini spacecraft takes an angled view toward Saturn, showing the southern reaches of the planet with the rings on a dramatic diagonal.
The moon Enceladus (313 miles, or 504 kilometers across) appears as a small, bright speck in the lower left of the image.
Strong Jet in False Colors
A particularly strong jet stream churns through Saturn’s northern hemisphere in this false-color view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
Saturn’s North Pole, Wide View
This image from NASA’s Cassini mission was taken on Nov. 27, 2012, with Cassini’s wide-angle imaging camera. The camera was pointing toward Saturn from approximately 233,742 miles (376,171 kilometers) away. buy vilitra generic cialisnextdaydeliveryusa.com over the counter
Storm Tail in False Color
This false-color mosaic from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows the tail of Saturn’s huge northern storm.
Wispy Dione
This raw image of Saturn’s moon Dione taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows the fractured region known as “wispy terrain.” The image was obtained on Dec. 20, 2010, from a distance of about 107,000 kilometers (66,000 miles). buy Sildenafil generic buywithoutprescriptionrxonline.com over the counter
Majestic Saturn, in the Infrared
This false-color composite image, constructed from data obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, shows Saturn’s rings and southern hemisphere.”