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Forum:	Free Space
Topic:	[Video] What does it feel like to fly over Earth?

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by Paul23: [B]Excellent video clip[/B][/QUOTE]
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#ffffff" FACE="arial, helvetica">T O P I C     R E V I E W</font></CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="arial, helvetica">Robert Pearlman</FONT></TD><TD><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="arial, helvetica">For the full effect, view the video in full screen and in HD resolution by first clicking on the right-most button at the bottom of the video and then once starting the video playing, select the highest resolution ("Original") from the drop down menu.<P><BLOCKQUOTE><font size="+0"><B>What does it feel like to fly over planet Earth?</B></font><P><center><iframe width="400" height="301" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/74mhQyuyELQ?rel=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night.

This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica.

Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the Amazon.

Also visible is the Earth's ionosphere (thin yellow line) and the stars of our galaxy.

Raw data from: The Gateway To Astronaut Photography of Earth.

bcrussell

Very nice!

ejectr

Words just don't describe what you see there.

music_space

Photography from orbit often use fisheye and other type of lenses which portray wide angles of view at the expense of some types of distortion.

One of the most common public misconceptions induced by such photography concerns the curvature of the Earth. I am not a flat-earther, however I doubt that the curvature of the Earth as seen from the ISS is as pronounced as this video, even viewed with its "original" resolution.

Yet, usually, the most severe distortion induced by wide-angle photography happen on the outside of the picture. In this instance, the solar arrays visible on top should appear curved, while the limb of the earth, being closer to the center, should be seen with less of a curvature.

What gives? Is there some special lenses which displace or eliminate the wide-angle distortion effects? Or is the Earth curvature as seen from ISS really this pronounced?

garymilgrom

I think the curvature looks just like that. It's very similar to photos from shuttle missions in slightly lower orbits.

Remember early pioneers who took balloons up to 100,000 feet reported seeing the curvature of the earth, so from 10 times higher this should be easily visible.

issman1

I've been a human spaceflight devotee since the mid-1980s, but am just awed and mesmerized looking at this.

Paul23

Excellent video clip

music_space

quote:
Originally posted by music_space:
Or is the Earth curvature as seen from ISS really this pronounced?

Ah Ha! Consider this picture composition depicting the Earth as seen from Gemini XI while at a higher altitude (source: the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation).

On this picture, the curvature of the planet is about the same as seen in the low-orbiting ISS video. Hence, one of the two pictures is 'lying', and I insist that the ISS video is the one being geometrically incorrect.

It turns out that I raised a similar concern with Spirit in this forum topic back in 2004.

SpaceAholic

And a fitting companion video (although technically the descent is not from space).

music_space

quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAholic:
And a fitting companion video.

That is a SRB, right? I love the *sound* of this video!

Not quite "falling from orbit" indeed, unlike what the YouTube title suggests. To see and feel what it is to deorbit from, say, a manned Soyuz spacecraft, just wait to see the upcoming documentary about the spaceflight of Guy Laliberté!

David Carey

Ran across this today; seems to be a longer and possibly different view from ISS via time-lapse with lots of aurora borealis action. Lovely.

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