Astronaut Douglas Wheelock's incredible photos from space. Space portholes What portholes are made of on spaceships

Famous photo "Rise of the Earth"(Earthrise, NASA image number AS08-14-2383), and included in the catalog of 100 photographs that changed the world according to LIFE magazine, was taken by astronaut William Alison Anders on December 24, 1968 from the Apollo spacecraft. 8 ", when he performed the fourth orbit artificial satellite The moon. This photograph is one of the most famous photographs of Earth from space.

As a small digression, the article was written on December 24, the 45th anniversary of Earthrise, and was a kind of reaction to previous publications, where astronaut William Anders was called the "likely" author of the famous photograph. There were also inaccuracies, which led me to the idea of ​​writing this article. The moderation process took several days, but as soon as the "invite" arrived, the article was immediately transferred from the "drafts" to the "Cosmonautics" hub.

Few people know that AS08-14-2383 was not the first photograph of the Earth taken from a similar perspective, that is, the Moon rising above the horizon. Commander Frank Frederick Borman, who was in the left command chair, controlled the spacecraft's roll according to the flight plan (turn 180 ° to the right) for a fixed imaging of the lunar surface through the left docking porthole using a rigidly mounted 70 mm Hasselblad 500 camera with an 80mm Zeiss Planar lens (f / 2.8), which took automatic images of the lunar surface at 20-second intervals on black and white tape D ().

Anders, who was near the right seat, photographed the lunar surface through the right side window of the command module on 70 mm black and white film using a Hasselblad 500EL camera with a 250 mm Zeiss Sonnar lens (f / 5.6), while commenting on his observations for recording on the onboard dictaphone. The right porthole, due to the roll-over, turned out to be turned just towards the Earth, when the Apollo-8 spacecraft began to go out from behind the far side of the Moon. Anders was the first astronaut to see the Earth ascending. The first three orbits in the lunar orbit, no one saw it. Seeing the Earth, Anders said: “My God, look at the picture here! This is the rise of the Earth. Wow, that's cute! " Bormann saw that Anders was going to photograph the Earth, ironically joked: "Hey, don't do this, it's not according to plan." Survey of the Earth was not included in the plans of scientists developing scientific program for the astronauts of the Apollo-8 spacecraft. After Bormann's ironic remark, Anders, laughing at the commander's joke, took a single shot of the rising Earth (AS08-13-2329) on black and white tape of cassette E ():

Immediately after this picture was taken, Anders asked command module pilot James Arthur Lovell (Jr.), who was on the sextant side of his workstation (Lower Equipment Bay) and was engaged in navigation of the ship, to give him a cassette with a color tape: “Do you have a colored film, Jim? Give me the color tape, quickly, please? " Lovell supported the idea and asked: "Where is she?" Anders hurried him, suggesting that the cassette was color-coded. Finding one cassette, Lovell noted that it was "C 368" (meaning color film SO-368, "ectachrome" from Eastman Kodak Company). Anders calmly continued: “Anything. Quickly." Immediately after Lovell transmitted the film to Anders, the latter realized that the Earth had left the view of the side window. At the same time, Anders said: "So, I think we lost it." At this time, due to the rotation of the spacecraft, the Earth could already be observed through the right docking porthole and the porthole of the entrance hatch. Lovell told Anders where to take the picture. Anders, asking Lovell to move away, took his famous shot of AS08-14-2383 through the porthole:

After clarifying the focus settings in a short discussion with Lovell, Anders took a second, less well-known, color image AS08-14-2384 through the right docking porthole, in which the Earth is slightly higher above the moon's horizon than in the first color image:

Subsequently, 4 more photos of the Earth's rise were taken (AS08-14-2385 - AS08-14-2388), and on the next fifth orbit, 8 more photos (AS08-14-2389 - AS08-14-2396), but they were not so impressive (example - photo AS08-14-2392):

These 12 shots were taken through the right docking porthole.
Color film cassette is available here:.

The ground in the pictures looked like this:

Antarctica was on the left side of the image (at 10 o'clock);
- the central part of the Earth view was occupied by the Atlantic Ocean with cyclones and anticyclones;
- on the sunlit western part of Africa, along the terminator, from left to right you can see the Namib Desert, Namibia, the southern part of Angola and the western part of the Sahara. These areas are not covered by clouds. A significant part of the territory of Central Africa and the historical region of Guinea (including the Gulf of Guinea) is covered with layers of clouds.

The animation, commented by renowned Apollo historian Andrew L. Chaikin and made in Scientific Visualization Studio (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), shows a reconstruction of these events. The moon is modeled according to images from high resolution taken with the automatic interplanetary station LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter):

Negotiations of astronauts while photographing the rising of the Earth (in English, the indicated time is flight time, counted from the moment of launch):
075: 47: 30 Anders: “Oh my God, look at that picture over there! There "s the Earth comin" up. Wow, is that pretty! "
075: 47: 37 Bormann: (ironically) "Hey, don" t take that, it "s not scheduled."
Laughing, Anders takes a picture of AS08-13-2329 through the side window.
075: 47: 39 Anders: "You got a color film, Jim?"
075: 47: 46 Anders: "Hand me a roll of color, quick, would you?"
075: 47: 48 Lovell: "Oh man, that" s great! Where is it? "
075: 47: 50 Anders: “Hurry. Quick. "
075: 47: 54 Bormann: "Gee."
075: 47: 55 Lovell: "Down here?"
075: 47: 56 Anders: “Just grab me a color. A color exterior. "
075: 48: 00 Lovell: (inaudible)
075: 48: 01 Anders: "Hurry up."
075: 48: 06 Anders: "Got one?"
075: 48: 08 Lovell: “Yeah, I" m lookin "for one. C 368. "
075: 48: 11 Anders: “Anything. Quick. "
075: 48: 13 Lovell: "Here."
075: 48: 17 Anders: "Well, I think we missed it."
075: 48: 31 Lovell: "Hey, I got it right here." (Lovell saw the Earth through the porthole of the entrance hatch)
075: 48: 33 Anders: "Let me get it out this one, it" s a lot clearer. " (Anders asks Lovell to clear space at the porthole of the access hatch, after which he takes his famous shot AS08-14-2383)
075: 48: 37 Lovell: "Bill, I got it framed, it" s very clear right here! (Meaning the right docking porthole) Got it? "
075: 48: 41 Anders: "Yep."
075: 48: 42 Bormann: "Well, take several of them."
075: 48: 43 Lovell: "Take several, take several of" em! Here, give it to me. "
075: 48: 44 Anders: "Wait a minute, just let me get the right setting here now, just calm down."
075: 48: 47 Bormann: "Calm down, Lovell!"
075: 48: 49 Lovell: "Well I got it right-aw, that" s a beautiful shot. "
075: 48: 54 Lovell: "Two-fifty at f / 11."
Anders captures AS08-14-2384 through the right docking porthole.
075: 49: 07 Anders: "Okay."
075: 49: 08 Lovell: "Now vary-vary the exposure a little bit."
075: 49: 09 Anders: “I did. I took twoo of "em here."
075: 49: 11 Lovell: "You sure you got it now?"
075: 49: 12 Anders: "Yeah, we" ll get - well, it "ll come up again I think."
075: 49: 17 Lovell: "Just take another one, Bill."

On July 20, 1969, the astronauts of the manned spacecraft " Apollo 11"Became the first people to set foot on the lunar surface. Years of effort, dangerous experiments and ambitious missions have led the inhabitants of the Earth to land on the surface of another celestial body for the first time in history. This event was watched live by millions of people around the world. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin left Earth on Wednesday, landed on the Moon on Sunday, spent just over two hours on the lunar surface, placed a set of scientific instruments and collected samples of lunar soil, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean the following Thursday.

In the sequel, a grandiose gallery of photographs of this historic mission is presented.


NASA
Astronaut Edwin Aldrin, pilot of the lunar module, on the lunar surface near the support of the lunar module "Eagle" July 20, 1969. This image was taken by astronaut Neil Armstrong, crew commander of the Apollo 11 mission. While Aldrin and Armstrong explored the Sea of ​​Tranquility, astronaut Michael Collins, the command module pilot, remained in Columbia in lunar orbit.


NASA
Apollo 11 crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin Aldrin.


NASA
Aerial view of the Saturn 5 launch vehicle for the Apollo 11 mission, May 20, 1969.


NASA
Apollo 11 crew members and Astronaut Squad Leader Donald Slayton during their traditional launch breakfast on July 16, 1969.


NASA
Technicians work atop the white room through which astronauts enter the spacecraft on July 11, 1969.


AP Photo / File
Neil Armtsrong and the crew of the Apollo 11 mission before being sent to the launch pad for the launch to the moon at the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, July 16, 1969.


AP Photo / Edwin Reichert
Berliners stand in front of a TV store window as they watch the Apollo 11 mission begin on July 16, 1969.


NASA
Apollo 11 took off on Wednesday, July 16, 1969. At the launch of the Saturn-5 launch vehicle, the thrust force was 34.5 million Newtons.


AFP / Getty Images
US Vice President Spiro Agnew and former US President Lyndon Johnson oversee the launch of the Apollo 11 mission at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, July 16, 1969.


NASA
View of the Apollo 11 flight from a Boeing EC-135N aircraft.


NASA
View of the planet Earth from the Apollo 11 manned spacecraft.


NASA
This picture was taken by astronaut Neil Armstrong before landing on the moon. In the photo - Edwin Aldrin in the lunar module.


NASA
View of the lunar module against the background of the Earth during the stay of astronauts on the lunar surface.


NASA
Having reached the lunar orbit, the view of the Daedalus crater from the Apollo 11.


NASA
A view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft of the Earth ascending above the lunar horizon.


NASA
Command Module Columbia over craters in the Sea of ​​Plenty.


NASA
Astronauts who were in contact with the Apollo 11 crew: Charles Moss Duke, James Arthur Lovell, and Fred Wallace Hayes.


NASA
Lunar module "Eagle" in the landing configuration. The image was taken in lunar orbit using the Columbia command module.


NASA
Neil Armstrong's porthole view of the lunar craters Messier and Messier A.


AP Photo
Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong steps onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.


AFP / Getty Images
In Paris, France, a family watches as the Apollo 11 commander steps onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.


NASA
The first photograph taken by Neil Armstrong after reaching the lunar surface. The white bag in the foreground is a garbage bag.


NASA
Crater next to the Eagle lunar module.


NASA
One of the first footprints left by Edwin Aldrin, a member of the Apollo 11 crew.


NASA
The shadow of Edwin Aldrin against the background of the lunar surface.


NASA
Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. The picture was taken by astronaut Neil Armstrong.


NASA
A crowd in New York City Central Park watches the Apollo 11 crew as they land on the moon, July 20, 1969.


NASA
Aldrin unpacks experimental equipment from the lunar module.


NASA
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin carries experimental equipment to be deployed on the lunar surface.


NASA
Aldrin assembles passive seismic experimental equipment - a device for measuring moonquakes.


AP Photo
A family in Tokyo, Japan, watching US President Richard Nixon speak on TV as Apollo 11 astronauts cheer live from the moon in July 1969.


NASA
Armstrong photographs the Eagle lunar module.


NASA
The module located on the surface of the Moon against the background of the Earth.


NASA
Lunar module ladder and memorial plate: “Here people from planet Earth first set foot on the Moon. July 1969 AD. We have come in peace on behalf of all humanity. "


NASA
Astronaut Neil Armstrong in the lunar module after a historic walk on the moon.


NASA
After taking off from the lunar surface, the Eagle module prepares for docking with the command module in the background.


NASA
View of the full lunar disk.


NASA
Land in the window of the Columbia command module during the return flight.


AP Photo
Crew members of the Apollo 11 mission aboard a helicopter after a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, July 24, 1969.


NASA
Controllers at the Houston Manned Space Flight Center greeted the successful completion of the Apollo 11 mission on July 24, 1969.


NASA
US President Richard Nixon greets the Apollo 11 crew in a quarantine van. Left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin Aldrin.


NASA
New Yorkers salute a convoy of Apollo 11 astronauts along 42nd Street towards the United Nations building.


NASA
Astronauts in sombreros and ponchos surround an astonished crowd in Mexico City during a presidential goodwill tour, in which the Apollo 11 crew and their wives traveled to 27 cities in twenty-four countries in forty-five days.

"Post from the Past": Colonel Douglas H. Wheelock took over command of the International Space Station and the crew of Expedition 25 on September 22, after the Expedition 23 crew was sent into space. board the space station. We bring to your attention incredible, breathtaking photos of our planet from an unusual point of view. Comments provided by Douglas.

1. Forward, "Discovery"! On October 23, 2007, at 11:40 am, I went into space for the first time on the Discovery shuttle. He's beautiful ... too bad this is his last flight. I look forward to boarding the ship and it will arrive at the station in November.

2. Earthly radiance. A space station in a blue terrestrial glow, which appears when the rising sun penetrates the subtle atmosphere of our planet, and the station is flooded with blue light. I will never forget this place ... this kind of soul sings, but the heart wants to fly.

3. NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock.

4. Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Africa. The amazing color scheme of these places rivals the views of the Caribbean Sea.

5. Northern lights in the distance on one of the beautiful nights over Europe. The photo clearly shows the Strait of Dover, however, like Paris, the city of lights. Light fog over western England, particularly London. How incredible it is to see the lights of cities and towns against the background of deep space. I will miss this view of our wonderful world.

6. “Fly me to the Moon… let me dance among the Stars…” (Take me to the Moon, let's dance among the stars). I hope we never lose the feeling of wonder. A passion for exploration and discovery is a great legacy to leave with your kids. Hopefully someday we will set sail and go on a journey. Someday this wonderful day will come ...

7. Of all the places on our magnificent planet, few can compete in beauty and richness of colors. This photo shows our ship "Progress-37" against the backdrop of the Bahamas. How beautiful our world is!

8. At a speed of 28163 km / h (8 km per second) ... we orbit the Earth, making one revolution every 90 minutes, and watching sunsets and sunrises every 45 minutes. So half of our journey takes place in pitch darkness. For work, we just need headlamps on our helmets. In this photo I am preparing the handle of one device ... "M3 Ammonia Connector".

9. Every time I look out the window and see our beautiful planet, my soul sings! I see blue skies, white clouds and a bright blessed day.

10. Another spectacular sunset. In Earth's orbit, we see 16 of these sunsets every day, and each of them is truly valuable. This beautiful thin blue line is what sets our planet apart from many others. It is cold in space, and the Earth is an island of life in the vast dark sea of ​​space.

11. A beautiful atoll in the Pacific Ocean, photographed with a 400mm lens. Approximately 1930 km south of Honolulu.

12. Perfect reflection sunlight in the eastern Mediterranean. From space, no boundaries are visible ... From there, only a breathtaking view opens, such as, for example, the view of this island of Cyprus.

13. Over the center of the Atlantic Ocean, before another amazing sunset. Below, in the rays of the setting sun, the spirals of Hurricane Earl are visible. An interesting look at the life energy of our sun. Sunbeams on the left side of the station and on Hurricane Earl ... these two objects collect the last particles of energy before plunging into darkness.

14. A little further east we saw the sacred monolith of Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock. I have never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but someday I hope to be standing next to this natural wonder.

15. Morning over the Andes in South America. I do not know for sure the name of this peak, but I was simply amazed at its magic, reaching out to the sun and winds of the peaks.

16. Over the Sahara Desert, approaching ancient lands and thousand-year history. The Nile River flows through Egypt past the pyramids of Giza in Cairo. Further, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, as well as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece on the horizon.

17. Night view of the Nile River, stretching like a snake through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, and Cairo, located in the river delta. What a contrast between the dark, lifeless desert of northern Africa and the Nile River, on the banks of which life is in full swing. In the distance, this image, taken on a lovely autumn evening, overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.

18. Our unmanned 'Progress 39P' approaches the ISS for refueling. It is full of food, fuel, spare parts and everything needed for our station. There was a real gift inside - fresh fruits and vegetables. What a miracle after three months of tube feeding!


20. Union 23C Olympus module docked to the nadir side. When our work is finished here, we will return home to Earth. I thought you might be interested in seeing this sight through the Dome. We fly over the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus. The rising sun reflects off the Caspian Sea.

21. A flash of color, movement and life on the canvas of our amazing world. This is part of the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia, captured through a 1200mm lens. I think even the great impressionists would have been amazed at this natural painting.

22. All the beauty of Italy on a clear summer evening. There are many beautiful islands that adorn the coastline - Capri, Sicily and Malta. Naples and Mount Vesuvius stand out along the coast.

23. At the southern end of South America lies the pearl of Patagonia. The amazing beauty of rocky mountains, massive glaciers, fjords and the open sea is combined in an amazing harmony. I dreamed about this place. I wonder what it feels like to breathe in the air there. Real magic!

24. The "Dome" on the nadir side of the station gives a panoramic view of our beautiful planet. Fedor took this picture from the window of the Russian docking bay. In this photo, I am sitting in the dome preparing my camera for our evening flight over Hurricane Earl.

25. Greek islands on a clear night during our flight over Europe. Athens shines brightly along the Mediterranean Sea. An unreal feeling arises when you see all the beauty of the ancient earth from space.

26. Florida and the southeastern United States in the evening. A clear autumn evening, moonlight over the water and a sky strewn with millions of stars.

27. Clear starry night over the eastern Mediterranean. Ancient lands with a thousand-year history stretch from Athens to Cairo. Historic lands, fabulous cities and alluring islands ... Athens - Crete - Rhodes - Izmir - Ankara - Cyprus - Damascus - Beirut - Haifa - Amman - Tel Aviv - Jerusalem - Cairo - they all turned into tiny lights on this cool November night. These places seem to breathe grace and tranquility.

Part 3

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Do you think that now, at this very moment, automatic probes were launched by the European Space Agency or NASA ??? No? What are you talking aboutgenerallydo you think?

In fact, you don't need to think about it! It is necessary to look at the images from space, which were obtained from these same probes! Only thanks to them, we draw some conclusions about the "appearance" of our solar system... Several probes are currently in open space, and they conduct observations in the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Saturn, of course, the Sun is not ignored. "Spacecrafts "are less concerned with the study of the galaxy as a whole. For example,Space Shuttle.Spacecraft such as Space Shuttle are small in size, but several astronauts can easily get along in them. Maybe they are cramped there ... but haven't any of us thought about how to see our Earth from space? No one envied those who saw the stars through the rocket window? Since we do not have the opportunity to be on board the spacecraft, we suggest you take a trip with the help of photographs on the asteroid Vesta, walk along the dusty surface of the planet Mars together with the rover, admire the satellites of Saturn!

The NASA observatory is directly involved in the study of any changes on the surface of celestial bodies. For example, the photo above clearly shows the change in the cycle of solar plasma lines - in our opinion, in Russian, the photo clearly shows the influences magnetic field the solar atmosphere on its modification. If you are not related to astronomy, then know that these modifications are causing solar flares. For us, these are warm soft rays of the sun! And there, in space, everything is serious!

Below is a photo: the comet is approaching the Sun. According to the idea, this is a unique shot. The temperature near the Sun is over a million degrees. The comet should already melt, in fact, like the photographs themselves - whether it is a crew or just a probe. Astronauts and astronomers somewhere are at great risk. Burning alive for the sake of a comet is a sacrifice of science ...

To be honest, science has taken many seven-league steps forward. Science is moving forward! Modern technology can withstand both very low and unimaginably high temperatures.

Each spacecraft(probe, rocket, satellite) is assigned to someone on Earth. Thus, thousands of devices send their "photo reports" to their curators. For example, the photo below was sent from a probe to Carnegie University of Washington scientist John Hopkins. Hopkins happily shared the image with people.

Amazing photo: space station just 390 km from the moon!

And this is how the Moon looks beyond the surface of the Moon. It feels like she is hiding in the clouds of our atmosphere. However, nothing of the kind. Astronauts from the space station, from where the picture was taken, claim that this is just a distortion of the lens.

This is our real nightlife. View fromInternational Space Station. The picture shows Washington, Boston, New York and a slice of Long Island. In the center are Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

But the most important thing in the photo is the Russian satellite in the foreground, where can we go without them! We follow America: day and night!

The photographs are mesmerizing, but they are taken either by machines or by astronauts who live in space not in such comfortable conditions. But many argue that when there is such beauty outside the window, you don't really think or regret the comfort.

It is understandable why astronauts do not seek to return from space to earth. Landing is not the most pleasant one. Terrible pressure, incredible speed, the capsule detaches, the ship burns up in the atmosphere, and a very hard landing.

Takeoff is much easier, albeit with the same pressure and no less shaking.

But then there is silence, and weightlessness - an amazing sensation of flight. You look through the porthole, and behind the glass there is the northern lights and the swirling clouds of the planet's atmosphere ... beauty!

For flights to proceed normally, astronauts are required to make "extravehicular sorties" in order to check the equipment and operation of instruments overboard.A check must be carried out every 6 hours. The flight engineer checks everything within 15 minutes. Also, when docking ships, the astronauts of both space stations must control this process.