----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2003 11:02
PM
Subject: [APML] Astrophotography from the
ISS....again! pt. 1
Greetings APML folks,
Long post follows....so I'll break it up into
smaller pieces because the APML list server bounces it as being too
long.
I spent a wonderful afternoon with Don Pettit at
the Johnson Space Center last Friday. I am going to relate some of what
I saw and talked with him because it relates to high flying astrophotography,
light pollution, and I hope just interesting anecdotes. I will break
this into several smaller posts so as not to trip the list server's
software. If this ain't your thing, skip the next posts in this
thread.
Pettit and I spent three hours cavorting around
and in the Shuttle, Soyuz, and ISS simulators as well as going over the mass
of film images he returned from space with him. Don was nice enough to
take my picture in the pilot's seat of the Shuttle simulator. It seems
they don't let just anyone into it any more. Too many VIP's ripped off
switches and devices as suveniers! The Soyuz trainer was occupied so I
couldn't enter it, but the lady who was in it sure was cute. No way she
could have been an astronaut. She was just too young! The rest of
the ISS simulator was like being in a big box full of instruments and
computers, certainly not like being in a spaceship. Don also told me the
obligatory anecdotes about the space toilets. Let me just say that I
will never again lick a cake batter spatula with the same
joy....
A number of Pettit's digital astrophotos have been
released at www.spaceflight.nasa.gov (go to
Gallery, then Space Station, then select Expedition 6) but none of his film
work has yet been released to the public. I don't know why because it is
magnificent! There are images there of aurorae, noctilucent clouds,
thunderstorms at night, and stars that are utterly beautiful! Don was
particularly proud of the observations of southern hemisphere noctilucent
clouds because there is few data about them and he is a recognized expert in
the clouds to begin with (from his days at Los Alamos Laboratories). He
showed me some images of them he took along the horizon with the 400 mm
lens. The clouds were nearly 100 kilometers altitude. The detail
in them was amazing.
When the Columbia went down in February, I
figured the film stuff would be lost because of the limited down mass
capability of the Soyuz. Well, the powers that be gave them permission
to return three (3) rolls of film. Being the inventive soul that he is,
Don managed to cram 72 (!!) rolls into the Soyuz. He would not tell me
how, but maybe that accounts for how they were walking funny in their
spacesuits after landing <g>. The Fuji 800 images were showing
some degradation due to radiation, but the 50 and 100 speed stuff was just
fine. They developed the 800 speed one roll at a time and corrected the
processing on subsequent rolls to try to compensate for radiation
damage. I think they did a good job because the images look good to
me.
Pt. 2 to follow
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