Watch GOES-U weather satellite float above a brightly shining Earth in stunning video from space

[Admin]

Watch as SpaceX's Falcon Heavy second stage deploys the powerful new GOES-U satellite into space as Earth glows in the background.

Watch GOES-U weather satellite float above a brightly shining Earth in stunning video from space : Read more

 

[motie]

In the video, the satellite looks like it is a long way from Earth, maybe one or more Earth diameters. So this is definitely not low Earth orbit. I thought it might be a wide-angle lens effect. But NASA says that the orbit is 22,236 miles away from Earth. Does anybody know why it is out so far?

 

[billslugg]

That far away, it takes 24 hours to orbit the Earth. A equatorial, prograde satellite will hang motionless over one spot.

 

[Classical Motion]

At that altitude, the bird's orbital motion is in sync, in time, with earth's rotation. So the birds angle and position in the sky will appear to remain stationary. But it's just moving with you. It's glued in the sky.

A sticky satellite. A 24/7 full time satellite.

 

[billslugg]

Geosynchronous satellites are real easy to photograph. Take any camera out on a dark night, set it on something sturdy, point it at the ecliptic, open the shutter, let it go a few minutes. You will see a string of beads.

 

[Classical Motion]

I've often wondered what a 1K yr. accumulation would do to a deep star field. I think the longer you look the denser it gets. Takes time to see the invisible stars. The dim and the far.

Detection time changes the inventory of star matter. But the solar and galactic winds remain invisible. This universe might be much more dissolved than realized.

 

[gsteele531]

I'm an old guy; I remember watching the moon landing on an old tabletop CRT TV via rabbit ear antenna - snowy, squinty, leaning forward close up so I could make out what I was looking at. I was totally in awe to the point of tears at even the thought - not just that man was setting foot on the moon - the MOON! - but that I, in my grad school apartment, was WATCHING IT HAPPEN on TV! Live!

I've never lost that awe over that moment in my life, and even watching such crystal clear video of this separation in orbit with our beautiful blue home in the background still fills me with a sense of wonder. I may be a grizzled old retired exec, but the technical achievements of humankind can still bring about a sigh and an extra flutter when I think of the thousands of generations of our species who looked up in the sky and dreamed of what is now a reality in our lifetime.

Congratulations to all those whose diligent work made this possible.