Spacecraft Images by Danny Thomas

ISS and Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV)

At the October FAS meeting, John Price showed some interesting videos regarding recent satellite and spacecraft missions involving the European Space Agency (ESA). One of the videos covered the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV).   The ATV is an expendable, unmanned resupply spacecraft, designed to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with fuel, water, air and equipment. In addition, the ATVs can boost the station into a higher orbit and carry away waste to burn up with the vehicle during re-entry.

The first ATV, “Jules Verne”, was launched in March 2008 and ESA has already contracted suppliers to produce four more to be flown until 2015.

John’s video reminded me that I captured an image of the ATV and the ISS while the ATV was on it’s maiden flight and testing the docking maneuvers. Whilst I had imaged the ISS alone several times, this was the first time I captured two craft in the same image.

ISS and ATV – Click to expand

The above image was captured with a 20 second exposure at ISO400 taken with an 18mm lens on a Canon EOS350 digital SLR.

 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)

 The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is an unmanned resupply spacecraft, similar to the ATV, designed to resupply the Kibo- Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) which is part of the International Space Station (ISS). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been working on the design since the early 1990s. The first mission, HTV-1, was originally intended to be launched in 2001 but finally lifted-off on September 10, 2009. I wanted to capture an image of the HTV and the ISS in the same field of view. Unfortunately the weather and timing of the orbits meant I had to settle for two separate shots while the HTV was playing catch up with the ISS.

ISS and H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) – click to enlarge

The image was captured with a 20 second exposure at ISO400 taken with an 18mm lens on a Canon EOS350 digital SLR.

ISS and STS119

In the Summer of 2008 I went out to watch the International Space Station (ISS) flyover and saw another object travelling about two seconds behind it. On checking http://www.heavens-above.com I realised that I had been watching the Space Shuttle catch up with the ISS in orbit. This was a surprise to me as I did not know that the shuttle could be seen with the naked eye. I set myself the target of capturing an image of the ISS and a shuttle in the same field of view. I had to wait until Shuttle mission 119 (STS119) which was launched in March 2009 to equip the International Space Station with new solar panels and equipment to allow for the crew to be expanded. I managed to get this image shortly after STS119 left the ISS as the two craft flew through Orion’s belt. Although they were almost a minute apart, this was the first time I caught two manned craft in the same image.

 The capture process was complicated by the fact I was taking a Scout Group through their Astronomy badge and I had 20 excited Scouts and leaders gathered around the camera. It also meant I had to take the shot from the Scout hut which did not afford a clear view of the sky.

ISS and STS119 – click to enlarge

The image was captured with a 20 second exposure at ISO400 taken with an 18mm lens on a Canon EOS350 digital SLR.