Business end of an F-1 engine

This would definitely be a view that you would not want to have at T-7 seconds during the launch of a Saturn V. This is the combustion chamber of the giant F-1 engine looking in through the nozzle of the engine. This image was taken at 34mm focal length with an exposure of 1/30 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 200.

F-1 engine details

Speaking of a plumbers nightmare.... These three parallel tubes carried oxydizer at high pressure, as well as helium and compressed gases. They each have labels which show the flow direction, pressure and what flows through them. Pretty cool - literally in the case of the oxydizer, namely liquid oxygen. This image was taken at 28mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/4, ISO 200.

F-1 engine details

This is the top end of the F-1 engine centered roughly on the combustion chamber near the bottom. What a plumbers nightmare with pipes and tubes and pumps and all. Some of the next images will show some closeups that you might be able to place using this shot. Looking at the details of this engine was fascinating and included part numbers and parts with labels showing fuel or oxydizer flows. It's hard to imagine the complexity involved and also amazing that 13 sets of 5 of these engines performed flawlessly during their 13 Saturn V launches! This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/3.5, ISO 200.

F-1 thrust sctructure

This is the thrust structure of the F-1 engine outside the New Mexico Museum of Space History. The engine produced 1.5 million pounds of thrust and had to transmit that thrust into the Saturn V rocket above it. The F-1 was also gimbaled, so that the thrust could be aimed to steer the vehicle as it flew into space. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with and exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/3.5, ISO 1600.

The Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula, also known as M-42 is a bright and easy target that you can see with the unaided eye (though seeing it as more than just a little fuzzy is a challenge) and is a decent binocular and great small telescope target. This image was taken on my way back to survey regions after looking at 17P/Holmes. The image was taken at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 60 seconds at f/6.3, ISO 400. This image was cropped significantly from the full frame and a little stretching to bring out the faint outer nebula without blowing out the central region too much.

17P/Holmes

Comet 17P/Holmes is still putting on a good show. I mounted my camera on the front of our 36 inch Spacewatch Telescope again last night and took this image of the comet. The camera was in a spot I had lots of trouble getting to, so I had a devil of a time centering and checking focus, but I managed to get the focus right. I had to crop this image so that it appears more like an image with about a 500mm focal length since the comet ended up in the lower corner of my frame. Did I mention that the camera was mounted in a spot that I had trouble getting to? Oh, yeah, I did..... Anyway, the comet sits right next to the brightest star in Perseus - Alpha Perseus (Mirfak) which is to the upper left of the comet in this image. The comets nucleus is visible to the bottom right of the almost but not quite circular coma. To the upper left of the nucleus is a complex dust structure that is slowly blowing away from the comet, pushed by solar wind and if the image were deep enough, we would see a complex tail structure of fine dust and gas extending off the frame to the upper left. This image was taken at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 60 seconds at f/6.3, ISO 400.

17P/Holmes

This image of comet 17P/Holmes was taken last night using my 70-300mm lens with the camera mounted on the front of our Spacewatch 36 inch telescope - in essense, using our big telescope as a glorified guide scope. This image was taken at 92mm focal length with an exposure of 2 minutes at f/5, ISO 400.

Rockets

This view from below the John P. Stapp Air & Space Park looks back towards the New Mexico Museum of Space History. On the right in front of the museum is the subject of the next few images of the giant F-1 engine which powered the Saturn V rocket. This image was taken at 18mm focal length. It is not quite as sharp as I'd like since I accidently shot it at ISO 1600 with the lens wide open and I also cropped it a bit from the original. The high ISO gives the image a bit of grain which I sometimes like in pictures, but not really in this one. The image was taken at 1/6400 seconds at f/3.5, with a polarizer.

17P/Holmes

This view of the constellation of Perseus from Tuesday night shows comet 17P/Holmes next to Alpha Perseus. The Pleiades star cluster (M-45) is at the left edge of the frame and the double cluster in Perseus is at the right. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 29 seconds at f/1.8, ISO 200.

The John P Stapp Air & Space Park

This is the John P. Stapp Air & Space Park outside the New Mexico Museum of Space History as viewed from inside the museum on one of the upper floors. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/11, ISO 200 with a polarizer.

Little Joe II

This rocket assembly was used to test the Apollo launch escape system (LES) which was designed to pull the Command Module away from a failing rocket either on the launch pad or through the first stage burn. The tests were done at White Sands Missile Range which is adjacent to Alamogordo, New Mexico. This display is at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. The LES is the white tower at the tip of the conical Command Module. This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 1/80 seconds at f/11, ISO 200 with a polarizer.

Rockets & more rockets!

These rockets of various types sit outside the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo New Mexico. In the foreground on the left is the red rocket sled that Col. John Stapp used to experiment with high accelleration. A Lance missile (the white rocket at left of center) and an Arobee rocket sit in the middle of the frame and in the back on the right is the mightiest liquid fueled engine ever built - the F-1 engine which powered the Saturn V first stage with 1.5 million pounds of thrust! This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/11, ISO 200 with a polarizing filter.

F-117 Nighthawk

The F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter has played a key role in our military operations for the last 25 years being able to deliver weapons to target without the enemy knowing of their attacks in advance. The F-117 is being retired now in favor of more modern and stealthy fighters such as the F-22 Raptor. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

F-4 Phantom

The F-4 Phantom was put into service almost 50 years ago. They are almost all retired except for a few that appear in Heritage Flight demonstrations and a few other programs. This jet was a workhorse in the Vietnam war, flown by both the Navy off of carriers and by the Air Force off of runways. It proved that you could fly almost anything given a big enough engine. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/11, ISO 200, with a polarizer.

Viper on the tarmac

The F-16 is my favorite modern airplane, not just because of its sleek lines and unique profile, but also its performance and, oh yeah, the best combat flight simulator for PCs was built around this particular military jet, namely the Falcon series, most recently incarnated as Falcon AF. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/11, ISO 200 with a polarizer.

B-1 up close

You wouldn't want to have this view while the B-1 bomber was flying. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/8, ISO 200 with a polarizing filter.

Osprey in a cloud of dust

This VF-22 Osprey demonstrates its maneuverability as it turns in place, kicking up a huge cloud of dust which it almost disappeared in during the deomonstration. This combiniation helicopter/airplane can convert in seconds between modes of flight. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/11, ISO 200.

Pacific Prowler on display

A bonus picture for Tuesday: After it's demonstration flight, the Pacific Prowler returned to the viewing area, parked on the tarmac for visitors to take a close look at the old girl. In the spirit of it's glory days, I had fun making this B&W conversion of the original color image. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 200 with polarizing filter.

Pacific Prowler

The Pacific Prowler B-25 makes a show turn past the viewing area at the X-Prize Cup air show. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 200 wtih polarizing filter.

B-25

This B-25 - named the Pacific Prowler - made an appearance at the X-Prize Cup Air & Space show. It is one of the few flying B-25's left from WWII. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 200. I lengthened the exposure with a moderate f-stop and slower ISO in order to blur the props.

Rocket Racer

If you like rockets and NASCAR, you'll love the Rocket Racing league. This is one of the planes that will be used in the Rocket Racing league when it starts up. Pilots will have to mix moments of high accelleration when the rocket is on with gliding as they zip through the skies. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

B-1 bomber

This B-1 bomber made some passes over the X-Prize Cup. It's hard to believe how old this airplane is already! I remember when it was first making test flights.... This image was taken at 263mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1800 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Meteors or skydivers?

These Air Force skydivers look every bit like entering meteors as they plunge towards Earth trailing smoke from smoke generators attached to their shoes. Shortly after this image, they executed a separation maneuver before opening their parachutes to continue their precision descent to an area in front of the air show crowds. This image was taken 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/600 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Falling skydivers

Airshows are fun also for the variety airborne spectacles. Skydivers jumped from C-130s in several groups. This jumper carried the U.S. Flag to the ground to begin the National Anthem. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400 with a polarizing filter to darken the sky.