Space Shuttle - Discovery

Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. (The other two are Atlantis and Endeavour.) When first flown in 1984, Discovery became the third operational orbiter, and is now the oldest orbiter in service. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions.

August 8 2009: Rollout of space shuttle Discovery was slow-going due to the onset of lightning in the area of Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. First motion of the shuttle out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 2:07 a.m. Aug. 4. Discovery's 13-day flight delivered a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch of Discovery on its STS-128 mission is targeted for late August. Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Justin Dernier/EPA.

Other Images of Discovery...

(Photos from Wikipedia and NASA)

 Discovery before launch in 2009 at the time of sunset.

Discovery sitting on the Boeing 747

The launch of STS-41-D, Discovery’s first mission.

STS-121 launched on US Independence Day 2007, the first shuttle to launch on July 4.

Discovery under a full moon, 3rd Nov 2009.

Discovery sits atop a Boeing 747 as it touches down.

Discovery performing the Rendezvous pitch maneuver prior to docking with the International Space Station.

The Space Shuttle Discovery soon after landing on earth.

Modified Boeing 747 carrying Discovery.

Special Animals

Here are some of the Special moments that humans shared with Animals.

He is a newcomer in the world of Chess and looks like he has started with the King... Good Luck Buddy!!

 

Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. The Tiger says: "Man, due to global warming, its so hot that am having to stay in the shade."

"I can see that you are trying to photograph me..." Great eyes indeed!! This is a sub-species of Banjo Frogs. It can be found in South-East Gippsland and comes out to forage on damp nights.

Greg Louganis Olympic Mishap

The Olympics are never free from mishaps. In 1988, US diver Greg Louganis smashed his head on the board on his ninth preliminary springboard dive, while attempting a 2½ somersault pike. He received stitches before completing his tenth dive. He overcame the head injury to gain the highest score in the preliminaries and qualify for the final and wins a gold medal in Seoul. This extraordinary come-back made Louganis “Athlete of the Year” for ABC.

The Falling Man

"The Falling Man" is a nickname given to a man who fell from the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in New York City, and is also the title of a photograph, magazine story and documentary film about the incident. The photo was taken by Richard Drew at 9:41:15 a.m. on September 11, 2001.

The subject of the image — whose identity remains uncertain, although attempts have been made to identify him — was one of the people trapped on the upper floors of the skyscraper who apparently chose to jump rather than die from the fire and smoke. As many as 200 people jumped to their deaths that day; there was no time to recover or identify those who jumped prior to the collapse of the towers.

This picture is somewhat deceptive; it gives the impression the man is falling straight down. In reality, this is just one of a dozen photographs of his fall. In the other photos, it is evident that he is tumbling through the air out of control.

The Tennis Girl

If a single picture ever conveyed the sexual liberation, permissive society and hostility towards norms and authorities of the 1970s, it would be the iconic poster of “The Tennis Girl”. Taken at the end of the long hot summer in September 1976, the photo was not an accidental shot. Martin Elliot, then a photography student in Birmingham, asked his then girlfriend, 18-year old Fiona Butler to borrow a tennis dress, a racket and balls and to pose for him.

Martin’s photo of Fiona lifting her dress and revealing that she was not wearing underwear is perhaps tame by today’s standards, but when he sold it to poster chain Athena, which published as part of the calendar for the Queen’s 1977 Silver Jubilee, it caused a sensation. Critics dismissed it a “schoolboy’s fantasy”, while Elliott himself said, “it is not a picture I would buy”, for it had only the appeal of a voyeuristic postcard. But it didn’t deter hundreds of thousands of schoolboys to grace their bedroom walls with it. It sold 2 million copies.

It was parodied in advertisements, served as the background of Spitting Image and various celebrities (including Alan Carr and Kylie Minogue) reenacted it. Martin Elliott who died last week at the age of 63 made a fortune out of the poster, but it hindered his career: no one would commission him as they feared he would be too expensive. Fiona Butler was never paid a penny, she eventually married a millionaire and said that she was not embarrassed about posing nor bitter that she didn’t receive any royalties from the photo.

Most Expensive Photographs

Here is a list of the most expensive photographs ever sold. Source: Wikipedia.

1. 
   
   
   
   
   Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001), $3,346,456, February 2007, Sotheby's London auction. A second print of 99 Cent II Diptychon sold for $2.48 million in November 2006 at a New York gallery, and a third print sold for $2.25 million at Sotheby's in May 2006.
   
   
2. 
   
   
   
   
   Edward Steichen, The Pond-Moonlight (1904), $2,928,000, February 2006, Sotheby's New York auction.
   
   
3. 
   
   
   
   
   Dmitry Medvedev, Kremlin of Tobolsk (2009), $1,750,000, January 2010, Christmas Yarmarka, Saint Petersburg.
   
   
4. 
   
   
   
   
   Edward Weston, Nude (1925), $1,609,000, April 2008, Sotheby's New York auction.
   
   
5. 
   
   
   
   
   Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe (Hands) (1919), $1,470,000, February 2006, Sotheby's New York auction.
   
   
6. 
   
   
   
   
   Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe Nude (1919), $1,360,000, February 2006, Sotheby's New York auction.
   
   
7. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy) (1989), $1,248,000, November 2005, Christie's New York auction.
   
   
8. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, 113.Athènes, Temple de Jupiter olympien pris de l'est (1842) $922,488, 2003, auction.
   
   
9. 
   
   
   
   
   Gustave Le Gray, The Great Wave, Sete (1857) $838,000, 1999.
   
   
10. 
    
    
    
    
    Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol (1987) $643,200, 2006.