An amazing short film of Earth from spacecraft Messenger

[swag]

(via http://www.metafilter.com)

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_movie.html

Earth Departure Movie

The Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft captured several stunning images of Earth during a gravity assist swingby of its home planet on Aug. 2, 2005. Several hundred images, taken with the wide-angle camera in MESSENGER’s Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), were sequenced into a movie documenting the view from MESSENGER as it departed Earth.

Comprising 358 frames taken over 24 hours, the movie follows Earth through one complete rotation. The spacecraft was 40,761 miles (65,598 kilometers) above South America when the camera started rolling on Aug. 2. It was 270,847 miles (435,885 kilometers) away from Earth – farther than the Moon’s orbit – when it snapped the last image on Aug. 3.

Earth rotation (4.90 MB)
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/images/flyby_images/mdis_depart.mpeg

or Earth rotation with date and time (5.78 MB).
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/images/flyby_images/mdis_depart_anot.mpeg

[LunaSea]

1. Thanks Swag!

cool link.

[Spinzonner]

2. Is he playing Airhead guitar ?

[swag]

4. Glad you liked it.

I like that avant garde chord your GWB is playing in that pic. Open G up a fret, looks like to me.

[trotsky]

3. Awesome.

Thanks for that.

[swag]

5. de nada.

I like neat stuff.

[swag]

6. .