Dana - 23/4/2006 6:52 PMIt's not just optics. X-15, U-2, NF-104 and SR-71 pilots have all reported being able to make out the curvature of the earth from altitudes above 80,000 feet.
spacefire - 25/4/2006 11:39 AM what did you fly on? is that the A/C in your avatar photo? That looks like the NASA U2 assuming the pic was ultra-squished
I would guess RB-57.
spacefire - 25/4/2006 8:39 AMwhat did you fly on?is that the A/C in your avatar photo?That looks like the NASA U2 assuming the pic was ultra-squished
Dana - 26/4/2006 3:00 AMQuotespacefire - 25/4/2006 8:39 AMwhat did you fly on?is that the A/C in your avatar photo?That looks like the NASA U2 assuming the pic was ultra-squished That's a NASA WB-57 Canberra. Big-wing version of the 1950s-vintage Martin B-57 light bomber (itself a licensed version of the British English Electric Canberra light bomber of the late 1940s-the RAF still flies a handful of those, btw) used for high-altitude research and photography, including video tracking and photography of shuttle launches IIRC. I think they were originally designed for the USAF for use as high-altitude recon and for air sampling in the wake of domestic (and, uh, "foreign") nuclear tests.http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/wb57/index.html