The shuttle shadow (a picture by NASA) How it arrived that the shadow of the shuttle launch turned out to be directed towards the moon? Some time ago, when this picture was made, the start of Atlantis space shuttle incidentally coincided in time with wonderfully photogenic location of the Sun, the Earth, the Moon and the carrier-rocket. First of all, the shadow of the space shuttle start trace could be long close to the sunrise or a sundown. Further on, at the moment of sunrise the shadow reaches its maximal length, reaching the horizon. At last, during the full moon the Sun and the Moon are located in the opposite points of the coelosphere. So, right after the sundown the Sun turns out to be slightly under the horizon, and the Moon – in the opposite direction and somewhat above the horizon. That is why the Atlantis shadow, which started right after the sundown, is, of course, directed from the Sun, i.e. to the opposite point of the horizon – exactly there, where the full Moon was located at that moment. |