Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2024 October 23

     Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster!
     [2]pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX
     — SpaceX (@SpaceX) [3]October 13, 2024

                                   Caught
                        Credit & Copyright: [4]SpaceX

   Explanation: What if a rocket could return to its launch tower -- and
   be caught? This happened for the first time 10 days ago, after a
   [5]SpaceX Starship rocket blasted off from its pad in [6]Boca Chica,
   [7]Texas, [8]USA. Starship then [9]split, as planned, with its upper
   stage landing in the [10]Pacific Ocean. The big difference was the
   lower stage, [11]Super Heavy Booster 12, was caught by its launch tower
   about [12]7 minutes later. Catching a rocket for reuse is a new and
   innovative way to help reduce the cost of [13]rocket flight by making
   rockets more easily reusable. [14]Starship rockets may be used by
   [15]NASA in the future to send spacecraft to [16]Earth orbit, the
   [17]Moon, and even [18]other planets.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

      [19]< | [20]Archive | [21]Submissions | [22]Index | [23]Search |
   [24]Calendar | [25]RSS | [26]Education | [27]About APOD | [28]Discuss |
                                    [29]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [30]Robert Nemiroff ([31]MTU) & [32]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([33]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [34]Specific rights apply.
            [35]NASA Web Privacy, [36]Accessibility, [37]Notices;
                A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC,
                         [41]NASA Science Activation
                           & [42]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://t.co/6R5YatSVJX
   3. https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1845442658397049011?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
   4. https://www.spacex.com/
   5. https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boca_Chica_(Texas)
   7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
   9. https://chert-poberi.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/proga/222/sasha-19october1619394239.jpg
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean
  11. https://starship-spacex.fandom.com/wiki/Booster_12_(B12)
  12. https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1845442658397049011
  13. https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/spacex-launches-fifth-starship-test-eyes-novel-booster-catch-2024-10-13/
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starship
  15. https://www.nasa.gov/
  16. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/orbits/
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190717.html
  18. https://science.nasa.gov/mars/
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241022.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  25. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  28. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241023
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241024.html
  30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  33. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  38. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  41. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  42. http://www.mtu.edu/