Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Swift RocketCam

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 24, 2004 is “Swift RocketCam,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Dan Maas ( Maas Digital ), Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation , NASA. The original explanation runs about 120 words.

Swift RocketCam
Credit: Dan Maas ( Maas Digital ), Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“A forward-facing RocketCam (TM) mounted inside the payload fairing of a Delta II rocket captured these dramatic video frames on November 20th — as the Swift satellite observatory journeyed to an orbit 600 kilometers above planet Earth. Some frames were interpolated to correct for transmission problems.”

— APOD editors, December 24, 2004

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 24, 2004
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Dan Maas ( Maas Digital ), Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 120 words

All of December 2004 → · 2004 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

On this day: December 24 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.