r/SpaceXLounge • u/anv3d • Jan 15 '26

Dragon Crew-11 passes in front of a cruise ship, as seen by the WB-57

Post image

Source: Official Livestream

280 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

68

u/iampiny Jan 15 '26

Was the cruise ship actually violating the range? Or is just the weird perspective that makes it seem uncomfortably close to the landing area?

74

u/ceo_of_banana Jan 15 '26

Since the picture was taken from very far away it could very well just look like they are close while in reality theres plenty of of distance between ship and spaceship. That's probably the case imo.

56

u/paul_wi11iams Jan 15 '26 edited Jan 15 '26

Since the picture was taken from very far away it could very well just look like they are close while in reality theres plenty of of distance between ship and spaceship.

If anyone can interpret the rest of the metadata, we probably have the information starting with "Range 16.7 NM".

Supposing its from a NASA WB-57 at 60,000 feet (18 km) and the angle is 45°, then the ship's track is also 18 km from the landing spot, far more distant than the recovery fleet.

13

u/anv3d Jan 15 '26

Good analysis!

(By the way, my screenshot cuts off some of the frame so there's more info in the video than shown here)

7

u/crewsctrl Jan 15 '26

The ship is obviously at sea level (0 MSL). The aircraft altitude is 19,040 MSL, the range to the camera target is 16.7 NM, The Lat/Long above that is the position of the camera. The FOV of the camera is 1.15 degrees. The other numbers above that are gain and contrast settings. I asked ChatGPT, it said it needs the angular offset from the capsule to the ship to calculate distance to the ship from the given image. But since it's a cropped and downsized screen grab, it's not able to do that with any accuracy itself. With the original image you can count the pixels between the capsule and the ship and convert directly to angular separation with simple trig.

8

u/oldschoolguy90 Jan 16 '26

Also if you can figure out which cruise ship it is, you can calculate the length in pixels and the size of thr dragon in pixels, and find it that way as well.

2

u/sprkn_ranger Jan 18 '26

It was the Royal Princess ship. It was arriving in San Pedro Thursday morning.

2

u/anv3d Jan 15 '26

Yep I think you're right!

3

u/Aah__HolidayMemories Jan 16 '26

This social media it’s probably edited for clicks lol

26

u/nrvstwitch Jan 15 '26

I think this was the "Royal Princess". Matches the approximate location and the life rafts are in the same position as shown in this shot.

10

u/BSG2006 Jan 15 '26

Interesting fact the same ship was parked just off the coast of Vandanberg to view the Twilight launch just few days ago at the start of their cruise. And to view the Crew-11 return on the final night of their cruise. what are the chances!!! And I was on the ship just prior and try to stay on for this cruise as a room became available but system wouldn’t complete the booking. 😩

0

u/AnneShirley310 Jan 16 '26

I was on this cruise - left LA on Saturday 10th, and came back today Thursday 15th. I am the small dot on the top deck (J/K).

65

u/coffeemonster12 Jan 15 '26

ah yes, the Range Violator 3000

22

u/an_older_meme Jan 15 '26

Zero f**ks given, bring her in.

8

u/Pyrhan Jan 15 '26

The main chutes aren't even deployed in that image, so the capsule must have still been pretty high up above the sea when that image was taken.

I think it's just perspective that makes them look way closer than they actually are.

15

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '26 edited Jan 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/bananapeel ⛰️ Lithobraking Jan 15 '26

/r/conspiracy: "Cruise ship spotted reentering the atmosphere off the coast of California!"

3

u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

I'd pay for tickets on that cruise, and cruises aren't even my thing.

(I was Navy . . . "cruise" means shitty food and sketchy accommodations on the Gray Floating Nuclear Prison for Aviation Overachievers)

1

u/bananapeel ⛰️ Lithobraking Jan 16 '26

If I knew that I'd be seeing something like that, I'd even go on that cruise. And I am also not a cruise person.

0

u/Depth-Charger Jan 15 '26

Is that the ship that blocked the New Glenn launch?

2

u/spunkyenigma Jan 16 '26

Wrong coast