July Gallery

Flight simulation of a harrier jump-jet

Harrier aircraft flight simulation. Supercomputer image of a Harrier aircraft hovering over a runway in a virtual wind tunnel. The lines beneath the aircraft show the air flow from the aircraft's engine. The lines colours show the air's tempera- ture gradient, from red (highest), through orange, yellow, green, and blue, to purple (lowest). The Harrier is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) fighter aircraft which directs air from its Rolls- Royce Pegasus engine through 4 swivelling nozzles along the side of its fuselage. The nozzles point downwards for take-off, before rotating backwards to accelerate the aircraft into wing-borne flight

© NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTRE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Laika the space dog

First animal in space. Laika, the bitch who became the first animal in space, inside a mock-up of the cabin of the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Sputnik 2 was launched on 3 November 1957. Laika (meaning "Barker" or "Husky") was contained within a sealed cabin with a food store and an air conditioner. Soviet propaganda at the time maintained that she survived for around a week, but in fact she died after just a few hours due to overheating and panic. The spacecraft was not designed to be recovered and it burnt up as it re- entered the atmosphere on 14 April 1958, 162 days after its launch. Still image from the documentary film First Soviet Satellites of the Earth

© RIA NOVOSTI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

1997 British GP

SILVERSTONE, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 05: Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams FW19 Renault, and Tarso Marques, Minardi M197 Hart, take the chequered flag at the end of a practice session during the British GP at Silverstone on June 05, 2007 in Silverstone, United Kingdom. (Photo by Rainer Schlegelmilch)

© Motorsport Images

Action, Chequered, F1, Flag, Formula 1, Gp