You may have seen this before. It’s incredible footage from NASA tv. A camera fitted to one of the main stage engines on the shuttle launch vehicle follows the booster doing its work. The sound has been cleaned up. Incidentally the cameras were fitted as safety monitors after the Colombia accident.
Absolutely awesome! Great find Freight Dog.
Glad you liked it! I think it’s incredible too. Space flight fascinates me.
Me too. Gonna give Virgin Galactic a body swerve for a bit though! 
Yeah agree, the thing looked as flimsy as heck before the crash! Only guys I’d trust for the space thing would be NASA not old beardie and his cheque book.
Just brilliant.
I don’t think there’s a finer man made sight than a shuttle launch, and I very nearly got to see one. We went on holiday to Florida Disney in 2008 and by happy coincidence there was launch scheduled for when we were out there. Unfortunately as the date drew closer some technical glitch delayed the launch by a week or so, by which time we were back home.
Gutting you missed it. Id love to visit Kennedy. I want to see one of the main F1 engines from the Saturn vehicle.
One sole F-1 had more thrust than the collective gang of shuttle engines and the Saturn V had five of them. The most powerful device ever used in the history of man to move an object. I work with some pretty big numbers in my day job but the F-1 takes the ■■■■ biscuit. Simply jaw droppingly staggering and at the same time moving, that little old flesh and blood man can create such a monster, let alone control such power, like King Kong in chains.
What takes me aside is the computing capacity that gimbled these things to stay on path was less advanced than the first iPhone.
it cracks me up that they can send that up and return the fuel rocket tanks to a specific area and they land close to each other…
I know, it’s weird to get your head round. Its collective bits of metal flying together who’s relative motion to each component is never that much despite the collectve group’s velocity. A bit like sky divers.
I suppose when they separate the engines shut down quite quickly so don’t fly in different trajectories under thrust for long. The only lateral movement away from each other was when the separation charges fired. The small amount of residual engine thrust took each booster away from the external tank on short trajectories before shutting off. They then tumble into the upper atmosphere under momentum then drift back to earth in an arc. They are subject to similar forces on re entry and local winds aloft so touchdown together.
Compare it on a grim note to Pan Am flight 103 that was spread over a very wide area due to explosion with an uncontrolled flight path and trajectory.
DaiDap:
Just brilliant.I don’t think there’s a finer man made sight than a shuttle launch,
Carryfast, I’m a bit too young to remember the Apollo missions so just have to live with the shuttle
DaiDap:
Carryfast, I’m a bit too young to remember the Apollo missions so just have to live with the shuttle
I’ve still got the the official Apollo 8 photos and acknowledgment letter with its crew signatures in the big NASA headed envelope.Which I was sent in reply to just a small letter saying good luck which I sent NASA shortly before the Apollo 11 launch as a 10 year old in the day.
Stunning indeed. How come we can achieve these mind-boggling feats yet only seem able to resolve our differences by killing each other. Humans are truly unfathomable creatures.