Stunning Booster Video Camera Views of Atlantis' Launch

[gary]

NASA has released this fabulous 32 minute video shot from the SRBs
on Shuttle mission STS-135.

Breathtaking view. Enjoy the ride!

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=101291581

[gary]

Whilst you are visiting the NASA video site, be sure to also have a look at the
first splash test for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV)
that was conducted on July 12th.

NASA has constructed a swimming pool and giant tower for the tests which they
refer to as the "Hydro Impact Basin". So for those who would like to see a swimming
pool and dive tower installed at their workplace, there is a tip for you. When filling out the
requisition order with accounts, be sure to refer to it as a "Hydro Impact Basin". That way
it will get through without raising too many eyebrows :lol:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=101171691

[renormalised]

No sound....what a bummer!!!!.

[gary]

There is some sound on the Intertank view clips, for example 11:42.
With the thin atmosphere, one would assume the sound is being conducted
through vibrations in the casing itself.

As it tumbles back to Earth, it is making an eerie sound that I am sure any
astronaut whose re-entry was out of control would not never want to hear.

[renormalised]

I don't mean the little buzzes and whines at height....I want the full on roar of the engines and the rattling of bones at takeoff to be coming through the loudspeakers!!!!:):P

[renormalised]

No, but they can see the look of terror on your face:)

[gary]

Hi Carl,

Alas, the film clips in that regard hark back to the silent era of Robert Goddard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TRkiQGbxC8

If they had recorded the sound from the Shuttle SRB's at launch, suffice to
say you would need one of those amplifiers that goes up to "11" to faithfully
reproduce it. :lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7rWiY5obI

[multiweb]

Great videos! :thumbsup: What I find amazing is that those two boosters always end up falling back to the surface relatively close to each other. You'd think they'd find one on the east coast of the US and the other one past Cuba no? ;)

[Octane]

I really enjoy these videos. Thank you, NASA for making them publically available.

I found that the intertank audio from this launch, more so than others, makes for an incredibly eerie soundscape. Something that would be right at home on Fluxion's Vibrant Forms compilations delving into ambient excursions.

H

[M54]

Thanks for the link Gary, that was amazing.

Is the MPCV still going ahead, or is that the program that has been cancelled by the Obama government?

[Steffen]

I thought those boosters would burn up on re-entry, but they parachute them down. Maybe they're still too low when they get jettisoned…

Cheers
Steffen.

[Octane]

Steffen,

The external tank burns up on re-entry. :)

H

[gary]

Hi Molly,

There are two primary components, the crewed space vehicle and the launcher.

Orion, which is a crewed capsule (MPCV), still has the go ahead with a goal that was
re-defined in April 2010 as providing an alternative emergency escape capsule for the
ISS to reduce U.S. dependence on the existing Soyuz escape capsule.

At the same time it was announced that the development of a new
"Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle" would be funded, in place
of the originally planned Ares series of launch vehicles.

You can find a synopsis here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle-Derived_Launch_Vehicle

With the Democrats and Republicans currently deadlocked (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/07/201171523124619331.html) over the looming debt
crises (http://www.usdebtclock.org/) in the U.S. where a solution must be found by August 2nd 2011 or the
government will run out of money to pay the nation's bills, the future of some
of these programs will undoubtedly receive further scrutiny.

[M54]

Thanks Gary.

It will be interesting to watch developements over the coming years.
:thumbsup:

[gary]

Thanks Molly,

And apologies. Here is the correct link that provides the current
US space policy overview.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_policy_of_the_Barack_Obama_ad ministration