Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: WLJ on March 10, 2019, 01:55:17 PM

Title: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: WLJ on March 10, 2019, 01:55:17 PM

I think they're cool as

Riding the Booster with enhanced sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aCOyOvOw5c

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: Doggy Daddy on March 10, 2019, 10:12:48 PM

Absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring.  Thanks.

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: MechAg94 on March 10, 2019, 10:47:41 PM

Cool.  Thanks.

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: TommyGunn on March 10, 2019, 11:40:07 PM

Phantasmagorically spectacular!!! Thanks for posting this! ;)

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: TechMan on March 11, 2019, 11:33:18 AM

Thank you for posting.

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: MillCreek on March 11, 2019, 11:51:16 AM

I did kind of wince when I saw ice chunks impacting the leading edge of the wings.

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: WLJ on March 11, 2019, 12:04:30 PM

Quote from: MillCreek on March 11, 2019, 11:51:16 AM

I did kind of wince when I saw ice chunks impacting the leading edge of the wings.

If you're referring to the objects you see falling starting at 0:33 those are paper seals they put into the RCS (reaction control system) to keep water and other objects out of the nozzles. They are usually pulled out by the slipstream during launch, there are over the nose camera launch shots where you can see this happening in more detail. BTW, the reason they used paper is that if any still remain in a nozzle after entering orbit the first blast out of the RCS would take care of it. I seem to recall there's also video of that. Also paper is less likely to do damage.

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: WLJ on March 11, 2019, 12:08:31 PM

The nose RCS

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Shuttle_front_RCS.jpg/800px-Shuttle_front_RCS.jpg)

Title: Re: I had never seen these views of a shuttle launch before
Post by: Brad Johnson on March 11, 2019, 12:43:01 PM

Wow. Super-interesting that they separated at 28 miles and continue drifting to an apogee of 41 miles. The amount of speed they gained after beginning descent was way more than I would have expected. Also, hitting the water at roughly 65 MPH would seem to be an awfully rough landing. I would think a couple of high-tonnage hollow tubes would fold like paper under those forces.

Brad