[From The Guardian’s GrrlScientist blog; watch the 8:32 minute video in HD on YouTube]
Riding the Booster
Riding a solid rocket booster up and then down again during a launch of the space shuttle
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Here’s a fun little video from NASA: an HD video that shows a stunning view from a solid rocket booster attached to the space shuttle, pushing it up into orbit, and then not attached to the space shuttle, whilst the booster is plunging back to Earth.
Michael Interbartolo, who used to work on the Shuttle Program at Mission Control in Houston, and who first shared this on Google+, writes [link]:
“Just got this from the guys at Glenn who are finalizing the new special edition DVD/BluRay version of Ascent: Commemorating Shuttle which this will be an extra on. The video is shot from the Solid Rocket Booster Perspective up and down with enhanced sound thanks to Ben Burtt’s son and the folks at Skywalker Sound. The team is still trying to figure out how to release this all to the public, but for now enjoy an exclusive first look.”
The number in the upper right hand corner is airspeed. The glint of light against the backdrop of space at 2:08 and 3:11 is the Space Shuttle going into low Earth orbit. These sounds were cleaned up and made more audible by Skywalker Sound, so you can clearly hear those eerie haunting moans of what it sounds like to be a solid rocket booster, falling to Earth from an altitude of 150,000 feet.
I was impressed by the contrast between the tiny camera view and the bigness of the entire event. What impressed you most about this video?
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