STS-129 Ascent Video Highlights 117
An anonymous reader sends in this link to a video of 12-1/2 minutes of Space Shuttle pr0n. The people at the Johnson Space Center put together this video of the ascent of STS-129 using multiple imagery assets — ground, air, booster, and the shuttle itself. The booster's-eye view of splashdown and immersion is something you don't see every day. As a bonus, another anonymous reader shared a beautiful photo of the shuttle flying over rugged terrain after it separated from the ISS last week.
Ahh, shuttle (Score:4, Insightful)
You'll miss the old girl when she's gone.
The two months between STS-128 and STS-129 felt so long after the mere 28 days between STS-127 and STS-128.
Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
Some of that was rather amazing. The shot near the start from the external fuel tank of the shuttle separating was great. I've never seen a shot of that before.
The two shots from the solid rocket boosters as they separate from the external fuel tank were the most incredible. They were so clean (probably since they were out of the atmosphere, and the scale) that they looked like effect shots. If you showed that to me without the rest of the context, I'd think it was a CGI simulation of what it would look like. On the other hand, the shot from the shuttle when the external fuel tank drops off looks like high-quality film from the 60s or 70s, with lots of film grain.
Very very cool.
Re:Reminds me of the old "Pad Rat" posts on Usenet (Score:5, Insightful)
There was a guy who once had a web site where he posted shots that nobody else would see of things like the mating in the VAB, the hardware itself (I remember seeing things like the charges that lit the explosive bolts that held the SRBs to the pad), etc., etc.)
Unfortunately USA (United Space Alliance) got wind of this and fired him because the photos weren't cleared through NASA PAO (the Public Affairs Office) and the site came down. A shame. I've never seen images of what the pad looks like after the shuttle launches except from here.
Now THAT was shuttle pr0n - but this was a respectable 2nd attempt.
I'm with you. I'm sick of seeing press-release photos of stuff like that. For months, we kept seeing the artsy photos of the LHC (like the one of the CMS detector) and I kept thinking "Boy, I wish they'd take a picture of that at a slight angle instead of straight on so I can get a sense of detail or scale or something." The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal is a great example of what we *should* be seeing. I want to see everything, not just what you want to show me. I want to see the nuts and bolts. Pull back the curtain, so to speak.
Re:Ahh, shuttle (Score:3, Insightful)
Totally cool and worth every taxpayer cent we pour into NASA. We even learn stuff as a bonus!
C'mon, fix it please (Score:3, Insightful)
"The people at the Johnson Space Center put together this video of the assent of STS-129"
So what exactly did STS129 agree to?
I won't grammar nazi the comments, but seeing a front page mistake like that is annoying. Especially when it's spelled right in the title.
s/assent/ascent
Re:Reminds me of the old "Pad Rat" posts on Usenet (Score:5, Insightful)
I once caught a HD shuttle launch video at NASA's site right after the launch took place, apparently before it had been so carefully edited. The sounds were incredible; you could hear the turbo pumps wind up several seconds before the liquid rockets were lit. Those are large and very high speed pumps that operate at the limit of what materials science can provide; the sound they make is simply chilling. I watched it over and over because I could not f**king believe it.
Later versions of the same launch video had that audio removed. Can't let anyone witness any of that. Must appear as though the launch is a peaceful, happy moment that doesn't involve any sort of drama. Oh ponies!
NASA hurts itself by letting the cowardly nature of its bureaucracy dominate the editing process. If you handed the same raw material to a Hollywood film maker with a mandate to sell tickets you would get a balls out, violent, bare knuckle collection of aerospace machinery burning, shaking and raging its way into orbit and every god damn taxpaying mope that watched it would know exactly what sort of miracle those 100+ successful missions represent.
Help me out here... (Score:3, Insightful)