3 Great Rockets Moments

Watching the SpaceX March 7th (2013) Grasshopper test, I realized that this was one of the best rocket video moments I had seen.  Now, the minimum I could do was to list my [new] top 3.  This list is not chosen based on the historical importance of the event but on the emotional impact of seeing a rocketry  rare and amazing moment.


1
Apollo 11 landing sequence
This one may sound like an easy choice but, having read so much about the Apollo program and understanding the level of complexity of the events leading to a moon landing, this video makes me sit at the edge of my seat every time.  Especially with the added stress of the 1201-02 alarm that almost forced them to abort the landing. (info about the 1201 alarm)

2 
Space Shuttle SRB Flight
This is a long one to watch but it's worth it. The camera is attached to the top of one of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB).  The strange feeling of seeing the ground 'fall' away at this ridiculous speed is hard to beat.  After the noisy first part of the takeoff, there is a change in the sound while the rocket leaves the dense atmosphere followed by the silence after the separation.  But the most awesome part is when the booster enters back into the dense air with the eerie moaning-sound of the empty cylinder growing into a full roar while the rocket is slowing down to terminal velocity.

3
SpaceX Grasshopper test
This video just climbed into my top three list for the simple reason that it is filmed from the air.  This was done probably by using a sort of radio controlled camera platform (e.g. Quad-copter).  It is a strange feeling, to virtually be there and float next to this monster while it just stands in mid-air.  You expect a rocket to either do nothing on the pad or go full throttle but to see this delicate precision, now that is crazy cool.  SpaceX made it look like they do this every day... but wait.. they ARE doing this every day.  Go SpaceX!

Roll manoeuvre

The cheapest way to put something in space (satellite or shuttle) is at the equator while launching due East with an orbital inclination of zero degree (relative to the plane that cuts the earth at the equator). Why is that? Well, at the equator the rotation speed (relative to a fix point in space) is at its maximum and that is free speed that your ship will not have to generate. That would obviously put your ship in an orbit that fly strait above the equator. Logically we want to fly above more than a single strip of land and that's where the roll is used. If you need to fly over land that is half way toward the North Pole you would then have an orbital inclination of 45 degrees. By doing so you lose some of the earth initial speed and your launch would cost more money or you would have to compromise on weight to accelerate faster. The maximum orbital inclination (unless you have money to throw out the window) is then 90 degree and that would put your ship in a polar orbit, which is the most expensive one. So, unless there's a good reason, you always want to launch with as little orbital inclination as you can.

Where is the roll in all that? Normally, your ship on the launch pad is always pointing in the same direction, unless you have a fancy launch pad that can pre-orient the ship before takeoff. This means that the ship will have to rotate (roll) early in the flight to orient itself in the plane of the orbit.

Why is the shuttle rolling if the cheapest way to launch is at an orbital inclination of zero? It all depends on the location of your launch pad. Let's start by saying that the further you are launching from the equator the bigger your minimum orbital inclination will be. Like I mentioned before, at the equator the minimum orbital inclination you can achieve is 0 degree but at the poles the minimum is 90 degrees. This is because you can only achieve an orbit where the orbit plane is cutting the planet through it center of mass. In the case of the earth, since it's fairly round and the density is not uneven, orbit planes would cut the planet in half. The location and orientation of the shuttle launch pad and the target orbital inclination for each mission will, most certainly, force the shuttle to roll to set his orbital plane. The distance from the equator is also why the ISS orbital inclination is 51.6 degrees (far from zero). This is because of the Russian launch pad location is very far from the equator and the minimum orbital inclination that can be achieved from there is 51.6 degrees.

A7LB

I sculpted this during an on-off period between 2000 and 2003. Most of it is made of Milliput, a really hard epoxy-base compound I will never work with again. The painting was done using acrylic.



The figure is about 1:10 scale and depicts Cdr Eugene Cernan during Apollo 17th and last moon landing mission.

Three, two , duh!

Even if you don't like space exploration, you'll probably like this one. Japan launched its HTV automatic space vehicle en route to the International Space Station. I'll direct you to a video of launch, but I have to tell you something before you click on it.

Remember when you did countdowns before starting a game with your friends? The first few times we learn pretty much everything about the 'duration' of the count. A bunch of people start at ten, a nice round number, and then realize half way to zero that it's awkwardly long. Ten is good if you want to make it an official moment, like jumping into the pool from the roof. It also give you time to rethink things. Once you've done ten, then you start at five, much shorter and about one second from being awkward. Finally, if you're in a hurry, you start at three. Anybody that ever started a countdown longer than ten, let's say twenty, knows that this is a bad idea. Normally people start shutting up at sixteen, talk about the jerk that started it, and get back in the count at five.

This should be it. I lived with those notions of countdowns for thirty plus years and I'm pretty happy. NASA reinforced my neuron connections by starting at ten almost all the time. Then came JAXA, the NASA of Japan. They were launching that big new rocket and I was not going to miss it. So I sat in from of my computer and saw this:

The launch link

Why? Three minutes? Now, how much are they paying that girl? Did she lose a bet? Maybe it's a prank they play on new employees. Imagine doing that in English or French, you'd need some speed talker from the Guinness book.

Anyway, if they keep that up, I'm watching their next launch with no sound.