Comments on: Video from Mars rocket launch

Video from Mars rocket launch

stevengarrity — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 19:41:15 -0800

Video of Nasa's Delta II rocket launch (RealVideo) The camera was mounted on the rocket facing down towards earth and the resulting footage is amazing. There's a Windows Media version at MSNBC.

By: crunchburger

crunchburger — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 20:20:25 -0800

Very nice - better visibility than the film they did from the space shuttle last year.

By: Slimemonster

Slimemonster — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 20:26:36 -0800

Hey thanks!

By: tss

tss — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 21:16:40 -0800

Watched this for the first time live on NASA TV, along with an hour's prelude of checking and cycling and gos and rogers and so on. It's amazing how many people it takes to get that thing up in the air, all sitting in some five or six control rooms. In the end, the launch was perhaps somewhat anticlimactic without the slow, rumbling, THX-powered skyward heave and the swelling background chorus you get in the movies... Having seen the real thing, kudos to Cornell undergrad Dan Maas for the verisimilitude of his animation (video 3). Those who watched the whole thing live and didn't know what the "yo-yo" bit they mentioned at the end was all about should check the animation out and see--it's those weights on cables used to throw away the rotational energy from Stage 3. This was the one thing that finally got me to install the dread RealPlayer on my computer. I'm pleased to report that on MacOS X it appears to be nowhere near as insidious as I remember it being on Windows, just in case anyone was putting it off for the same reason I was.

By: tss

tss — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 21:17:32 -0800

Sorry, make that (video 4).

By: squirrel

squirrel — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 21:56:45 -0800

Freakin' RAD! And thanks to tss for the animation links. Very cool, if perhaps a bit undersized. You know, given that this data is ours (the American people's) I wonder how to go about getting higher quality digital files from them NASA tightwads. Not to be greedy, but hey if I'm paying for it, I want the full-rez version! Thanks again.

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 22:18:12 -0800

I'm terrified of flying in an airplane, and have been since I was a toddler, but I'd hop on a rocket into orbit in less than a heartbeat. That video was thrilling to me. Thanks!

By: crasspastor

crasspastor — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 22:34:20 -0800

The coolest was the effect of sunlight on the bolts just past the foreground. Watch as you finally notice the sunlight becoming less diffuse and more direct on the shadows the bolts project. Actually, the whole thing was breathtaking if even in a small realplayer window. Fascinating mission in store as well. Let's hope all goes well.

By: tss

tss — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 22:50:41 -0800

It seems that the thing to do with the launch was to have a video recorder taping NASA TV when it was happening live. While MER-A was coasting over the Atlantic, they replayed the full launch over and over, each time through a different camera and with title screens at the beginning. The sequence looked like it was made for news agencies to chop up into pieces for newscasts or what have you. NASA TV is free to you if you have a big satellite dish. If you have a university in town, you might see if they put it on their campus cable TV system--mine does. Since there are two rovers, you have a second chance for recording with MER-B on or after 25 June. As for hi-res versions of the animation--it could just be a size issue. Last summer, there was a ~100 MB high res version available at JPL internally--nice, but maybe too large for them to distribute.

By: Dick Paris

Dick Paris — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 22:56:33 -0800

Fab. Thanks.

By: dg

dg — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 23:00:33 -0800

[this is good]

By: Dick Paris

Dick Paris — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 23:09:45 -0800

The animation was great too. While watching the third video of the series (where the rover is exploring the surface of Mars) I could not help but wonder if I was not actually watching this.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 23:16:49 -0800

Excellent link - thanks stevengarrity! Quite exciting to have a seat on board.

By: DyRE

DyRE — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 23:23:11 -0800

That was way cool. Thanks for the links, all.

By: dazed_one

dazed_one — Wed, 11 Jun 2003 23:32:59 -0800

Great stuff. Thanks very much for the link.

By: magullo

magullo — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 03:26:24 -0800

NASA TV is also streamed to the web I watched the launch this way - I'm also partipating in a related Lego robotics building contest. The fun never ends

By: tommyspoon

tommyspoon — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 05:54:10 -0800

Call me a geek, but that was freakin' awesome! (Good thing my wife wasn't watching me watch this...) Thanks!

By: steef

steef — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 06:00:04 -0800

don't forget our first of two intrepid ambassadors to the red planet: biff starling. biff's a virtual lego astrobot on dvd.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 07:14:37 -0800

Amazing. Thanks, stevengarrity!

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 07:19:47 -0800

Given all the stages as seen in the animation.. it would seem like a miracle it goes without incident. And even if it all works without a hitch.. the odds of it working TWICE without a hitch.. it's not wonder so few missions have arrived safely. All it takes is one firing bolt to misfire, one trajectory to be slightly off, one boulder to be in the wrong spot. There must be a better way.

By: NGnerd

NGnerd — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 09:00:06 -0800

stbalbach, it's called a space elevator, but we're not going to see one during our lifetime (however, i'd give most of my apendages to work on such a project).

By: swerve

swerve — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 18:36:11 -0800

A belated round of thanks to stevengarrity for the link. I love NASA. This is fantastic.