I miss watching these .......

[John]

Shuttle launch in HD. Play LOUD and in full screen mode

 

[Tim]

Awesome John!  I remember watching the first one go up in '81, our school arranged a mass viewing

[jabeoo1]

Crazy

I love the way those tiny sparks ignite the main fuel. 

[David Smith]

Absolutely superb, bought a lump to my throat.

[DirkSteele]

I was in Florida with my family in 97 and a launch was scheduled. We were across the water at the airforce base, so a few miles away. The sound seemed to take an eternity to arrive but when it did... Wow! It's the loudest thing I have ever heard. The vibrations in my chest were intense. Forget all the theme parks, that was the highlight of the holiday.

 

[John]

6 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

I was in Florida with my family in 97 and a launch was scheduled. We were across the water at the airforce base, so a few miles away. The sound seemed to take an eternity to arrive but when it did... Wow! It's the loudest thing I have ever heard. The vibrations in my chest were intense. Forget all the theme parks, that was the highlight of the holiday.

 

Like tearing calico magnified many times over they say.

I've visited central Florida many times but have always missed the launches. A friend of mine, with little interest in space and astronomy, visited just once and caught a nighttime shuttle launch. He said that it was like the Sun rising

Kennedy Space Centre has to be one of my favourite places to visit anywhere I reckon

[laudropb]

I was lucky enough to see one on a family holiday to Florida . It is a memory I will never forget.

[fireballxl5]

I was also lucky enough to see a shuttle launch on my first trip over to the US. It was STS-65 (Columbia) on 8th July 1994. I had my Ricoh XR-2 SLR with just a 28-70mm Tamron zoom to get this shot. Should really re-scan the negative for a higher-res version. An unforgettable experience.

 

 

[Hertford Stargazer]

16 hours ago, jabeoo1 said:

Crazy

I love the way those tiny sparks ignite the main fuel.

I use to think the exact same thing  Recently however, I completed a "Human Space Flight" course where I learned the sparks purpose is to ensure any excess gases are burned off before they can accumulate and present a problem.  
 

[LukeSkywatcher]

I first saw one when I was 20 on a desktop on the Encarta encyclopedia. My mind was blown. I should point out that i was blown away by being able to see real video footage on something called a CD-ROM and on a computer with something called windows. It was all pretty new back then.

[Guest]

I love the way that the whole stack seems to flex when the main engines start.One NASA engineer said that the whole gantry would tear apart if the shuttle was not released when the solid boosters started.

 

[johnfosteruk]

Thank you John. I miss them too, felt betrayed when they announced decommissioning.

The videos with the super quality sound are remarkable, thanks for posting this, I'm 10 again dreaming of being an astronaut.

Here's the final docking with the ISS - Atlantis.

From the awesome ferocity and noise of launch to something so elegant, the music from swan lake would not be out of place.

 

[SilverAstro]

I miss Spadeadam, it would have been closer !

but I  had to laugh when recently it was proposed that a spaceport would be a 'good idea' somewhere in northern UK !

Wot ! aint they never heard of deltaV  (energy to orbit) and thus why most launch facilities are near the equator ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_commercial_spaceport_competition

You gotta larf, HaroldW eat yer heart out !

 

[frugal]

I remember as a kid being trooped into the school hall, so we could all watch the shuttle go up. I thought it was an amazing thing then (10 year old kid + rockets = wow!)

I never saw the shuttle take off, but we did take the kids to Florida a few years ago and we go to see an Atlas rocket take off. 3 hours in the baking Florida sun outside the Saturn 5 exhibit waiting. Then at the end of the countdown there was a bright light and smoke on the launchpad. Then the rocket lifted up silently on top of a small star. About 20 seconds later the wall of sound hit like a blow to the stomach; and it just kept rumbling. I turned to look at my son and he was stood there staring up into the sky with his mouth open and a look of amazement on his face. Best part of the holiday for me.