An Amazing Launch! Endeavor STS 123, March 11, 2008

WHAT A LAUNCH! I witnessed a magnificent flash of light during the Endeavor STS123 launch at Kennedy Space Center on 11 March 2008/2:28AM

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• STS123
• Space
• Shuttle
• Endeavor
• night
• Launch
• NASA

[crazybastard82]

no. the 3 mile safety zone is because an explosion from the shuttle can throw 100-pound shrapnel up to three miles away. use your brain: if the blast was as powerful as an atomic bomb it would obliterate the shuttle, launch tower, and everything else in the area.

[goldchain34]

@goforlaunch1958

Seemed to me, the smoke shot out around :46 into the video and the sound doesn't hit you until around 1:18.... that's a solid 30+ seconds, which would indicate a distance of roughly 6 miles from the launchpad. Definitely hard to believe it's 2.5 miles.........

[CardShark989]

on a clear night we could see this in jacksonville a couple years back. it was awesome. only time i ever saw one go up

[OffWIthTheRain]

totally looks like a dick reaching for the clouds at 1:19

[stevebairdchef]

Hi, Going by sound distortion and the slight shake of the camera... I would say with the speed of sound traveling at 343 metres per second and the 15,.5 second delay in hear the roar of the Rockets.. Your 3.55 miles from the base of the shuttle.

[deseret15]

@wlmason73 well stated, sir. Thanks for informing my once misinformed brain, and please forgive my insolence.

[wlmason73]

@deseret15 You have to understand the reason why people are questioning the distance from the pad. Civilians, and non-essential personnel are restricted in how close they can be to the launch pad during a launch. The closest anyone who isn't directly involved with the launch can normally get is ~3 miles away and that's typically restricted to press. The fact that the poster is saying he's closer isn't an unimportant detail people are going math nazi on.

[wlmason73]

@goldchain34 It's certainly not 2.5 miles from the pad. You can see the main engines starting around 0:46, and they're not heard until 1:11. The sound (traveling @ ~340m/s) would cover a distance of roughly 5.3 miles (8.5 km) during the 25 second gap. That's still a hell of a lot closer than I'm ever likely to be to the pad during one of the shuttle launches. It's likely I'll never get to see one up close. Nice video.

[deseret15]

honestly, all you people trying to find how far away he is... go get a life. He has the video. Thats really all that matters.

[Jimed756]

Listen closely to the difference between the liquid motors and the SRB's. I clock around 24 seconds from seeing the liquid motors ignite and hearing their sound. The SRB's are definitely louder, and it's very discrenable in the audio. So, using 5sec/mile as an average it appears that the camera was just short of 5 miles away.

[sizzlepiece]

jus speechless.....

[marklamiss]

@goforlaunch1958

do u happen to know how close(in miles) the public is allowed to get to the launch on the beach? Is anyone allowed on canaveral national seashore? thanks