Woo – we made it – try not to barf as the Space Shuttle launches for this Sci-Friday! Take the ride into space and then let’s talk about what was happening during the video:
A number of things happen in the last minute before launch:
- Orbiter transfers from ground to internal power (T−50 seconds)
- Ground launch sequencer is go for auto sequence start (T−31 seconds)
- Activate launch pad sound suppression system (T−16 seconds)
T−10 seconds and counting
- Activate main engine hydrogen burnoff system (T−10 seconds)
- Ground launch sequencer commands main engine start (T−6.6 seconds)
T−0 seconds
- Solid Rocket Boosters ignite
- Explosive bolts release the boosters
- Shuttle stack lifts off from launch pad
Once in space, a number of things happen during this video automatically:
- T plus 20 s – the shuttle rolls right (180 degree roll, 78 degree pitch).
- T plus 60 s – shuttle engines are at maximum throttle.
- T plus 2 min – SRBs separate from the orbiter and fuel tank at an altitude of 28 miles (45 km). Main engines continue firing. Parachutes deploy from the SRBs. SRBs will land in the ocean about 140 miles (225 km) off the coast of Florida. Ships will recover the SRBs and tow them back to Cape Canaveral for processing and re-use.
- T plus 7.7 min – main engines throttled down to keep acceleration below 3g’s so that the shuttle does not break apart.
- T plus 8.5 min – main engines shut down.
At 6:22, the commander is letting everyone know they just broke 50 miles, which means the entire crew are now ‘official’ astronauts as that’s where space is generally considered to start. Aas of this moment, Pilot Jim Halsell, MS’s Leroy Chiao, Don Thomas and Japanese MS Chiaki Naito-Mukai were all entitled to wear the gold astronaut pin. It’s the biggest hurdle in any astronaut’s career to break the 50 miles mark the first time.
I hope you enjoyed this deep dive on the space shuttle! Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend! 🙂
