posted 05-30-2010 09:27 AM               

NASA Releases First High-Def Footage Of Shuttle "Ice Team"

NASA has released the first-ever up close, high-definition video of Kennedy Space Center's Final Inspection Team walkdown in the final hours before a space shuttle launch. The footage was shot on May 14 at Kennedy's Launch Pad 39A during the countdown for shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission.

The six-member inspection team, also known as the "Ice Team," walks on every level of the launch pad's fixed service structure and mobile launcher platform base, inspecting the shuttle, external fuel tank, solid rocket boosters, pad structure and ground equipment for signs of ice buildup, debris or anything else that might be amiss prior to launch. As part of the inspection, photos are taken and transmitted to the launch team for review.

A NASA videographer was included on the team for Atlantis' launch to document this important and hazardous process. The footage was captured with a Panasonic HPX 3700 high definition, cinema-style camera with 1080 progressive scanning at 24 frames per second.

The video will be broadcast on NASA Television's Video File.

posted 06-08-2010 01:57 PM               

NASA Releases First-Ever Inside View of Shuttle After Landing

NASA has released the first-ever up close, high-definition video taken from inside a space shuttle during "towback" following a landing.

Shuttle Atlantis touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on May 26 after 12 days in space, completing its STS-132 mission to the International Space Station.

Following every shuttle landing, about 150 trained workers assist the crew out and prepare the shuttle for towing atop a large diesel-driven tractor to its processing hangar.

The video, which includes views of Atlantis' hatch opening and closing from the inside, shows United Space Alliance employees inside Atlantis' crew compartment working through an extensive checklist to "safe" the spacecraft for towback from Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility runway to Orbiter Processing Facility-1. Inside the facility, Atlantis will be prepared for the unlikely event it is needed as a rescue spacecraft for the final planned shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission.

The video will be broadcast on NASA Television's Video File.

posted 03-18-2011 05:29 PM               

NASA Releases First-Ever HD Footage Of SRB Recovery Ship Mission

For the first time, NASA has released high-definition video taken during the retrieval of solid rocket booster segments from the Atlantic Ocean. The solid rocket boosters provided 144 2.8 million pounds of thrust for the final launch of space shuttle Discovery on its STS-133 mission.

After each shuttle launch, crew members of the Liberty Star and Freedom Star retrieval ships pull the spent boosters out of the ocean and return them to Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. After they are processed, the boosters are transported to Utah, where they are refurbished and stored, if necessary.

The video includes high-definition video footage from the recovery ships and time-lapse footage of recovery efforts on Freedom Star.

The footage was captured with a Panasonic HPX 3700 high-definition, cinema-style camera with 1080 progressive scanning at 24 frames per second.

The video will be broadcast on NASA Television's Video File.