Topic: Extreme ways to watch a space shuttle launch
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 07-28-2008 11:48 AM
You can view a space shuttle launch by plane...
...or, if you prefer, outside the plane:
Editor's note and parental warning: The first video, taken in 2007 from aboard a Canada Air flight from Nassau to Toronto, includes some expletives. The second video, by parachute over Sebastian, FL at 16,600 feet, is of STS-117, also in 2007.
Mr Meek Member
Posts: 353 From: Chattanooga, TN Registered: Dec 2007
posted 07-28-2008 01:22 PM
Clearly, the narrator of the first video is one of Western society's finest orators.
The videos, however, are neat. How did you happen across these? A slow Sunday afternoon chasing YouTube rabbit trails?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 07-28-2008 01:28 PM
A reader forwarded me the link to the first one. The second came up in the related videos on YouTube.
(It seems the Canada Air video has gone viral; a Google search shows it appearing on numerous video sites and message boards.)
I've always had a fantasy of renting a hot air balloon, anchoring it just at the edge of the no fly zone, and watching a shuttle launch from up-high. Certainly not as extreme as skydiving or as happenstance as commercial air-spotting, but it would offer a more stable platform for photography.
ea757grrl Member
Posts: 729 From: South Carolina Registered: Jul 2006
posted 07-28-2008 01:55 PM
Not a Shuttle launch, but still gorgeous: One night a little over eight years ago, I was flying from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, and changed planes at Orlando (back when I had ambitions of going Medallion on a certain airline). It was a clear night, about perfect, and you could see forever. A few minutes into our flight the cabin attendant (the airplane was a Brasilia, so there was only one) made an announcement for us to look out the left side of the aircraft. Off in the distance, we could see something being launched from the Cape. Even from that distance, it was beautiful. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
jodie
garymilgrom Member
Posts: 1966 From: Atlanta, GA Registered: Feb 2007
posted 07-28-2008 02:37 PM
Someone needs to remind Mr. Air Canada he has a zoom on that camera. Or we need to get Mark Gray on one of these flights! Great stuff Robert, thanks for posting.
Ben Member
Posts: 1896 From: Cape Canaveral, FL Registered: May 2000
posted 08-14-2008 02:37 PM
I just saw this video today. The first one, from Air Canada, is not of the shuttle but of a Delta 2. Based on the YouTube post date and the clouds, I believe it is the launch of GPS 2R-18 on Dec. 20 2007 at 3:04pm.
golddog Member
Posts: 210 From: australia Registered: Feb 2008
posted 08-15-2008 03:04 AM
quote:Originally posted by Ben: Based on the YouTube post date and the clouds, I believe it is the launch of GPS 2R-18 on Dec. 20 2007 at 3:04pm.
That's very interesting to know, as I was on the ground outside the Saturn V Centre at KSC watching the very same launch!
Lunar_module_5 unregistered
posted 08-22-2008 08:37 AM
I remember pictures from the early shuttle days that showed the crew of the rescue vehicle watching the launch from a very close distance. I always thought how cool it would have been to watch the launch from their vantage point.
cspg Member
Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
posted 08-22-2008 10:23 AM
quote:Originally posted by Ben: I just saw this video today. The first one, from Air Canada, is not of the shuttle but of a Delta 2. Based on the YouTube post date and the clouds, I believe it is the launch of GPS 2R-18 on Dec. 20 2007 at 3:04pm.
If it were a shuttle launch, wouldn't we see some orange-looking exhaust from the SRBs? Or is the plane too far out? Apparently the "commentator" (turn off the sound) is zooming all he can (or knows of)!
posted 07-28-2008 11:48 AM
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