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Author
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Topic: Gemini Titan launch question
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mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 01-31-2006 05:15 PM
   
While watching the Spacecraft Films DVD on Project Gemini again last weekend, I finally felt the need to ask about the noise one can hear right before the Titan ignites. It's sort of a grinding noise...kind of like pushing a wooden chair quickly across a concrete floor (for lack of a better comparison). It lasts for about a second before the roar of the engines can be heard.Is that the noise of the turbo pumps starting to do their thing before ignition? Or is it something else? It's not a noise you can hear with the Redstone, Atlas, or Saturn launches (or at least I've never noticed it), so I'm curious what the noise is. |
spacecraft films
Member Posts: 802
From: Columbus, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 01-31-2006 06:00 PM
As I understood it, this is the sound of the turbopumps spooling up, which is pretty discinctive of the Titan.Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the Titan is hypergolic, while all the other manned main propulsion units have not been (and thus required an additional - noisy - device for ignition). Mark |
Rick Boos
Member Posts: 851
From: Celina, Ohio
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 02-01-2006 06:51 AM
Mark is correct. I talked to Wally Schirra about that sometime back. You can really hear it on the GT-6 shutdown. | |
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