Looking for something to watch on Thanksgiving you’re sick of football? Check out this fantastically well-made video of the STS-129 Atlantis Shuttle launch [Update: that video has been removed from YouTube, but is now on Facebook]. Do yourself three favors: I’ve embedded the video below, but go to the original YouTube page, click the "HD" link, and turn your volume up.
The whole thing is pretty freaking cool, but the launch starts at about the 2:20 mark. I also love the sideways view starting at 3:40; you can really see the Shuttle rock to the side when the liquid-fuel engines ignite (the solid rocket boosters ignite just as the Shuttle swings back to vertical).
The music is very cool. Anyone recognize it? [Edited to add: Christine in the comments has a list of composers.]
Also: the Shuttle is due to land in Florida on Friday morning; the two potential landing times (pending weather) are 9:44 a.m. and 11:19 a.m. EST (14:44 and 16:19 GMT). If I’m up, I’ll live tweet it!
Tip o’ the reentry tile to my friend Dan Durda, who has seen more Shuttle launches than practically anyone.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:44 am
That is one of the most awe inspiring and beautiful pieces of NASA related video footage I have ever seen.
I was aware that they had video cameras on all the parts of the shuttle but not aware how awesome that footage could be.
Thank you Phil for posting this, I will show it to my friends and family today and give thanks that we humans are clever enough to achieve such great things.
-Joseph
November 26th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Just watched it with my three-year-old son. Way cool! Thanks for posting the footage.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:02 am
For all that we have made such an almighty mess of things repeatedly throughout human history, that video restored my faith that we are, as a species, capable of incredible, amazing achievements too. The stack rocking forwards and settling back must be pretty hair-raising for the astronauts.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Two thumbs up. Five stars. Oscars. Golden Globes.
2. Steve – that’s exactly what I was thinking as I watched it.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Wow, that’s awesome. The song sounds like it’s from Firefly, no? (In the beginning.)
The best part was watching the boosters separate from the main shuttle and seeing the shuttle head out into space while the edge of the atmosphere and the curvature of the blue and white earth are visible. It seemed unreal, like watching a shuttlecraft leave a planet’s surface in Star Trek. (5:52)
Thank you for sharing this.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Watched ISS and STS129 pass overhead last night. They were literally this close ] [ to transiting Jupiter. (<1/2 a pinky width at full arm’s length)
Wish I had a decent camera to have captured that.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I’ve done a little bit of amateur video editing, but whoever cut that together is truly an artist.
Bravo!
November 26th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Why doesn’t NASA do more of these? Just incredible footage. I really loved the in cockpit view and when the boosters fell off, and the footage from the launch pad…. Just incredible!!!!
I have had the pleasure of seeing a Shuttle launch in person and I would encourage anyone who has not to do so before the program ends. It is truly an experience.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:56 am
YouTube blurb gives music credits as:
Music composed by: Nigel Bates, Lisa Bloom Cohen, Richard Lacy, Pierre Langer, Michael McGolfrick and Lisle Moore.
Additional music composed by Albert Cofrin performed by Clandestine used with permission.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:21 am
[...] Vía Bad Astronomy [...]
November 26th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Nice to see that NASA is getting some of its PR moxie back.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:41 am
just 1 min ago watch iss and shuttle go over a good two hand widths apart first time id seen both. really cool
November 26th, 2009 at 11:10 am
The best video I’ve ever seen and may ever see! Thanks, Phil.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Beautiful, thanks. Watched it with my four year old, who always gets more excited about the rocket booster separation phase than the intital launch. The drums at about 7 min sound very Bear McCreary Battlestar Galactica–ish, but he’s not listed in the credits.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Awesome. I don’t think they overdid it with the repeated scenes of the launch. there were so many cool camera angles to capture the launch from.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Very VERY nice!!
Keep doing stuff like this NASA and you’ll be loved again – more than just a few of us hard-core geeks!
November 26th, 2009 at 11:41 am
This video is a wonderful tribute to the Space Shuttle.
Though NASA will soon be moving on with a new, more capable launch vehicle, nothing will ever really replace the Shuttle in terms of cool. The Shuttle, though old, has always felt like a real space ship – something a capsule atop a rocket can never replicate. Shuttle launches have a drama and an elegance which really captures the beauty, joy, danger and hard work that goes into manned space flight. The Shuttle is, for lack of a better word, epic and this video captures that sentiment perfectly.
Thank you Phil for the link.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:45 am
The finest in space geek pr0n!
November 26th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I recognize the music from a Planetary Society advertisement. Is it from Star Trek Voyager?
November 26th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
The thing that stuck in my head is the footage from right after launch. The view from the cockpit shows them approaching the cloud cover at “ludicrous speed”. The sense of speed is astounding.
Happy (American) Thanksgiving everyone!
November 26th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
That was awesome. Thankyou (and NASA)!
Also interesting to see the real close-ups of the Shuttle. At first I thought it looked a little shabby, but then I thought about what *I* would look like if I was slammed into the atmosphere 30 times at Mach 27. All things considered it looks in great shape.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Two questions:
1) How do they execute that roll right after they clear the tower, is it going fast enough already to use control surfaces for that? Or is there some non-obvious directed thrust that does it?
2) Why even execute the roll, why not just take off facing that way already?
(BTW, one of the best shuttle launch videos I have ever seen)
November 26th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Hey, what happened? It says “This video has been removed by the user. ”
???
November 26th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
The video seems to have been removed from Youtube by the user. According to the user’s profile, however, the video can still be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1281242597482
Can anyone confirm it’s the same video?
November 26th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Awesome video. Too bad is it is removed now.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
To all of you who are disappointed that this video has been removed, here’s a video I made from NASA TV footage as STS-129 was approaching the ISS.
http://tinyurl.com/stswaltz
Isn’t space gorgeous?
November 26th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Oh dear:
“This video has been removed by the user. ”
As an avid NASA fan who tries to watch all launches (and landings, dockings etc) live from NASA-TV, I really would have wanted to see this video. Even more after reading all the previous comments
Michael: Can’t remember the answer for 1), but for the 2):
The shuttle needs to launch into a number of different directions depending on the required inclination. Even with a “constant” target like ISS, the shuttle’s takeoff direction changes a lot if the ISS is passing form north to south or from south to north.
Because the launchpad is static and shuttle can only be erected into one orientation, it needs to make the roll manuever in order to reach the correct headding for each launch.
November 26th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Damn. Why didn’t I save it first…
November 26th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Michael Said:
“1) How do they execute that roll right after they clear the tower, is it going fast enough already to use control surfaces for that? Or is there some non-obvious directed thrust that does it?
2) Why even execute the roll, why not just take off facing that way already?”
The roll is done by vectoring the thrust. The engine’s can be tilted, and by tilting them in just the right direction some of the thrust becomes torque, which turns the stack.
But it’s not as simple as just launching with the stack already with a certain orientation. The roll isn’t always exactly the same, but the launch pad and gantry are fixed in one spot. The stack must always launch with the same orientation and then roll however much is called-for in the flight plan.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
for folks wanting to download the original HQ file you can find it here. might also want to update the embedded above from youtube to exposure room. I had to remove the youtube version because to get under the 10 mins upload limit. Some folks didn’t like that I made edits so I took it down at their request.
http://exposureroom.com/members/minterbartolo.aspx/assets/f18be10bed174e46bc71d3c04c9008d7/
November 26th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Awesome video! Just beautiful.
It can be found again on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwd31L2IP34
(Thanks to Marc Tiedemann on UniverseToday)
November 26th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Boo! It’s gone off of YouTube. “This video has been removed by user.” I was hoping to show my husband.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Nuts. You have to join Facebook to see it.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I don’t know if it’s the same video but this:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1281242597482
Is frakking amazing.
Thanks Espen
November 26th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
As mentioned above,
http://exposureroom.com/members/minterbartolo.aspx/assets/f18be10bed174e46bc71d3c04c9008d7/ has the ‘official’ high quality video (this version, and the one on Facebook, are 12 minutes long and have the credits at the beginning, compared to the 10 minute Youtube version Phil posted originally).
November 26th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
@Pablo yeah that is the full video (see it is 12:34, I had to trim the opening credits to get under the youtube 10 min ceiling) and they didn’t like that so I was told to pull it from youtube. I am hoping PAO steps up and puts that full version up on Youtube as they can get around the 10 min limit. if folks know a better site besides facebook and exposure room to upload the full high quality video I will.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
As a fan of astronomy and good old american engines both:
Who needs porn when you see that!?
November 26th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
“…sick of football…” Whaaaat?
November 26th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
It’d be really nice to have another source for the video. I refuse to submit my soul for use by Facebook’s cynical profiteering operation.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
All I got was “This video has been removed by the user”, so I watched Nat at Communitychannel instead.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
To the best of my knowledge you can upload full HD of any length to Vimeo.
November 27th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Okay word came down from above the edits were fine and to reload it into youtube. I still wish PAO would put the full version so folks can see the video as the team who worked so hard on it intended, but until then it should be back up in a little while.
If you want the full version you can go to Facebook or the exposure room link to see it.
November 27th, 2009 at 6:54 am
That was a terrific piece. I’ve sent the link to a friend who works on CGI/amimation for Hollywoood movies – he’s always on the lookout for reference images. So maybe watch out for the next Transformers movie?
November 27th, 2009 at 6:59 am
@30
Thanks for the update and the link!
November 27th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Something I wonder about is, do they have to replace the cameras on the launch pad after each launch? It seems that the heat and trauma of the launch would vapourize them.
November 27th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Wow. There sure were a lot of tiny UFOs following the orbiter right when it separated from the external tank.
November 27th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Wow – we’re very happy to see all these positive comments about our video.
Thank you all for the kind words.
It’s unfortunate that an abbreviated version had to be posted to YouTube because it cuts off some hard work and recognition of many people who helped me put the movie together.
Hopefully it will be posted, in its entirety, to the official NASA YouTube channel very soon.
Oh, and as for the percussion piece that sounds so Bear McCreary-ish. Good ears. I am a HUGE BSG and Bear Mc. fan so I wanted to use some music that sounded similar (without worrying about the copyright issue).
November 27th, 2009 at 10:27 am
For 12: About a year ago while living in Carlsbad NM, I watched one of the Shuttles approach and dock with the Space Station. I was impressed that the entire docking process was visible to the naked eye.
I believe I got the information about when the docking would happen at this website:
http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
or
http://www.heavens-above.com/
but there are other sites out there with similar information.
November 27th, 2009 at 10:35 am
For 12: About a year ago while living in Carlsbad NM, I watched one of the Shuttles approach and dock with the Space Station. I was impressed.
I believe I got the information about when the docking would happen at this website:
http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
or at
http://www.heavens-above.com/
but there are other sites out there with similar information.
November 27th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Full version is up on Vimeo now:
http://www.vimeo.com/7852885
I can’t believe the exposure room site has almots 13,000 views. You folks really like the video which is a testament to Dave and his teams efforts.
http://exposureroom.com/members/minterbartolo.aspx/assets/f18be10bed174e46bc71d3c04c9008d7/
November 28th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Superluminous ie. beyond mere brilliance! Love it – thanks BA.
I’ve posted the link on my facebook page & on an Adelaide planetarium group’s facebookpage too.
November 29th, 2009 at 6:51 am
@ 26. Erik R. Says:
To all of you who are disappointed that this video has been removed, here’s a video I made from NASA TV footage as STS-129 was approaching the ISS. [Link snipped to avoid awaiting moderation.] Isn’t space gorgeous?
Blazes yes!
Thanks for your ‘Shuttle Waltz’ video Eric R – great job , very 2001.
November 29th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Deleted. Missed #50.
February 21st, 2010 at 5:17 am
Another beautiful if poignant shuttle image also via BA blog is here :
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/02/13/twilight-of-the-shuttle
Space Shuttle’s Twilight.
I wish the space shuttles could fly forever.
I know they can’t – but I wish they could. For all the shuttle’s flaws, such an awesome piece of machinery & technology.
February 21st, 2010 at 6:44 am
One other amazing launch video worth checking out (if y’haven’t already) that blows you (well me anyhow) away is this one :
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/02/17/rocket-launch-blows-away-the-sky/
of the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s rocket blowing away a parhelia or sundog.
March 7th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Click my name for the latest spine-chillingly astounding footage – riding one of the Shuttle Discovery‘s Solid Rocket Boosters on the launch of the STS-133 mission via this blog.
Just in case the link doesn’t work, it’s titled ‘Ride an SRB video into space’ & was originally posted by the BA – on the 4th of March, 2011 at midday. Half an hour long and much of it is silent but still well worth viewing – IMHON.