Awesome camera footage from 6 of the cameras attached to the two Solid Rocket Boosters and external propellant tank of the Shuttle – from lift-off to splashdown in the ocean – on mission STS-125.The video is 35 minutes in length, so being the obsessive I am I flagged the times of the more interesting moments as well as the switch to each camera.
Interesting times, camera 1 (SRB Left Aft):
- 2:24 -
detach - Much
tumbling - 5:07 -
you can see something else falling into the atmosphere and starting to burn up
(the other SRB I assume) - 5:30 -
start to stabilise, or at least less flipping end over end - 6:15 – in
cloud - 6:50 -
glimpse the deployed parachutes (looking up) - 7:07 -
splash
Camera 2 (SRB Lr Intertank):
- This
camera has a microphone, so make sure
you have audio enabled – eerie stuff - 7:17 – camera view starts
- 7:48 -
detach (watch an SRB rotate in sync with us) - Amazing
views and eerie sounds – the white specks are apparently unburned propellant - 10:30 – quick view of a smoking SRM entering the atmosphere, more atmospheric noise now
- 11:30
skip to upward view of deployed chutes - 11:50 -
splashdown, and we fall over. Gurgling.
Camera 3 (SRB Left Forward, facing down):
- 12:08 -
launch at t-10 (facing down, great launch view) - 14:30 -
detach - Camera
view is unfortunately fogged :( - 17:03 -
view clears somewhat, beautiful Earth views - More
stable now, view mostly down. - 18:20 -
some puffs / fire from the exhaust, this thing is still burning - Parachute
deployed? - 18:30 -
ocean through the clouds - 19:15 -
splash, fall over, cool
Camera 4 (SRB Right Aft, facing up):
- 19:40 -
footage starts of launch - 21:58 -
detach, bye bye shuttle - Rest of
video cut short
Camera 5 (SRB Rt Intertank – like the other intertank camera
has a microphone feed):
- 22:22
starts - 22:56 -
detach - Beautiful
falling / tumbling views of earth - 25:25 -
things get noisy - 26:05 -
mic feed stops, view mostly down now - 26:40 -
skip to parachute deployment, facing up, looking almost straight into the sun - 27:12 -
splash. Get to see the chutes falling into the sea and collapsing
Camera 6 (SRB Right Forward):
- 28:18 -
footage starts, probably the best launch footage of the down view - 30:41 -
detach - View
fogged :( - Sun-earth-sun-earth-etc
:) - 33:17
clearer view briefly, more stable - 34:35
parachute? Ocean incoming - 35:17 -
splashdown, splash reaches camera
MyFox (Fox 31), a local TV station in Denver, Colorado, got lucky when their helicopter traffic monitor crew captured live video of space debris breaking up in the early morning sky. The video is beautiful, and the reactions from the pilot and anchors are great :-)
