Falcon Heavy Launch

If you’ve ever watched a launch in person you know the sound is the craziest thing; the constant punch to the gut and shaking of your chest where you think “annnnnnnnnnd heart attack...but I’ll die happy!”

It’s not quite like being there, but it’s pretty damn cool, and it’s from the top of the VAB:
(You need headphones for it to work)

 
I was geeked like the rest of you.

But the Saturn V is still all that is man, vs Heavy Falcon (Hey bozo's - remember, I like VINTAGE flying machines).

Lots of figures about how Saturn was bigger/badder. But a couple of neat things stuck out. Heavy Falcon's utility is neat. The concept to today took 13 years (with computing power). Saturn - concept to moon - about 7 years - powered by nicotine and coffee (as a previous user stated). The cost of a Saturn launch, in todays money - about $1.2 BILLION. Cost of Heavy Falcons launch - $90 MILLION. (Just launch cost, not development).
 
Derg said:
"Flew value-oriented travelers to Atlanta with regularity, started a website and helped make a lot of pilots. Loved well-poured margaritas". I've love to add on "made it off the blue ball of Earth".
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Guy who bought my experimental airplane has a Virgin galactic ticket ever since they came out for purchase. Not because he's super rich, but because that last sentence is what he wanted all his life. He's got about ten years on you and tried to weasel in via being a M.D. and pilot with all the ratings. Didn't work out, but he's not giving up. In the early 90s hid a stack of cash in his underwear and ventured off to Russia trying to bribe his way into riding the attractions at the Star City during night shifts.
It's a powerful drive.

I'd be game for a cross-country flight. Or blasting ugly aliens in a starfighter. Doing the laps around the rock at the current level of technology with all the muscle tissue deterioration, bone brittleness and cardiovascular issues isn't quite as appealing.
 
I’m just disappointed that rocket man didn’t turn to the camera and nod, then look back out the windshield and floor that thing when the boosters ignited.
That would have been the awesome.
 
I was flying s
JeppUpdater said:
If you’ve ever watched a launch in person you know the sound is the craziest thing; the constant punch to the gut and shaking of your chest where you think “annnnnnnnnnd heart attack...but I’ll die happy!”

It’s not quite like being there, but it’s pretty damn cool, and it’s from the top of the VAB:
(You need headphones for it to work)

Click to expand...

bad ass!
 
So cool.
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Boris Badenov said:
I suspect that Mr. Musk is crazy like a fox. My read is that he sincerely believes that he can move forward human endeavor a meaningful amount in his lifetime, and he is willing to play the part of the Crazy Billionaire Philanthropist/Nutcase/Evul Genius in order to do so. To wit, Dr. Evil with his volcanic island base sells more interwebz clicks than an inveterate nerd who also happens to have extremely good vision, be committed to what he views as human progress, and have the money to hire all of the Nerd-Beards who make this stuff actually occur. As it happens, I agree with him (in the main) about what constitutes human progress, and I applaud him (and the thousands and thousands of people who made this happen and will make other incredible feats happen in the future). I suspect that in private he would give the lion's share of the plaudits to them, too, but he's too committed to the project to let him being remembered as a self-impressed jerk slow down the Project. So he lets those who would prefer to believe that he's a biiiiiiiiiit of a megalomaniac just go on and believe whatever it is they prefer to believe, so long as the payloads get up the gravity well.

I admit that I could be totally wrong and he could be plotting to take over the world. Gotta hedge my bets.
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My personal favorites have been shuttle launches, and this is the best video of one online:

The camera angle from 1:44 to 1:56 is epic! Turn up your speakers and lose your hearing, it's worth it :)

 
fast89pony said:
Cool compilation of the twin landers and reactions
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Why were the sonic booms heard until the boosters touched down? And not higher up in the atmosphere, when retro rockets first fired? Or were the sonic booms created in the upper atmosphere, at retro firing? But it took time for the waveform to travel down to lower to be able to be heard?
 
Maximillian_Jenius said:
Why were the sonic booms heard until the boosters touched down? And not higher up in the atmosphere, when retro rockets first fired? Or were the sonic booms created in the upper atmosphere, at retro firing? But it took time for the waveform to travel down to lower to be able to be heard?
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Sound travels a lot slower than light. I think at sea level its something like 660 knots. In addition the sonic transition is happening at altitude. There are actually 3 different booms caused by 3 different parts of the boosters passing through the sound barrier. So what you are hearing is the boom from the boosters passing through mach (I'm on my ipad away from home so I can't do the the math right now) somewhere around 10K and it takes 20-30 seconds for the sound to reach you.
 
av8tr1 said:
Sound travels a lot slower than light. I think at sea level its something like 660 knots. In addition the sonic transition is happening at altitude. There are actually 3 different booms caused by 3 different parts of the boosters passing through the sound barrier. So what you are hearing is the boom from the boosters passing through mach (I'm on my ipad away from home so I can't do the the math right now) somewhere around 10K and it takes 20-30 seconds for the sound to reach you.
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Also they are standing horizontally a couple of miles away and the sound has to travel that far as well no?
 
fast89pony said:
Also they are standing horizontally a couple of miles away and the sound has to travel that far as well no?
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You are correct but the boom isn't happening near the ground. It's at altitude. When I get home I can do a longer write up about how they use the engine off gasing to prohibit the sonic boom.
 
av8tr1 said:
Sound travels a lot slower than light. I think at sea level its something like 660 knots. In addition the sonic transition is happening at altitude. There are actually 3 different booms caused by 3 different parts of the boosters passing through the sound barrier. So what you are hearing is the boom from the boosters passing through mach (I'm on my ipad away from home so I can't do the the math right now) somewhere around 10K and it takes 20-30 seconds for the sound to reach you.
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The most significant variable on the speed of sound is temperature and has nothing to do with altitude directly, but yes on a standard day at sea level, the speed of sound is about 660kts.
For the boom, at altitude you also have to account for refraction of the sound upwards, creating sound shadows on the ground
 
av8tr1 said:
You are correct but the boom isn't happening near the ground. It's at altitude. When I get home I can do a longer write up about how they use the engine off gasing to prohibit the sonic boom.
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No I get that it happens at altitude. Here is my 7th grade geometry attempt. Z is where the sonic transition happens. X is the landing spot and Y is the spectators.
downloadfile.jpg

After the transition happens the lander is still falling very fast if not right below the speed of sound so the actual boom sound isn't to much faster than it is falling up until almost a 1000 feet above the pad when they do the landing burn and slow way down. Those thing where moving! Since the crowd was farther away than being right under the transition is took longer for the boom to reach them then if they were standing on the pad. So that extra distance the sound had to travel to reach the spectators gave the landers (visually) time to almost be on the pad when they hear the booms.
Fingers and head hurt.
 
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