Expend the notes here for info on highlights of this video! This is a must-see! Amazing footage of Space Shuttle launches. You can see so many details thanks to the slow-motion video. My favorites? 4:00 into it; ignition of the main engines 6:29 into it; release of the SRB (Solid Rocket Booster) hold-down bolts. These bolts hold the stacked Space Shuttle to the launch platform and by means of explosives, are released, freeing the vehicle from the pad 9:00 into it; the release of the T-0 umbilicals. Those are the only pad connections to the orbiter for fueling, electrical, cooling etc. Watch how they retract. 9:35 into it; you can see the release from a different perspective. Watch how quickly the door shuts close. 10:55 into it; this view is just plain amazing. Watch how the "smoke" builds up in the back from the sound suppression system. Water stored in a 290-foot-high, 300000 gallon tank on the northeast side of the pad is released just prior to the main engine ignition and flows by gravity to special outlets on the platform, including six 12-foot-high quench nozzles, or "rainbirds." Nine seconds after liftoff, peak flow rate is 900000 gallons per minute. The system reduces acoustical levels within the orbiter payload bay to about 142 decibels, below the design requirement of 145 decibels. 15:50 into it; you can see the sound suppression system working below the orbiter. 16:47 into it; this is probably my favorite part. In real time it happens so fast, you don't notice ...
