As the final five Space Shuttle missions are upcoming (2010), this video of a number of views from the latest launch (November 16, 2009) is very impressive!
Among the perspectives shown are those from cameras mounted on the booster rockets and the giant orange external fuel tank as they fall away from the ascending Shuttle. You actually “ride” the boosters as they splash down into the Atlantic, including brief underwater views! The orange tank and its cameras burn up as it falls back toward earth. The two white booster rockets are recovered and re-used.
This video (12 minutes long) is the most detailed high-resolution presentation of the launch of a Shuttle ever offered to the public by NASA and its contractors and is worth the 12 minutes of your time. You can’t see this much detail even if you were at the Launch Site!
(If you have a hi-res monitor you may want to expand this to Full-Screen)
It may take a few seconds to load after you click the Start button. Adjust your sound volume, too!
Thanks to Keith Little of NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, for the link, and to NASA and the contractors listed for this awesome video!
STS-129 Ascent Video Highlights from mike interbartolo on Vimeo.
