"T minus three ... we have ignition."

[unixronin]

In honor of the largest rocket ever built, the largest model rocket ever built, a 1/10-scale Saturn V, was recently launched from Price, Maryland. Video of the launch is available on YouTube, linked from that article.

You really want to sit and wait all the way to the end. Trust me on this. The slow-motion repeat at the end looks, and sounds, as close as we'll ever see again to the real thing outside of Hollywood movies. I have a hard time finding words for quite how I'm feeling right now.

Comments

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

I always get all verklempt when I see footage of a Saturn V taking off. Thank you for this, from the bottom of my heart.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[cipherpunk.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link. I only wish I could find either joy or awe in it.

A few years ago I was talking with my father about the Apollo Program. He was reminiscing about it and laughing. He told me he never thought he’d live to see the first man walk on the moon.

Then I asked him if he ever thought he’d live to see the last man walk on the moon… and suddenly Dad realized why the Apollo Program makes me so sad.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean.

I wanted to go out there myself. The odds that I will ever be able to are becoming increasingly poor.

[cipherpunk.livejournal.com]

I see some hope. Recently, some physicists were able to crack the quantum mechanical effect in chlorophyll that allows plants to recover 95% of the radiant energy which lands upon them — at least, 95% in the early stage of the photosynthesis cycle; successive stages are nowhere near as effective.

So now imagine you have a very small, light spacecraft. It's got an ion engine and a small amount of reaction mass. (“Small” is relative, but we’re talking orders of magnitude less than a Saturn V.) It also has no onboard power for the ion engine. At launch, you beam a high–energy laser at it and use that to power the ion engine. The ion engine then accelerates small quantities of reaction mass to unspeakably high velocities, and presto, you get lift.

It’s definitely science fiction, but — it’s a lift vehicle idea that, as far as I can tell, doesn’t violate any laws of physics, and manages to avoid the phenomenally wasteful “let’s put half a million pounds of fuel into orbit just to propel the vehicle out of orbit and onto the rest of its journey” problem the Saturns had.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of different groups working on laser-launch ideas. The Lightcraft is another; it relies on laser power to heat air in a thrust chamber, iirc, to get thrust in-atmosphere without having to carry propellant. And there's things like Virgin Galactic.

I don't see any of these things becoming practical reality soon enough that I'll ever be able to afford to go into space, though, barring some really revolutionary development.

[fatcook.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the memory reminder. I got see Apollo 16 launch from 5 mile point. The most impressive thing was the lack of sound. That and the punch in the chest as the shockwave hit before the soundwave.