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Delta IV RocketCam Videos

Posted by michael on from the whooosh dept.

dmaas writes "High-quality RocketCam videos from the inaugural launch of Boeing's Delta IV rocket have just been made available (in MPEG-1 and Quicktime formats). Of note are the spectacular strap-on solid rocket booster separation, the extension of the second-stage engine nozzle, and the red-hot glow of ablative material in the second-stage engine. (disclaimer: my company prepared these videos for Ecliptic Enterprises, maker of the RocketCam system)" We did RocketCam photos for model rockets a few weeks ago, if you want to compare.

5 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory by Freston+Youseff · · Score: 4, Informative

    Amateur rocket link.

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  2. Shuttle Cam by MrJones · · Score: 2, Informative

    Hey, the Shuttle Cam from STS-112 is also available in that page, great!

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  3. Server Down - Straight DL from Boeing here by Knunov · · Score: 5, Informative

    Their server is down already.

    Download a movie directly from Boeing here.

    QT format. The site also has Real Audio format.

    Knunov

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  4. Re:Temporary Slashdot effect? - temp mirrors by c0nman · · Score: 2, Informative

    for those that seem to not be able to get the video from the main site
    New York mirror
    Italy mirror

  5. Re:Wow... by Soft · · Score: 3, Informative
    I am not a rocket scientist, but I always thought the whole point of the shuttle was that it is resuable, thus saving money in the long run.

    That's the idea on paper. However, this only works if the vehicle flies again and again; the current shuttle flight rate is about four to six a year (all four vehicles combined), and it requires a standing army of several thousand people to rebuild each one between missions - it is not a matter of "fueling her up, checking the oil, cleaning the windshield", more like swapping out the engines, replacing thermal tiles, and so on. And the airframes are aging, fast.

    This puts the price tag for each flight in the $300 million range, or $10,000/kg (payload mass, not counting the hundred-ton shuttle deadweight). With that kind of performance, the expendable launchers are more economical. Or you could say that the current shuttles are not, in fact, reusable.

    Many space advocates believe that we now have the technology and know-how to cut those costs by a large factor, but that NASA and the big players have no interests in doing so. Check this previous /. story about "How the West wasn't won".

    Isn't NASA working on a next generation shuttle for human missions?

    They have just relaunched an orbital spaceplane program to alleviate the ISS' dependency on Russian Soyuzes; this would be a small (reusable?) vehicle housing up to ten people, launched either by a shuttle or a Delta 4 Heavy, to be used mainly as a lifeboat for the ISS so that more than three people can stay there for extended periods.

    Other than that, the SLI program is more or less aimed at replacing the shuttle in a two or three-decade timeframe, and will probably produce yet another expensive all-in-one monster vehicle, if anything.