OT: STS-123 Tuesday Morning
 

I took a trip down to Florida to watch STS-123, Endeavour launch early Tuesday morning. What a site!! Completely amazing. Here's a photo...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...53&id=31108193

Why didn't you get closer? :)

Thanks, Tanner.
Nice picture.

Speed Of Sound Versus Speed Of Light ...
 

I've never been to a Shuttle launch, but before I retired from teaching, I would use your adventure as an example of the difference between the speed of sound and the speed of light. I've been told that the observation area is a few miles from the launch platform. Observers first see the light of the launch, and later, from what I've been told about a minute later, the same observers hear the sound of the launch. Did you observe this phenomena?

I know nothing about the shuttle launch, but I do know that to hear the sound a minute after takeoff, the observation area would have to be approximately 13 miles from the launch site.

I have no idea how far it actually is, but I would be surprised if it's 13 miles away.

I once observed a shuttle lift-off from a driveway in Winter Garden, FL. That's about 70 miles away. Pretty cool that we could see it from the street.

Math: A+ ...
 

LAUNCH VIEWING

The NASA causeway is the closest and best public viewing site (as close as 6.5 miles) for Space Shuttle launches; tickets are required and they sell out fast. Titusville is the second best viewing area (12 miles), and is the closest off-site location. An option that is between the two in terms of distance, but with no direct view of the launch pad, is the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex (7.4 miles).

If you cannot obtain tickets to the NASA causeway, then your main thought process going into where to view the launch from should include whether you want a clear view of the launch pad (Titusville) versus not having a clear view but being able to hear the sound more (KSC Visitors Complex). If it is a night launch, Titusville also offers the advantage of having a large body of water which will greatly reflect the light given off by the shuttle.

Well, there you go! :D

Guess about a minute later would fit!

It's Rocket Science ...
 

Titusville: 12 miles from launch site.

12 miles x 5280 feet/mile / 1130 feet/sec (speed of sound in dry air at room temperature) = 56 seconds

12 miles / 186,000 miles/sec (speed of light in air) = 0.00006 seconds

All calculations no more than three significant figures.

Observers in Titusville will "see" the launch 0.00006 seconds after it occurs. They will "hear" the launch 56 seconds after it occurs.

tjones1: Where was your observation area? Did you observe this light vs. sound phenomena?

I did the tour in October. It is a pretty amazing thing to observe. No launches while I was in the area, but just looking at the observation areas, the tracks used to move the rockets into place, the assembly buildings and all of the launch areas is a thing of awe.

I was on the NASA causeway so I was only about 6.5 miles away from Lanuch Complex 39A. Actually, I don't remember hearing it. I was so focused on watching it go and I had my radio turned up listening to Mission Control in Houston. I will have to go back to the video and see if I can hear it.

I do believe you can get a little closer. NASA has their invites view the launching from the Apollo/Saturn V building which is a clear shot and probably 4.5 miles or so from the launch pad. By the way, in Billy's post it talks about tickets selling out fast. I was told it takes about three minutes for all of them to go for the causeway. I really couldn't even guess how many people were out there, but it was packed.

Lots of video cameras in the photo, too. You'll probably never get a better photo than the one in your memory.

Precisely. I think I read once that the human eye is the equivalent of an 81-megapixel digital camera. Why bother looking at a 2.5" LCD screen to represent at most a 10-megapixel image.

Our eyes see in way greater detail than HD!

Took a Carnival Cruise outta Port Canaveral once. You can see all the lauch pads from the ship.

I had dinner in Port Canaveral at a place called Grills. Great place and great food!