Mach diamonds.. Delta IV Heavy launches have great ones.. the rare Atlas V launch with no strap-on solid boosters are pretty good too.
Quote from: Rocket Science on 04/05/2012 12:57 amIt’s the sound… The shriek at start-up and then continuous rolling thunder.I was also going to say the sound, or sounds, of launch. Titan 2 engines shrieked at startup, for example. Rocketdyne Atlas made a low rumble thunder crackle sound that changed pitch as it rose due to Doppler effect. I witnessed the first aborted launch attempt of Discovery, back in 1984, when I heard the super-odd burp-whomp-shriek-whomp sound of SSMEs starting and aborting. Weird! And, of course, the sound always lags what you see by several seconds, which is also weird. Adding to the strangeness is the feeling of the ground moving beneath your feet shortly *before* the sound arrives. Weird! - Ed Kyle
It’s the sound… The shriek at start-up and then continuous rolling thunder.
Prandtl-Glauert singularity.
Quote from: ARD on 04/05/2012 11:06 pmThe wispy nature of the exhaust on RP-1/LOX engines. From the inverted-candle appearance of the Falcon 9 to the great torch that the S-IC made, I've always found RP-1/LOX a more aesthetically pleasing propellant than solid propellant. Here's an early Thor (105) standing on its Rocketdyne tail. (Note: When you see these live, it is so bright that it seems like a welder's torch - an effect I've never seen captured in images.) - Ed Kyle
The wispy nature of the exhaust on RP-1/LOX engines. From the inverted-candle appearance of the Falcon 9 to the great torch that the S-IC made, I've always found RP-1/LOX a more aesthetically pleasing propellant than solid propellant.
Quote from: Lee Jay on 04/05/2012 12:35 amPrandtl-Glauert singularity.I'm the only one that thinks that's cool?
Something about the Shuttle's last few seconds before T-0. Ten thousand things sprang to life in those seconds, and they all had to work just so....
The things in this thread are why we are all here.
you haven't lived until you've felt the shock wave of a large solid (RSRM or SRMU) in your chest or at least whipping your pants leg.