Videographers David Gonzales and Mike Deep filmed Endeavour’s final launch with two cameras from the Kennedy Space Center Press Site, and put this video together for Universe Today. They did a great job of capturing what a shuttle launch sounds like, from the countdown, to the cheering of the crowd, to the crackling and popping of the launch itself.
They used a Go Pro HD Hero, which is an HD camera with a 170 degree field of view with its fish eye lens and approximates what one sees if they are standing there at the Press Site for launch, David says. “It is actually a wider field of view than the human eye to show the scene if one were to look around.”
For the audio, they used a Zoom H2 Digital Audio Recorder. “This digital audio recording device captures the sound of launch in multiple channels to the front and rear bringing the sound of man-made thunder to listeners.”
I know every time I’ve tried to record the sound of a shuttle launch, it is so loud it just distorts the sound in my tiny little audio recorder. This captures the real sound.
Nancy Atkinson is Universe Today's Senior Editor. She also is the host of the NASA Lunar Science Institute podcast and works with the Astronomy Cast and 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts. Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.
