Want to Know What It's Like to be a Solid Rocket Booster? (Video)

By Nancy Atkinson - March 25, 2009 at 6:40 AM UTC | Space Exploration

This video is incredible, almost like something from a sci-fi movie – and the sound is unbelievable! But this is the real deal. NASA mounts cameras on the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), enabling those of us who are Earth-bound to ride along (and for NASA engineers to have a first-hand look at what is going on, too – the real reason for these cameras). In the first part of the video, you see the SRB separation and the shuttle pulling away, which is just magnificent! Plus, you ride along the whole way back to Earth until the parachutes deploy on the SRBs and you splash down in the ocean. The second part, you ride the along for the launch. You get a bird's eye view (or is that a

BAT's eye view?!

) of when the water suppression system starts, the SRBs light, the main engines start, and then you're hauling the mail. Its great fun and way, way cool:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com