If you’ve ever watched a rocket launch, you’ve probably noticed the billowing clouds around the launch pad during lift-off. What you’re seeing is not actually the rocket’s exhaust but the Keep reading
Tag: rocket launch
A Rocket Launch From Above
Rocket launches often produce spectacular imagery, but it’s rare to get a launch view quite like this one. The photograph above shows the recent launch of an Atlas V rocket Keep reading
Early Rocket Launch
Pre-dawn launches provide some of the most dramatic rocket footage. This video is from an October 2nd Atlas V launch, and the really fun stuff starts at about 0:34. As Keep reading
Rocket Sonic Boom
Originally posted: 22 July 2010 This video of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory’s launch is such a favorite of mine that it was part of the original inspiration for FYFD and Keep reading
Rocket Exhaust
This image of the Apollo 11 launch shows the Saturn V’s underexpanded nozzle (identifiable by the excessive width of the exhaust jet) shortly after liftoff. The faint diamond shape of Keep reading
Godspeed, Discovery!
The space shuttle, despite three decades of service, remains a triumph of engineering. Although it is nominally a space vehicle, fluid dynamics are vital throughout its operation. From the combustion Keep reading
Rocket Launch Phenomena
The launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) last year provided a rarely seen glimpse of how shock waves affect the atmosphere during launch, but only recently have researchers explained Keep reading
Supersonic
Moving supersonically–faster than the local speed of sound–can cause some awesome effects. Among these are vapor cones (a.k.a. Prandlt-Glauert singularities), shock waves, and, of course, the sonic boom.
Breaking the Sound Barrier
The shock waves propagating in front of an Atlas V rocket after launch decimate a rainbow-like effect called a sun dog. #