Catching a ride on a SRB??

[askold]

Watching the NASA video from the SRBs made me think - why doesn't NASA sell rides in the nose of the thing?<br /><br />It wouldn't be that hard to stick somebody in the nose. It's a short ride, so all you'd need is a pressure suit and some oxygen. The G forces are the same as what the astronauts experience, the parachute landing looked pretty soft and NASA goes to get the SRBs anyway, so there would be no additional effort to pick up the passenger.<br /><br />Russia's selling rides to the ISS for millions - some daredevil would buy a ride on the booster.

 

[giofx]

where can i find those vids? the only site i know is insideksc.com... do you know of another one?

 

[shuttle_rtf]

I believe it's on spaceflightnow.com but you have to pay for it.

 

[askold]

I saw the vids on NASA TV on my DISH system today. They showed both the vid from the left and the right SRB.<br /><br />The right SRB vid looked like the whole flight - from ascent to splashdown.<br /><br />It was pretty cool. At separation, the sky was black but you could see it turn gradually blue as the SRB re-entered the atmosphere.<br /><br />It looked like a wild ride, but survivable, if you're brave enough ...

 

[ehs40]

i'd do it best damn roller coster ride ever wooohoooo

 

[spacefire]

riding the srb is safer than safer than riding in the shuttle.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[john_316]

A SRB ride would be really kool even for a skydiving treat... <br /><br />How much to launch a single SRB?<br /><br />How much further would the ride be if it where a 5 segment SRB too?<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br />

 

[giofx]

A same camera was mounted on the Right SRB of shuttle Discovery during the STS-95 mission.

 

[spacefire]

<font color="yellow">This is great, I will go. I plan to parachute out at about 27 miles up there. </font><br />no you won't. you will ride the SRB all the way down and wait for the recovery team stradling it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

IIRC, at least one and maybe 2 SRBs (in addition to the set lost on Challenger) have had 'incidents' that would not be survivable for a human occupant. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[spacefire]

on a related note, whatever happened to this guy? <br /><br />http://www.rocketguy.com/rocket.html <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[ozspace]

"Watching the NASA video from the SRBs made me think - why doesn't NASA sell rides in the nose of the thing?"<br /><br />As the SRBs are man rated, using them (in stand alone config' with a second stage) is a leading candiate for the delivery to orbit of the CEV.

 

[trailrider]

If the SRB recovery crew is to recover human passengers, they'd better issue them a spatula and a body bag! Those hummers hit the water at a minimum of 60 mph, even with three good main parachutes!<br /><br />But you'd probably be dead from the wild girrations the SRB's go though after booster separation, before the drogue chute deploys to slow and stabilize the SRB. <br /><br />Having worked on the SRB/DSS (parachute subsystem), I was excited to see those pictures, although I didn't get to see them totally. I'd love to get ahold of video tapes so I could go through them and see the exact sequencing of events.<br /><br />The one view I (think) I caught seemed to show a single chute including a shot from under the water! That would mean there was a camera mounted on the frustum (nose cone), pointed straight up, where it caught the view of the drogue chute deployment, and showed the drogue chute riser lines collapsing after water impact of the frustum. In another view, I thought I saw the three mains deployed, which would mean that camera was mounted on the forward dome, pointed up.<br /><br />Neat! Neat! Neat!<br /><br />Ad Luna! Ad Aries! Ad Astra!<br />Trailrider

 

[backspace]

I'm late to the party. Anyone got a link to the videos? <br /><br />(one that is free, I mean.)

 

[tomnackid]

An unmodified SRB would not be stable if you launched it by itself. Their guidance system and gimbals are designed to work in concert with another SRB and the Shuttle main engines. Modifying them for individual launch is doable, but its not trivial .

 

[jaredgalen]

Why has the SRB video not been released like the ET video, freely available.<br /><br />Why are spaceflightnow allowed to make money from it?<br />Why is it not available through NASA.gov?<br /><br />Sorry for all the questions but it doesn't seem right...

 

[CalliArcale]

<b>Why are spaceflightnow allowed to make money from it?</b><br /><br />SpaceFlightNow.com is basically charging viewers for an overall service. You can't buy a specific clip; you buy a subscription to their overall video-on-demand service. Basically, you're paying them to gain access to their library of stuff they've digitized off of the NASA TV feed and a few other sources.<br /><br /><b>Why is it not available through NASA.gov?</b><br /><br />I've found the main NASA site to be a bit hit-or-miss in what they put up. However, all of this has been freely broadcast over NASA TV, and people and corporations are allowed to do what they want with it. (The main function of NASA TV is actually to disseminate stuff for the media and educators.) And they do have a NASA TV feed. You can't get old shows through that; you're at the mercy of what they decide to run at a particular time. There is a thing they run several times a day called the Video File, and I'd expect the SRB video to show up there. It's a collection of clips and still images where a high amount of media interest is anticipated -- basically a video press kit, which can be edited into news reports and documentaries with ease.<br /><br />Lemme just check NASA's main Return to Flight video archive.... Nope, it's not there. It may show up later. They do have some other pretty cool videos there, though, such as the footage from the WB-57 chase plane. Now if I check the STS-114 video archive (yes it's a completely different archive at NASA; there's a lot of duplication of effort between space centers I think), there are some more cool vids including some neat CGI stuff from the preflight briefings, but still no videos from the SRBs. I'll keep my eyeballs peeled. I like to watch these archives for stu <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[jaredgalen]

Thanks CalliArcale,<br />I see what you mean about the service provided by SFN, in terms of a definitive media archive I guess it works.<br /><br />I'll keep looking two. Hopefully someone will find it.<br />Cheers

 

[CalliArcale]

Nope, didn't find it. It may be too early after the videos were recovered to expect very many media sources to have added it to their webpages. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

I am a SpaceFlight Now subscriber. Its only a few bucks a month, and the launch videos are actually quite helpful to me in my work.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

On a semi-related note, I got the name of the manager for the YB-57 program from a news article, found his email on the web, and sent him an email asking some questions about his sensor. He was actually very friendly and very helpful in telling me about their current sensors (NIR) and the futures sensor (MWIR).<br /><br />Cool, the notion of a program manager of a multi-million dollar program taking the time to help me....<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[jaredgalen]

The SRB video is up <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> WooHoo!!<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.html

 

[nacnud]

That is a great video, thanks for the link <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[mattrog]

shame its a bit low quality - you really loose a lot of the effect - its still cool though - anyone know if there are any better quality ones anywhere?

 

[CalliArcale]

That is a cool video.<br /><br />As for better quality -- well, we could start in a write-in campaign to SpaceCraftFilms asking for an STS-114 DVD. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>