\n**The full 2 hour long, 355 meg video of STS-115\u2019s re-entry and landing, plus expert commentary and the supporting STS-115 Re-entry checklist document are <\/em>available on L2<\/em>**<\/p>\n
**A FREE edited version is available to download by clicking this link**
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The video includes over 10 minutes of Atlantis\u2019 descent through the fiery re-entry, with flight deck audio that gives an amazing insight into the professional, calm, and at times humorous onboard chatter during the return to Earth.<\/p>\n
STS-115, which launched on September 9 for a 12 day mission, was deemed a huge success, as NASA re-started assembly flights to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission saw the installation of the P3\/P4 integrated truss segments and solar array deployment.<\/p>\n
The return home occurred on September 21, landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:21am local time, watched by millions all over the planet. However, only the six member crew got to watch the return via the vantage point of being onboard Atlantis \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n
The handheld camcorder video is believed to have been taken to allow the two crew members on the middeck to watch re-entry on screens via a link to the video being taken by Stefanyshyn-Piper. The middeck has no windows, unlike the flight deck.<\/p>\n
The video begins with the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) start \u2013 required to power such functions as the flight control surfaces and landing gear. This is followed shortly by the firing of the Orbital Manoeuvring System (OMS) engine, used to slow the orbiter down by a few hundred miles per hour \u2013 enough to aid her to decay the orbit enough for entry interface.<\/p>\n
SpaceX launch tickets (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n After dumping fuel from the forward RCS (Reaction Control System) jets, the crew started to put on their gloves and helmets, as they prepared to start hitting the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, but not before some of the banter between Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson started up.<\/p>\n \u2018Ready for a stealthy night landing,\u2019 said Jett. \u2018I like (runway 33),\u2019 added Ferguson, referring to the designation of the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) for a south-east approach, as opposed to approaching from the north-west \u2013 which is called Runway 15.<\/p>\n \u2018I like (33) better than 15 actually, I don\u2019t know why!\u2019 Added Ferguson.<\/p>\n The Master Alarm sounded shortly after, flashing on the control panel, causing a bit of a surprise. \u2018Anyone know what that was?\u2019 said Ferguson. \u2018(SSME) Hydrogen Repress,\u2019 said Jett, reading off his cue cards that \u2018it says Master Alarm possible.\u2019<\/p>\n The official term, SSME HYD REPRESS, is where the fluid lines of the Space Shuttle Main Engines are cleared out, and can cause the Master Alarm to sound, due to spikes in the hydraulic pressure.<\/p>\n That was pre-empted by the commander, who mentioned, \u2018you\u2019ll start to get a pretty good light show off the top, eventually, especially when we start to hit the real heating. You\u2019ll start to see stuff coming off the tail.\u2019<\/p>\n Pointing the camera back to the front window view, some of the flashes started to get very intense, but they were pointed out as the RCS (Reaction Control System) jets firing, which to the untrained eye appear as part of re-entry. However, the intense orange glow that would be observed soon put pay to that assumption.<\/p>\n \u2018A little bit of Gs coming on, but very little. It\u2019s point one down there guys,\u2019 said Jett. \u2018So you\u2019re starting to just feel the affects of G \u2013 point one on the meter.\u2019<\/p>\n That was soon followed by the first roll of the orbiter \u2013 a 70 to 80 degree left bank \u2013 designed to aid the loss of energy to help slow down. Atlantis hit 0.2 G at that point.<\/p>\n \u2018As we turn left and right, you might feel a bit of funniness, which will eventually go away.<\/p>\n \u2018Point two Gs now, my arms are starting to sag. Oh bummer (laughter),\u2019 continued the conversation between Jett and Ferguson. \u2018I\u2019m starting to feel my seat now, down in my seat. (Inaudible) starting to sag too (laughter).\u2019<\/p>\n Whilst racing through the orange glow and flashes of re-entry \u2013 Atlantis made her roll reversal to right. The smoothness of Atlantis\u2019 performance throughout the whole descent pays a great testament to the thousands of workers who prepare the three orbiters for flight, as she belied the \u2018flying brick\u2019 nickname. The vast majority of the return home is controlled by Atlantis herself, with Jett and Ferguson observing the flight.<\/p>\n As the crew returned back to one G, Jett commented \u2018There\u2019s life back on Earth,\u2019 followed by comments from Ferguson, who noted the feeling of gravity returning to normal for the first time in nearly a fortnight, saying \u2018Wow, feel how heavy that is on the balls of your feet.\u2019 They would experience up to 1.5 G during the right bank.<\/p>\n After around 10 stunning minutes of riding through the orange glow, the plasma started the disappear, just at the point Atlantis slowed to mach 12.<\/p>\n \u2018Things are going to start to get real busy now,\u2019 commented Jett, as they prepared for the descent towards Florida. \u2018The flight gloves will be coming off! (laughter)\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018That\u2019s the coast of Florida,\u2019 observed Ferguson, just prior to mach 5. \u2018Things are really going to happen fast now guys.\u2019<\/p>\n The final roll provided the perfect angle to show the Florida coast, with the city lights guiding the way, and the eclipse of the approaching dawn far in the distance on the horizon. Ferguson took hold of the camera for a few moments to show the stunning view from his vantage point.<\/p>\n \u2018What a beautiful morning,\u2019 noted Jett. \u2018Mach 1.3, slowing down \u2013 we\u2019re feeling like an airplane,\u2019 as wind noise started to pick up in the flight deck, along with some vibration, described as \u2018the rocky road,\u2019 in the approach to the HAC (Head Alignment Cylinder).<\/p>\n Lining up with the runway, chatter increased to its highest intensity, as Ferguson and Jett conversed the final approach as Atlantis literally dropped towards the floodlit runway for a perfect landing.<\/p>\n \u2018Wheel stop Houston,\u2019 said Jett. \u2018It was a great team effort. Assembly is off to a great category,\u2019 before congratulations between the crew on the great job.<\/p>\n Support continued as dawn rose over the SLF, before the crew disembarked from Atlantis, bringing their 12 day mission to a close.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n **INFINITY: 10 minute STS-115 MUSIC VIDEO**<\/em> \u2013 Stunning video, taken by STS-115 astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper during Atlantis\u2019 re-entry and landing last month, has been acquired, showing what it is like to ride on board an orbiter during re-entry. The two hour video shows camcorder footage from before the de-orbit burn, all the way through to post landing checks. **The full 2 hour long, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What proves to be visually stunning is the point at which Atlantis began her interface with the atmosphere. Bright flashes are observed, with the appearance of flash photography, soon to brighten in intensity.<\/p>\n
The glow from the heat produced by the friction on entry interface soon starts to turn into a bright orange appearance, almost as if the orbiter was heading directly into a setting Sun, as Atlantis started to bleed off velocity, through the lower mach 20s.<\/p>\n
Slowing through mach 10, radio interference started to crackle through the flight deck. \u2018Sounds like they (Houston) are trying to talk to us,\u2019 noted Jett. Soon followed by the first communications from the Mission Control Center, as Atlantis came out of the radio blackout that occurs when riding through the plasma of re-entry.<\/p>\n
Dropping through 80,000 feet, the camera was hooked up to pilot Ferguson\u2019s HUD (Heads Up Display) monitor, showing the horizon along with flight data, as Atlantis continued to lose altitude.<\/p>\n
Making the right turn to align with the runway, the HUD camera picked up the lights of eastern Florida. \u2018Very nice, beautiful day outside, or night. Clear as a bell,\u2019 said Ferguson.<\/p>\n
As the crew started to go through their post landing procedures, the cavalry of support vehicles took up their staging point, before their headlights were seen closing in on Atlantis.<\/p>\n
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