
Space Shuttle Time Lapse (Hangar to Launch) - JaretManuel
http://jaretmanuel.com/space-shuttle-time-lapse-movie-via-dan
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ugh
It’s pretty obvious that the Vehicle Assembly Building [1] wasn’t built for
something as – uhm – small as the Space Shuttle :)

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Assembly_Building>

~~~
hugh3
The Vehicle Assembly Building is an amazing sight, but is it also an example
of how infinite budgets lead to non-optimal solutions?

SpaceX, who tend to be a lot more budget-conscious, assemble their rockets
lying down and then hoist them to vertical, thusly:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrAr4ovtf9Q&feature=relat...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrAr4ovtf9Q&feature=related)

That seems a lot easier and cheaper. I'm tempted to think that maybe there's
some factor that makes it more difficult to engineer a rocket that can handle
sideways stresses as well as vertical stresses, but... heck, it's a rocket,
they shouldn't be that fragile, should they?

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gambling8nt
The launch vehicles themselves may not be that fragile, but payloads often
are. Multimillion-dollar satellites can be damaged or completely non-
functional from effects as small as being dropped 1 meter (see
<http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/2230> , for example).

~~~
ugh
Ariane rockets are also assembled vertically [1]. Since assembly and adding
the payload are two discrete steps, done in two different buildings [2], both
of the times vertically, that tells me that there is more to it than the
payload.

[1] [http://www.arianespace.com/spaceport-ariane5/launcher-
integr...](http://www.arianespace.com/spaceport-ariane5/launcher-
integration.asp)

[2] [http://www.arianespace.com/spaceport-ariane5/final-
assembly-...](http://www.arianespace.com/spaceport-ariane5/final-assembly-
building.asp)

~~~
InclinedPlane
The main reason is merely tradition (really). Most systems are designed as
evolutions of older systems, if the first system used vertical assembly, then
so will the latest.

Note that the Russians have been doing horizontal to vertical launch vehicle
assembly for decades (with manned and unmanned launches). There's no
engineering reason why you _must_ prefer one method or the other, it's a
choice.

[http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/world/russia/images/usta...](http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/world/russia/images/ustanovka-
rn-proton-na-pu.jpg)

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hernan7
Sorry to nitpick, but:

Hanger: <http://www.google.com/images?q=hanger>

Hangar: <http://www.google.com/images?q=hangar>

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hugh3
And if anyone else was wondering, as I just was, why it's called a hangar,
apparently it's from a word for "shed" in some dialect of French. The word
itself is probably Germanic in origin.

And it has absolutely nothing to do with hanging, which makes sense because
you don't hang things in a hangar anyway.

~~~
ugh
It’s from “Haim” and “gard”. “Haim” means basically house (and the word “Heim”
for “Home” still exists in German) and “gard” means something like garden or
protected area.

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commieneko
Great time lapse movie. No, really great. Made my day.

But... It would have been even _better_ if it had used _The Blue Danube_ for
background music. Especially as it was being hoisted on the crane.

Edit: I just tried this by finding a _Blue Danube_ movie on Youtube and
playing it in the background while re-watching the movie. It should be a
_crime_ not to try this. Some interesting serendipities in timing, especially
involving violin solos and the cable top shot sequence.

I'll try _Dark Side of the Moon_ next...

~~~
commieneko
For references and historical purposes...

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpvOUnz4T7Q>

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rglovejoy
Excellent video! Some music would have been a nice accompaniment. Perhaps
something light and fun like Vivaldi's Spring or Copland's Rodeo.

~~~
Sukotto
Please no. If I want music, I'll play my own.

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_fool
if for you as for me the video never actually loaded (VIDEO AVAILABLE SOON), i
believe this to be the same video, which loaded instantly for me:

[http://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/videos/Go-For-
Launch.h...](http://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/videos/Go-For-Launch.html)

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zwieback
I did notice that throughout the clip a lot of guys were just standing around
chatting with their hands in their pockets.

