STS-51C Launch IMAX Camera Footage HD

Footage from the 255ft level of the Fixed Service Structure (FSS), looking down to the trench of the MLP Deck during launch. 1280x720p resolution, 2,093kbps bitrate.

[michaelskywalker]

Hearing the creak of the metal framework and seeing the sway of the shuttle assembly as it leans into full launch mode is amazing.

[StsFiveOneLima]

This is the best Shuttle launch sequence video I have seen on here.  Very nice shot showing the 6 degree twang, swinging back through normal, at which time the hold down bolts blow and roll.

[plasticflashlight]

Can you just imagine how insane it must be to look over in the cockpit windows and see Merritt Island, and then a mere 8 minutes later you're orbiting the planet. Holy shit.

[olliea]

This will never, ever get old. Oh my god what an absolute beast of a machine!

[donna]

The shuttle yaw when the engines ignite is incredible - and the sound when it takes off (listen with headphones it’s even better).

[audriahYemma]

I had the chance to watch a launch up close. Its one of the things I will never forget! Simply amazing.

[blume]

I always listen to it on headphones, and every time, I'm ecstatic just thinking how much power is released in that moment, the simplicity that seems to have in rising ... it's just fantastic...

[robertoa]

This launch was in 1985 and the footage is in 720p amazing...

[Ladco]

I love this camera angle, how it shows off the "twang" so well. When the main engines start, because they're not on the centerline of the Shuttle stack, the entire stack bends over to the left of the screen and them springs back. Just as it returns back to it's original straight up position, that's when the SRB's ignite.

[Viperjunkie]

the fact that this is even possible is mindblowing

[Guitarfollower]

One word to describe this. Breathtaking.

[jmarston]

by far the greatest view of the shuttle launch ever recorded, the creaking of steel as the shuttle rocks back and forth causing ice to break away then that almighty "BOOM" of the SRB's to me through a surround sound system is the finest display of power ever

[johnb]

It is impressive video quality for the 1980s, IMAX was just getting started and very expensive. STS-51C was launched on 1/24/85 -- almost one year before Challenger. It was unique as it was a dedicated DOD mission (one of four of the STS program) and payload so only military NASA astronauts were assigned as crew and many details remain classified. It also represented the precursor to the STS-51L Challenger disaster, in which a crew member of this flight, Ellison Onizuka, would be killed a year later. It represented the coldest launch to date (53 degrees) and showed the potential for O-ring erosion and blow by in the solid rocket's field and nozzle joints, which was the worst recorded at any flight totally compromising the primary ring in several locations. Several MTK engineers unsuccessfully used the post-flight data from this mission to push NASA for a scrub of the Challenger launch which was even colder (28 degrees) in the waning hours before launch on January 28, 1986. Post Rogers commission retrofitting of flight hardware included SRB joint heaters for all future launches beginning in 1988. Ironically this problem only existed as NASA selected Morton Thiokol as the contractor to build and refurbish the solid rocket motors and they were based in Utah. The booster segments were thus shipped in segments by rail and assembled/stacked on-site at Kennedy Space Center. Competing designs proposed from other contractors during the 1970s included non-segmented rocket bodies, however those contractors had port/coast access and could ship the components back and forth by barge, eliminating the need for the problematic field joints that needed to seal within 1/500th of a second of ignition.

[BradyBaseball]

Probably “THE” most iconic space shuttle launch video in existence

[robmeador]

Outstanding! Listen to this with some over the ear headphones, the sound is amazing! My headphones were literally shaking from that awesome sounds.

[Petrichor]

This is the most beautiful launch I have watched on youtube.

[feetris]

this brings back memories of watching the shuttle launches in person when we were in Florida back in the 1980's.
if there's one thing i remember most, it's the deafening rumble that shakes your bones even though you are watching from a distance.
unforgettable!!

[shaneb.]

I don't think that I will ever get tired of watching these launch.. I'm totally nerding out!! 🤘🤓🍻

[TheEMD]

Can't stop watching it....
We really used to do some cool stuff here in America....

[josephastier]

I like how they time the solids to ignite right when the stack returns to vertical after the Twang.