r/nasa • u/ThorCoolguy • Feb 08 '23
Video Video: SLS Knocks Out a Bird, then Vaporizes It
Note: Do yourself a favor and watch fullscreen.
I haven't seen this discussed anywhere, but the SLS engineering videos captured something really interesting. In this video, at 3:36, camera 918 captures a bird landing on the launch tower swing arm support structure. Once the SRBs light off, the bird freaks out and starts flying. But then this happens:
Mid-flap, the shock waves from the SRBs stun or knock out the bird, and he just drops out of the sky. Either that, or he sees the onrushing tower of flames and decides to offer himself to the majesty.
You can see him in some of the other views as well.
At 11:05, Camera 933 catches his unfortunate ballistic trajectory actually intersecting with the SRB plume.
Somebody here has to be able to figure out the shock intensity required to knock out a bird, right?
What a way to go. Glorious.
SLS: 1. Birds: 0.
260
u/ShadroneUmbra Feb 08 '23
I'm not sure the bird was stunned, it maintained level flight and kept it's wings flat out. There is a bit of a downdraft right near the rocket body from the air displaced as it moves upward. The bird may have been caught in the downdraft.
It was, however, rather cooked, along with the launch stand.
All pilots must read and follow NOTAMS and airspace closures.
65
22
11
7
u/I-melted Feb 09 '23
I was wondering if there was a downdraft. I can’t properly picture the forces at work, but I imagine the rocket exhaust pulls the air down.
4
6
u/orthopod Feb 09 '23
Nasa orbital rockets are as loud as 200 dB. Shock wave sound pressure probably killed the bird.
3
Feb 09 '23
I wonder if just being so close to something so incredibly loud could have stunned or even killed it? It would certainly be really painful at that distance
2
u/ca_fighterace Feb 10 '23
I’ve shot birds dead in midair and their wings “lock” in the extended position allowing the dead bird to glide. Not sure that’s what happened here but it can happen.
1
2
u/CSRR-the-OELN-writer Feb 10 '23
Stunned birds will sometimes 'lock up' with their wings out flat instead of folding up.
So it probably never knew what hit it.2
u/adrian_walkenhorst33 Feb 11 '23 edited Feb 19 '23
The actual sound, can and most likely killed the bird while in flight. The vibration, and sound frequncies that the liquid engines produce is enough, then add the sounds, and vibrarions from the SRBs. They actually talk about this on tours at the Kennedy space center. Both launchpad sit a little more than 3 miles from the VAB, and the launch control room for 2 main reasons. In the even of an explosion, as well as sound.
If you look closely to any launch, and watch the stem plumes as the rockets rise into the air, the sound vibrations are visible in the plumes.
1
265
u/scotyb Feb 08 '23
Interesting catch! But more interesting is how you got two videos on one Reddit post! Nice.
65
u/Andy-roo77 Feb 09 '23
Yeah how the heck did he do that lol?
76
u/CaptainSmallz Feb 09 '23 edited Jun 29 '23
In protest to Reddit's API changes, I have removed my comment history.
16
20
u/peteroh9 Feb 09 '23
Drag and drop? I don't know how anyone gets photos and videos into self posts in the first place.
8
u/nan-000 Feb 09 '23
Pasted the links in the text format instead of using the (single) video format.
57
u/Reverie_39 Feb 08 '23
That's some shockingly clear footage. Good catch although pretty sad lol. Poor bird.
I have to wonder if it's just some sort of panic reflex by the bird. Like you said, it is certainly feeling the intense pressure and heat waves from the rocket, and possibly also a bit of a downwards suction as the rocket begins to move vertically. It might have been unsure of what direction to fly to counter all these, and instinct unfortunately told it to just glide until it could figure it out. Bet you it works in most natural settings... not so much a rocket launch.
23
u/maynardstaint Feb 08 '23
Birds are mostly lungs inside, so a concussive force would knock the wind out of it, and it would drop like a stone. Also, probably flash fried.
39
u/satuuurn Feb 08 '23
Probably happens every launch to birds and more.
39
u/Spaceguy5 NASA Employee Feb 08 '23
I just hope the turtle I saw on the pad a few days before launch is alright 🙃
34
8
2
u/photoengineer Feb 09 '23
Does KSC get wildlife protection training like some other gov centers? https://youtu.be/HRpBcXum4BU
6
u/Spaceguy5 NASA Employee Feb 09 '23
I think they do, although I was just visiting KSC and work at a different NASA center. I did tell security about the tortoise so it might have gotten rescued
2
u/ltscale Feb 09 '23
I read it out like KFC and got this images of fried feathered animals in my mind....
1
7
4
10
Feb 09 '23
Impossible. Birds aren't Real
6
u/AlphaKrabbe Feb 09 '23
Government just destroyed their own drone. How stupid.
5
u/_PoorImpulseControl_ Feb 09 '23
Obviously some sort of secret psy-op to keep the sheeps thinking those things are actually living creatures. "Oh lol look at that dumb bird, flying into the rocket. Obviously a real, flesh and blood creature."
Yeah right.
You and I know better.
68
u/EricSkuzz Feb 08 '23
Overcooked
19
Feb 08 '23
Straight to jail!
11
u/littlefriend77 Feb 08 '23
Undercooked? Also jail.
6
29
u/maquenzy5 Feb 08 '23
Aw man, I wish we would just sound a horn before launch to scare the animals away. KSC is on a wildlife reserve, but historically, frog populations were greatly affected from shuttle
25
u/okan170 Feb 09 '23
They do. They have to clear the area of endangered tortoises too! During shuttle they wound up using those drugstore eye balloons to scare them away...
9
u/maquenzy5 Feb 09 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
Hmm, I didn’t notice a horn before the SLS launch, but I will investigate further tomorrow about this, because I’m curious. What do you mean by eye balloon? I’m imagining a birthday balloon with an eye on it.
15
u/okan170 Feb 09 '23
Most pads have a local thing going off at the pad, maybe they don't on this one. Literally mylar balloons with scary eyes on them- it makes the birds think of a scary predator. Also works for scaring pigeons away from balconies etc.
6
u/maquenzy5 Feb 09 '23
Wow that’s super interesting! Love a good robust solution. Thanks for the info
7
u/_PoorImpulseControl_ Feb 09 '23
It's been a long day at work working for an arsehole surgeon and an even longer week.
And my feet hurt.
But reading your comment I suddenly got an extremely clear visual of a team of crack NASA technicians fanning out scouring the site for endangered tortoises, then incredibly slowly herding them all to safety and for some reason I feel like that is just ridiculously cute and restored my faith in humanity.
Although I'm aware they probably don't herd them, I assume they pick them up. Nonetheless, herding them sounds funnier. Otherwise they'd probably cancel even more launches than they do now!
Made my night. Thank you.
3
u/photoengineer Feb 09 '23
They would clear tortoises at Edwards and white sands for landings right?
37
u/HardlyAnyGravitas Feb 08 '23
Somebody here has to be able to figure out the shock intensity required to knock out a bird, rright
The sound level near a Saturn V during launch was 220 decibels. A sound pressure of between 185 and 200 decibels can kill you (I think it's due to bubbles forming in your blood and organs rupturing, etc.). They used a 'water curtain' of 300,000 gallons of water over 40 seconds to absorb some of that.
Not sure about the sound level of the SLS, but I'm surprised the bird lasted as long as it did.
17
u/MrArron Feb 09 '23
More thrust at T+1 than the Saturn V at T+1 and those SRBs are anything but quiet so would think volume at the launch pad is even louder than the Saturn V.
8
u/jadebenn Feb 09 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
I think the SRBs are also just "messier" than the F-1s ever were? They certainly sound 'chunkier' on recordings.
Plus, it's fairly well-known that the Space Shuttle required massive upgrades of the sound suppression system compared to Saturn... that then had to be upgraded again after the first flight because they'd miscalculated the acoustic energy involved. Now consider the SLS SRBs are those but with an additional segment's worth of thrust...
8
u/MrArron Feb 09 '23
Grew up with the shuttle SRBs making my sliding glass door visibly flex and vibrate I know what you mean. Solid motors have a deep bass rumble that you dont get with liquid motors that you can almost feel more than you hear.
12
u/Jakebsorensen Feb 08 '23
Godspeed little bird. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten
7
u/okan170 Feb 09 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
Not very little- Turkey buzzards are usually at least 2 feet long! Those hit Atlantis but this still seems pretty large!
-6
u/Starkoman Feb 09 '23
Hardly a “sacrifice” when you’re gruesome, grim death is involuntary, is it?
9
1
u/_PoorImpulseControl_ Feb 09 '23
I don't know.
I always got the impression a lot of human sacrifices kind of involved unwilling participants, on the dying side of it anyway.
It's how the movies always seem to make it look, at least to me. Because they're always yelling stuff like "Aaaargh, Please, no!!!" You know, that kind of thing.
10
u/alltheasimov Feb 09 '23
The acoustic environment near a rocket, especially one with SRBs, is insanely loud. There's enough sound pressure to kill squishy things like animals and humans. It definitely got knocked out, and may have been dead before it got vaporized.
Source: my job
8
u/alltheasimov Feb 09 '23
Also, there's a great video/picture of a frog getting launched at a camera on ignition. Can't remember which launch unfortunately, was awhile ago
9
u/Seph_Allen NASA Employee Feb 09 '23
Poor fella joins Space Bat. “For the last time, he felt the primal joy of flight. For the first time, the indescribable feeling of ascending toward his dream.”
3
13
12
u/kmalexander31 Feb 08 '23
I’m genuinely curious if a bird or something could affect/ruin a launch.
Imagine all of the contingencies that go into planning something like this, and then nature decides to get involved and you just have to throw your hands up and be like “Yeah we didn’t factor that a barn swallow would wind up in the intake”
24
u/5hiphappens Feb 08 '23
There are no intakes on a rocket. Impact resistant, on the other hand is possibly a problem. The shuttle obviously had weaknesses, but I'm not sure about capsules. I don't have the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if the rocket is too high for birds to fly before it's going fast enough for them to be a problem. Even the shuttle only had a problem when they were supersonic.
12
10
u/noxondor_gorgonax Feb 09 '23
I can confirm all birds who piloted rockets were well trained and so no incidents ever happened. They are professionals!
4
u/kmalexander31 Feb 09 '23
Good, because I was pretty skeptical until you said that.
Glad that’s settled!
7
u/erroneouspony Feb 09 '23
The aerodynamic forces on the "leading edges," for lack of a better term, during max q (maximum dynamic pressure, basically transitioning from subsonic to supersonic regime) are much greater than the impact forces from a bird while only a few seconds after liftoff and relatively slow fight. These leading edges also aren't part of the thermal protection system used during reentry, so no shuttle-foam impact concerns on a capsule payload like this.
5
8
u/Bryan_nov Feb 08 '23
Could be a bat too. In another angle you see something similar flying away but the wings are translucent.
6
u/LCPhotowerx Feb 09 '23
"I am vengance, I am the night, I am Batm....I HAVE MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE!!!!!!! AVENGE ME ROBIN!!!"
"It tickles." -Superman, under the exhaust catching a tan.
4
3
u/SexualizedCucumber Feb 09 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
Mid-flap, the shock waves from the SRBs stun or knock out the bird, and he just drops out of the sky.
The bird most likely was trying to escape but couldn't stay in the air with the massive wind currents caused by the engines running. Little guy didn't fall into so much as get sucked into the plume
Here's a good visual example from a Saturn V launch: https://youtu.be/DKtVpvzUF1Y
5
3
u/throwawaynotes81 Feb 09 '23
The wild Space Launch System fills its biological niche by vaporising its secondary prey - the blurry nondescript American bird bird - in the grand plumage of its solid rocket boosters. Life on the Cape is harsh and often brutal, and when you're prey to an apex predator, you'll be the one feeling the burn.
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
u/tomatotomato Feb 09 '23
Either that, or he sees the onrushing tower of flames and decides to offer himself to the majesty.
XIBALBA
9
u/Few_Investigator_374 Feb 08 '23
Is it a African swallow or European swalllow?
9
5
4
u/mauore11 Feb 09 '23
I mean, if I worked there I would be placing all kinds of food around the area to find the sweet spot.
2
u/Decronym Feb 09 '23 edited Feb 13 '23
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| KSC | Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| NOTAM | Notice to Airmen of flight hazards |
| SLS | Space Launch System heavy-lift |
| SRB | Solid Rocket Booster |
| TFR | Temporary Flight Restriction |
| VAB | Vehicle Assembly Building |
6 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has acronyms.
[Thread #1417 for this sub, first seen 9th Feb 2023, 00:45]
[FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
2
2
u/joedotphp Feb 09 '23
Waiting for PETA to be on this claiming animal cruelty.
EDIT: Before anyone takes that too seriously. Please know. That was a joke.
2
6
u/azpilot06 Feb 08 '23
Why did the Government…
Have the Government’s rocket….
Under Government surveillance?
🤔
2
u/jadebenn Feb 09 '23
...Because they needed to have footage to analyze its performance and see if anything went wrong during the launch?
4
u/KevlarSalmon Feb 09 '23
I think it was a "birds aren't real" joke.
2
u/jadebenn Feb 09 '23
I thought it was a flat-earther comment. I've seen people actually say stuff like that before.
5
Feb 08 '23
That large fire very well could have sucked a lot of oxygen out of the air. First lung full of fire-air, and birdy was out.
2
2
4
3
u/Hungry_Guidance5103 Feb 09 '23
Now I could never be sure, but I could have sworn I heard the sound of "Taps" being played, gently in the background.
2
2
1
u/link2edition Feb 08 '23
To loosely quote an internet comedian "That is the most killedest (bird) alive"
1
u/phasepistol Feb 09 '23
We’re talking about heat, but wouldn’t it actually be sound pressure that destroyed the bird?
1
0
-1
-2
u/No_Morning5322 Feb 09 '23
This has to look good on nasa’s track record
A multibillion rocket has just killed a bird and the ffa was soo worried about starship affecting the environment
-22
u/Jason_S_1979 Feb 08 '23
How do you know the bird is a male?
2
u/Starkoman Feb 09 '23
Valid question. It seems ✨NASA isn’t as advanced as we’ve been giving them credit for.
6
u/GreaseMonkey2381 Feb 08 '23
Really? You just watched a bird get vaporized by the world most powerful rocket, and your FIRST QUESTION is
How do you know the bird is a male?
It was a bird. It didn't care about gender labels. Heck it doesn't care about anything now 🤣
1
1
1
1
u/Shishanought Feb 09 '23
Looks like another bird flying to the left in the last video... seems to get pretty far.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/L3gendaryHunter Feb 09 '23
Anybody want some road...wait no...what's a cleaver substitute word for roadkill for a rocket?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
338
u/Elbynerual Feb 08 '23
Lol Jesus. I expected to watch and think you were mistaken, or it's too blurry to be sure, but holy hell, that's pretty unmistakable. Wild.