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Just how loud is a rocket launch?
BBC ^ | 17th April 2023 | Stephen Dowling

Posted on 04/17/2023 7:11:18 PM PDT by BenLurkin

When Apollo astronauts blasted off ...they did so with more than 3.2 miles (5.1km) separating them from... onlooking crowds.

Nasa's measurements at the time captured the launch noise at 204 decibels... Even 1.5 miles (2.4km) away, the noise from a Saturn V launch was recorded as being 120 decibels – as loud as a rock concert, or a car horn at very close quarters.

Was Saturn V the loudest rocket ever launched? Probably not, if you use thrust as your guide. The 35MN (meganewtons) of force produced by Saturn V at launch is less than that produced by the Soviet Union's ill-fated N1 rocket (45MN)... Rockets as powerful as Saturn V were capable of causing damage to themselves just from the soundwaves generated from the noise of their own launch.

One solution: the fire trenches in the launch pad are filled with water which helps muffle some of the intense noise created when the rocket lifts off.

SLS is the new rocket used in the Artemis programme – the one planned to take humanity further into the Solar System than ever before. It became one of the most powerful rockets ever launched with 15% more thrust than Saturn V.

Brigham Young University and Rollins College in Florida studied recordings from the SLS during the Artemis 1 launch in November 2022 found... at 0.9 miles (1.5km) from the launchpad, the maximum noise level reached 136 decibels while at 3.2 miles (5.2km) it was 129 decibels.

SpaceX's Starship vehicle – intended for a proposed mission to Mars – will lift off on top of the company's Super Heavy booster. Super Heavy will, according to SpaceX, generate nearly 76MN of thrust, more than twice that of Saturn V. If you're planning on watching it take off, earplugs sound like a very good idea.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
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To: BenLurkin

Sorry your most honorable Lurkin, in the grand scheme of life, this is not important....


21 posted on 04/17/2023 7:54:43 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: Charles Martel

:^) Wow. They were big ‘uns. I’ve seen two of the three remaining Saturn V boosters — Huntsville and Canaveral — and would like to see the one at Houston sometime. What struck me was, WTH, the size of this thing, *on its side* (the one in Houston is upright I believe), and this actually left the ground, carrying the rest of the contraptions aloft.


22 posted on 04/17/2023 7:58:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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To: linMcHlp

That was fun.

Do you have a link to that old ‘80s game Thermo-Nuclear War? I’d like to give that a shot.


23 posted on 04/17/2023 8:03:26 PM PDT by TigersEye (Woke is a cancer of the mind and humanity)
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To: Openurmind

I once read that the crackle is because your brain can’t process the noise quickly enough.

I watched a shuttle launch from Cocoa Beach. Even miles away the crackle was strong.


24 posted on 04/17/2023 8:08:44 PM PDT by cyclotic
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To: BenLurkin

On the morning of August 27, 1883, a volcanic eruption began. The sound of the eruption, as the lave split the Earth and shot out of the volcano, is estimated to have reached 310 decibels (dB). The eruption took place on the Indonesian island of Krakatoa, and it caused half the island to collapse.


25 posted on 04/17/2023 8:18:37 PM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: BenLurkin

Luke really, really loud 📢


26 posted on 04/17/2023 8:20:17 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: one guy in new jersey

It’s cool when space did a static fire the engine honk when shut off was 😎


27 posted on 04/17/2023 8:22:47 PM PDT by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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To: TigersEye

No link


28 posted on 04/17/2023 8:31:36 PM PDT by linMcHlp
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To: SunkenCiv
The S1-C (first stage booster) that was built for the cancelled Apollo 19 mission is now at the Infinity Science Center in Pearlington, MS (opposite side of I-10 from Stennis, more or less). It had been displayed on its huge transport trailer in front of the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans from 1978 until 2016.

Yeah, it's hard to imagine something that large moving faster than a rifle bullet.

29 posted on 04/17/2023 8:33:53 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: linMcHlp

Darn! Guess I’ll have to settle for watching TV again tonight.


30 posted on 04/17/2023 8:38:56 PM PDT by TigersEye (Woke is a cancer of the mind and humanity)
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To: BenLurkin

Wow…SpaceX’s Super Heavy will generate nearly 76MN of thrust, more than twice that of Saturn V. I had no idea! I figured nobody was exceeding the Saturn V.


31 posted on 04/17/2023 8:55:21 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (I don’t like to think before I say something...I want to be just as surprised as everyone els)
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To: BenLurkin

We do not know how loud or experience the thrill of hearing a rocket blast off as the announcers like Walter Cronkite keep giving us their opinions on how great it is and talk over the sound as they think we are thrilled with their voice!

Shut up during launch!!


32 posted on 04/17/2023 9:13:59 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: one guy in new jersey

Ba Muy Ba??


33 posted on 04/17/2023 9:35:53 PM PDT by umbagi (Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it. [Twain])
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To: BenLurkin

How much global warming comes from a rocket launch?
Can someone do the volcano to rocket launch conversion?
If we could stop all the volcanos could we justify any more rocket launches?


34 posted on 04/17/2023 9:57:02 PM PDT by Honest Nigerian (.)
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To: cyclotic

Crackle because of mini sonic booms due to supersonic rocket exhaust wave fronts.


35 posted on 04/17/2023 9:57:58 PM PDT by steve86 (Numquam accusatus, numquam ad curiam ibit, numquam ad carcerem™)
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To: BenLurkin

Whazzat? HAAAH???


36 posted on 04/17/2023 11:09:04 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: Openurmind

I’ve never seen a launch in-person. Saw plenty, live on TV, as a kid. I’ve since wondered if the “crackle” (which I enjoyed, too) was an artifact of the audio-visual equipment usec to record and broadcast the events.


37 posted on 04/17/2023 11:13:19 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: BenLurkin

Yes....🤔🤨


38 posted on 04/17/2023 11:15:54 PM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: umbagi

“33” engines will buy a lot of thrust!


39 posted on 04/17/2023 11:16:56 PM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: cyclotic; BradyLS

“As anyone who has seen a launch in person can attest, rocket engines create a “crackling” sound due to the shock waves created by the intense sound pressure levels, or SPLs.”

So basically small secondary sonic booms created by the sound pressure of the engines.

https://www.space.com/artemis-1-sls-moon-launch-sound-levels


40 posted on 04/18/2023 1:18:00 AM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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