🚀 go-pugleaf

[]

In article <1989Mar27.213437.22701@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
>In article <Added.4Y=O_Wy00Ui30R7E8O@andrew.cmu.edu> BISURFAC@ECUVM1.BITNET (Lou Surface) writes:
>>... My question is why were there no cabin views during
>>the launch? Come to think of it, I don't recall cabin views at launch
>>on any mission - from Apollo to STS. Is this due to G-force limits
>>on operating cameras? - that would be suprising. Or is there some
>>classified ritual that occurs at T minus 0?

Several reasons I can think of:
  1) The ground controllers probably don't want to clutter up the
  shuttle's comm channels with an unecessary  wide-band transmission, 
  otherwise known as TeeVee. Since the launch is perhaps the most
  communications intesive portion of the flight, I sure that all
  conceivable channels are reserved for more valuable information.

  2) The shuttle's cameras are pretty big dudes, long boxes around
  6"x6"x18" or so. They have got to be pretty heavy (>15 pounds) once
  you add in the electronics, massive zoom lenses and motors to drive
  them, etc. The mounts for the cameras are petty flimsy, and would never
  work in 1G. Launch video would require the manufacture of special
  mounting brackets.

  3) No classified ritual, as I've seen many a film taken of the crew 
  during launch. (Unless they scratch themselves in certain interesting
  places that might not be too appealing :-).

  There were two U.S missions which did have video during launch :

  Gordon Cooper's Mercury flight, Faith 7. They were trying out an 
  experimental slow-scan tv system which transmitted back pictures
  at about 2 seconds/frame.

  The other was the Apollo-Soyuz launch. There was a camera tucked under the
  right control panel looking up at the crew during the launch sequence.
  It's quite an interesting sequence.

On STS-30, they'll be trying out a Sony cam-corder. This might pave the
way for small, lightweight cameras which might conceivably be left on
during the launch sequence.


>There's no special problem with it that I'm aware of.  I'd assume that
>the reason is (a) the view would be boring, 

Any more "boring" than 38 minutes of a crewmember throwing switches in 
the Aft flight deck? :-) 

>and (b) the astronauts'
>conversations are considered private unless explicitly transmitted.

The cameras do not come equipped with microphones, so any internal
conversations would not be transmitted.

>-- 
>Welcome to Mars!  Your         |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
>passport and visa, comrade?    | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  <-great signature Henry

          *** mike (cerbral GURU, insert M&Ms to restart) smithwick***
"Oh, I'm just a NOP in the instruction set of life, oh, ohhhh, hmmmmm"

[disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]