Why countdown for rocket

Hash Hash It entertains the watching audience. But all launches have a countdown to synchronize ground and range and rocket operations.

It's just an electronic countdown with millisecond or finer increments. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. David Ratti 1, 12 12 silver badges 22 22 bronze badges. Why is certain stuff happening at a specific point in time? Who controls it? What does it depend on? Following the link, the transition seems to happen between 11 and 10 minutes. What is the significance of that? T Verify that Terminal Countdown has started. L switches to T when the Terminal Countdown has been verified, presumably because the Terminal Countdown is the countdown of record for the launch.

Thomas Tarrants Thomas Tarrants 3 3 silver badges 2 2 bronze badges. There are the 'always pause here' points, but they often have to wait for the right weather to proceed, so they'll have the 'this is the stuff that gets done once we know the window is clear' that won't get done 'til hours before launch, whatever day that might be.

It is choreography. It is like a complex dance involving a massive number of people to a complex piece of music. Actually, you could launch a rocket to a piece of music, but somehow engineers prefer to count down boring numbers instead. Imagine how dancers train for e. Launch and ground controllers train equally along all those numbers.

This is what makes such a complicated process possible in the first place and so perfectly smooth if it is done right.

So does that mean that when one group stalls the countdown, it's like the blasted guitar soloist who refuses to end their solo on cue? Everyone Everyone Which forms just one tiny but vital part of one system on a spacecraft Choose a random time? Obviously this is a little tongue-in-cheek, and it's done the way it's done because that's the best way, but why is it the best way?

You started down the right path with the second part of your answer, but I think it could be expanded. And just as a quarter in an NFL game takes much longer than 15 minutes to play out, a lot more than 43 hours will elapse between countdown and liftoff for Atlantis. In fact, roughly 70 hours separate the planned start-up of the countdown clock, at P. Eastern Daylight Time on July 5, and the planned launch of the space shuttle at A. The reason for the somewhat confusing difference in timekeeping is a series of planned "holds" in the countdown, built-in pauses that allow launch managers to take stock of the mission's status and respond to changing conditions.

In all, the shuttle launch schedule contains seven holds, which take place when the countdown clock reads 27 hours, 19 hours, 11 hours, six hours, three hours, 20 minutes and nine minutes. And each hold is a hurdle that the shuttle must clear before liftoff; often delays or launch scrubs will be called during a planned hold. For STS, the final flight of space shuttle Discovery , several launch opportunities were called off in November because of equipment problems—including at T-minus 11 hours.

Repairs to fix those problems eventually pushed the launch to February For the final shuttle mission, designated STS, the planned holds range in duration from 10 minutes to 14 hours. Only after the countdown clock resumes following the final hold at T-minus nine minutes will it reflect the actual amount of time remaining until liftoff. This race essentially built the modern technological world we know, and without these advancements, our life would be unimaginable. Rockets have sent robots, animals, people, and even pizza to places we never explored before.

Who knows what the future holds for rockets? But one thing is for certain: if rockets got us this far, they will take us even farther soon! At Pitsco, we do not shy away from rockets and aerospace — we encourage it! I mean, what is better than designing, building, and launching your own rocket?!

Bring rockets into your classroom, backyard, or wherever your learning space is. Check out some of these fueled-up, fun rockets:. An out-of-this world look at a common question. Hey there! Days are filled with various marketing projects, managing our robotics social media accounts, and engaging with our TAG members. I love working at Pitsco because of the people and the passion we all have for education. Beyond The Classroom. In The Classroom.

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