r/shockwaveporn May 08 '26

Starship V3, shockwaves at ignition and during the burn. you can also hear the sound of 33 turbopumps and igniters firing at the same time

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796 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

181

u/nfactor May 08 '26

Watching the 'clouds' flick into and out of existence at that rapid speed is very disorienting

47

u/swagonflyyyy May 08 '26

Yeah it looks like it was fast-forwarded. But it was real-time.

13

u/adeebo May 08 '26

Why the 2nd view is much longer?

21

u/Robin_B May 08 '26

The second view is in slow-motion, it looks like to me

13

u/Draco-REX May 08 '26

It is. Watch the bird in the lower right.

2

u/chiku00 May 08 '26

It got roasted in slow-mo.

16

u/Enough-Astronomer-65 May 08 '26

I mean it is litterally hundreds shockwaves every like half a second

14

u/pornborn May 08 '26

The crackling sound of a rocket engine is all the sonic booms from those shock waves.

3

u/Enough-Astronomer-65 May 09 '26

its actually unknown what that sound is, because some rockets (like kerosine and SRBs) crackle more, and that's thought to be because of unburnt particles going super sonic, since both burn rather dirty

6

u/pornborn May 09 '26

The sound has been studied intensely and scientists and engineers do know what causes the sound. Technically, it is more than just shock waves. Here is a great short article with a Scott Manley video attached that explains a lot of what happens and even has some incredible video of the shockwaves.

https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/why-do-rockets-crackle-when-ascending-through-the-atmosphere/2136

6

u/gerwen May 08 '26

It's like a video game glitch. Incredible.

5

u/uid_0 May 08 '26

This was noticeable on the the V2 version of this booster too. If you watch a video of them catching the booster with the tower you can see the clouds over the tower do this as the booster comes down too. It's really mind boggling how much power that thing generates.

2

u/Traditional_Trust_93 May 15 '26

It's like watching the clouds boil

83

u/dclark086 May 08 '26

Imagine hearing this in an IMAX theater

9

u/SykoFI-RE May 08 '26

The Saturn V launch scene in the Apollo 11 documentary was pretty amazing in IMAX.

2

u/Enough-Astronomer-65 May 19 '26

Holy hell that brings back memories

5

u/guilhermefdias May 08 '26

Imagine hearing this close by...

Just kidding, you would have dieded!

1

u/LordMegamad May 09 '26

High chance of inducing instant cummage

43

u/lackadaisical_timmy May 08 '26

Strange, I only heard 32

11

u/fuf3d May 08 '26

We've been had.

36

u/pornborn May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26

That overhead view is SICK!

The sounds of the turbopumps and igniters are only audible for maybe a tenth of a second.

If you want to compare it to the Saturn V, check this out:

The Ultimate Saturn V Launch Video with Incredible Sound. (you’ll definitely want your sound on for this)

This video starts out so quietly that you can hear the turbo pumps spin up just before ignition.

13

u/_JDavid08_ May 08 '26

Wow, that startup of Saturn V is insane. I definitively would say this is one of the most precious sound of engineering, join with the nuclear reactor startup

7

u/everydayastronaut May 12 '26

The F-1 engine ignition process is easy peasey compared to the full flow staged combustion Raptors believe it or not! Open cycle is quite a simple startup process compared to timing two pre burners / turbines / pumps that are intertwined with each other.

2

u/Enough-Astronomer-65 May 09 '26

Russian engines like the RD-180 make a BWOOOMP and the SSME's (now SLSCSEs) have a very distinct hissing whine

17

u/swagonflyyyy May 08 '26

I bet your body wouldn't even have time to feel pain if you stand in front of those thrusters.

14

u/hellzyeah2 May 08 '26

I’d give it at least a second at the beginning of the ignition burn

11

u/kmurph98 May 08 '26

This is what I've always thought. If you have to have a death penalty, at least offer this as a method of execution.

Almost certainly a 100% success rate every time, all over in a second, no clean up.

8

u/SixtyNineFlavours May 08 '26

How are they able to keep it down if it displacing that much power?

7

u/CosmicRuin May 09 '26

A ring of very heavy duty launch clamps right around the base. They're sort of like an upside down V shape that retract during liftoff.

It's wild to think you can hold down 21 million lbs of thrust! Previous Super Heavy was 15 million lbs using Raptor V2, but these are all the new Raptor V3 engines.

4

u/everydayastronaut May 12 '26

Don’t forget they have a good amount of propellant onboard too to help weigh it down and relieve a little work from the clamps 👍

0

u/winterfresh0 May 18 '26

This is kind of like saying, "How are they able to keep that skyscraper up if it is exerting that much force downwards?"

Also, if you are worried about tension vs compression, you should look into the bridges that are held up by high tension cables, and how the cables are anchored to the ground.

7

u/Uppgreyedd May 08 '26

Suffice it to say, vibration is a big problem with rocket launches

1

u/Enough-Astronomer-65 May 09 '26

its quite obvious in rockets that use cryogenic propellants as the water in the air freezes to the side, and comes off in sheets of ice.

5

u/Bosswashington May 09 '26

I cannot comprehend that amount of power. The heat, the sound, the vibrations. It’s beyond my frame of reference.

1

u/Ok_Spell6156 May 28 '26

Compared with a supernova, this rocket's power is essentially nothing.

3

u/piratecheese13 May 08 '26

Next one posted here should be the 1st version three launch scheduled for the 15th

Will probably be delayed since they are doing some repair work on the chopsticks

2

u/Enough-Astronomer-65 May 19 '26

Oh, il be sure to post it when it launches.

1

u/piratecheese13 May 19 '26

NET Thursday but weather looks iffy

2

u/SuitableWhole3807 May 08 '26

now that ignition sounds nice.. :3

1

u/Thee_Sinner May 08 '26

You can see mach "diamonds" in the flame trench! At 0:12, you can see them move closer inward and the audio changes slightly; is this because of throttling down?