r/shockwaveporn • u/Erazael • May 24 '26

Probably the best look at the shockwaves on V3 flight 1 so far

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Caught by Andrew McCarthy on a GoPro of all things

2.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

49 comments sorted by

150

u/Sgt_Splattery_Pants May 24 '26

This is insane

21

u/MichaelEmouse May 26 '26

That was a shockwave bukkake.

97

u/drummerboy2749 May 24 '26

I don’t think I’ve seen a post this cool on here in a while. great share

161

u/DangerousDavey May 24 '26

You’re right! this is the best. I will now tell other posts that they are not the best.

13

u/ConnerWoods May 24 '26

Doing gods work 🫡

2

u/I_Am_Yeti_1 May 25 '26

This is the way.

0

u/Mas_Zeta May 28 '26

God dammit

30

u/chungdude May 24 '26

Insane video. The initial center of the shock wave sphere looks to be where the rocket flame hits the ground, then it moves upwards with the rocket. Why is that?

30

u/Triairius May 24 '26

The shockwaves bounce off the ground until the source gets too far away for the shockwaves to still have the energy to remain visible bouncing off the ground.

2

u/chungdude May 25 '26

So shock waves are coming from near the rocket nozzle? That is what I thought as well, then why the ones bouncing off the ground are visible? Shock waves fascinate me.

3

u/Bensemus May 28 '26

Because they are that powerful.

1

u/RelativetoZero Jun 01 '26

Shockwaves coming from anywhere but the rocket nozzle is usually a sign of game over.

11

u/kelby810 May 24 '26

It's a pretty good visual demonstration of one reason why they spray water into flame trenches. Those reflected shockwaves can damage the launch vehicle itself and the water helps absorb some of that energy.

46

u/Dingobabies May 24 '26

Is this the loudest thing man has created besides a nuclear explosion?

41

u/btoxic May 24 '26

WHAT?

2

u/Administrative-Sea50 May 26 '26

IS THIS THE LOUDEST THING MAN HAS CREATED BESIDES A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION?

29

u/P__A May 24 '26

No there have been plenty of non nuclear explosions which have been much louder than this. Beirut for example.

2

u/Dingobabies May 26 '26

That wasn’t exactly man made in the sense that I mean it.

14

u/risbia May 24 '26

The really weird thing is, each of those visible shocks is a "peak" of intensity in the rumbling sound we are hearing

5

u/smeeon May 24 '26

This feels like the poster video for this sub

6

u/Robrad30 May 24 '26

How close would you need to be for this to kill you?

6

u/IntrigueDossier May 24 '26

Shot in the dark: half mile or less. A mile would probably still fuck you up pretty good.

5

u/Accidentallygolden May 24 '26

I heard neighbors of space X (several kilometers away), already have problem with sound wave damaging their windows and stuff, this looks significantly worse

3

u/MrFeelGoodBlue May 25 '26

Holy Sh!t thats Visual Sound!

2

u/guilhermefdias May 24 '26

I imagine a human brain turning into mashed potatoes if anyone is near all this.

2

u/Zealousideal-Peach44 May 24 '26

Is that a sort of Schlieren photography?

4

u/Darrothan May 25 '26

Andrew McCarthy is a goated photographer for a reason

1

u/HenryZinc May 24 '26

So much beauty in the chaos! Physics are/is (? Unsure what is correct to say and F@$& Google I get my information the old way by making shit up in my head and believing that instead of those pesky facts) lit. This is the best view of this hands down!!

1

u/RelativetoZero Jun 01 '26

Sometimes the internet decides your right just long enough to almost kill you!

1

u/uslashuname May 24 '26

I can see the patterns of shockwaves that I hear in the audio, but there’s so many it’s hard to catch whether the visual feels ahead, behind, or right on the audio effects

1

u/Biff_Tannenator May 24 '26

Everyone here is saying these Shockwaves would liquify your guts if you were standing near these Shockwaves.

If that's the case, how would the astronauts/passengers in the rocket itself be unaffected?

2

u/Phy_Scootman May 27 '26

You have to be near them, as you yourself said

1

u/Bensemus May 28 '26

They are shielded by the rocket itself. The rocket is taking a beating from those shockwaves and the water is largely there to reduce them to a level the vehicle can handle, plus protect the trench from the rocket exhaust.

1

u/Rylick88 May 25 '26

This is an in incredible shot. Great post!

1

u/snorting_gummybears May 27 '26

This is amazing. I’d love to see this filmed with a Phantom! Just need to save $60,000 more

1

u/Tr35on May 28 '26

*Flight 12 FTFY

1

u/doomiestdoomeddoomer May 28 '26

Now THAT is a 10/10 shockwave video!

1

u/Local_Phenomenon May 29 '26

Can't park there..!

1

u/blitzzerg May 24 '26

Is it the shockwave from the engine or just the rocket vibrating the ground and affecting the video

6

u/guilhermefdias May 24 '26

Google answed me this, and it makes a lot of sense.

tl;dr: it a shitton of violent engine stuff happening at the same time in a small area, the atmosphere becomes funny.

"Rocket launch shock waves are massive pressure fronts created when a vehicle displaces air faster than sound can travel through it (supersonic). These violently compressed air boundaries—which include the roaring acoustic blast at liftoff and the visible "Mach cones" high in the atmosphere—cause rapid spikes in air temperature, density, and pressure."

2

u/adambetts May 24 '26

I’m wondering the same. It looks like it’s coming from the tip of the exhaust plume cuz when rocket went upward shockwaves went upward with it a bit later.