Hello Gan,
Thank you for your question.
Here's the text of the conversation between Mission Control and the
Space Shuttle Columbia (on her maiden voyage), as it appears at the
end of Rush's "Countdown":
"We're coming up on the 45 minute point in our countdown. Everything's
going smoothly."
"T minus 45 minutes and counting."
"T minus 40 minutes, minus 40 minutes and counting..."
"This is shuttle launch control."
"We have a, uh, report from the orbiter test center, they are go for
launch at the present time... no major problems... <???> engine final
hold."
"T minus 27 seconds; we have <???> sequencer start."
"T minus 20 seconds and counting, T minus 15, 14, 13, T minus 10, 9,
8, 7, 6, 5, 4; we've got the main engine start-we have it."
"America's first space shuttle."
"And the shuttle has cleared the tower."
"T plus 30 seconds, 35..."
"Columbia, Houston, you're going 40..."
"Columbia is now clearing for its precise window in space for main
engine cutoff."
"Launch plus 240 seconds, Columbia now 39 nautical miles altitude, 42
nautical miles down range."
"Columbia, you're lookin' a little hot and all your calls will be a
little early."
"Young and Crippen really moving out now, velocity reading of 6200
feet per second."
"What a view, what a view."
"Glad you're enjoying it."
"Columbia, Houston, we have 40 seconds to LOS, after LOS you're
looking good for an over-the-hill; we'll see you in Madrid." (Note:
LOS = Loss Of Signal. As the orbiter passes over the horizon, US
listening posts lose signal. Antennas in Madrid relay signals to
Mission Control in Houston.)
"And we enjoyed the music, Bob; thank ya'."
"Ah, we enjoyed it; we just wanted to share somethin' with you."
(Note: First US space shuttle launch)
http://www.sloth.org/samples-bin/samples/group?exact=Rush
Pinkfreud told me that this conversation was broadcast on national
television. It was the first voyage of the Space Shuttle, so all the
banter between the astronauts and Mission Control was of high interest
to the public.
(Thanks Pink)
There’s a very interesting thread about the song Countdown at Google
Newsgroups. Here are a few excerpts taken from the thread.
“Did Rush just ask for some audio from NASA or was there anything more
to it, did they visit the NASA site for inspiration?”
“All three were at the launching, the very first space shuttle flight.
I think they were invited. Remember, this was in 1981, the peak of
their popularity.”
(..)
“I also seem to remember an interview years ago when they talked about
the whole experience. They said they were invited, and that it was one
of the most amazing experiences of their lives.”
(..)
Actually the tour program for Signals had a piece on it:
From the tour program:
VIII Countdown, Cape Kennedy, Florida, April 1982.
“We were there! It wasn't easy but we made it! We had a long-standing
invitation to the first launch, and always swore that we would be
there no matter what. (..) I remember thinking to myself as we flew
back to Fort Worth after a couple of days without sleep: "We've got to
write a song about this!" It was an incredible thing to witness, truly
a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can only hope that the song even
comes close to capturing the excitement and awe we felt that morning.”
-Neil Peart
(..)
This note is before the lyrics to the song:
"Dedicated with thanks to astronauts Young & Crippen and all the
people of NASA for their inspiration and cooperation"
Also there is a thank you to NASA along with rest of the standard
"thanks".
Source: Google Newsgroups
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&th=10ae6c6c3c16fcd3&rnum=6
Search Criteria:
Rush, Countdown lyrics, Nasa,
I hope this helps. If anything is unclear please request clarification
and I'll be glad to offer further assistance before you rate my
answer.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga |
