Countdown

Last updated December 28, 2024

A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch,^[1] and even "E-minus" for events that involve spacecraft that are already in space, where the "T" could stand for "Test" or "Time", and the "E" stands for "Encounter", as with a comet or some other space object, like a spacecraft.^[2]

Rocketry

People involved in countdowns always say that the last twenty minutes are the worst. By that time everything that needs doing has been done, and therefore everybody has twenty minutes in which to think of what may not have been done, or else what could possibly go wrong.
— Willy Ley, 1968^[6]

A countdown is a carefully devised set of procedures ending with launch of a rocket. Depending on the type of vehicle used, countdowns can start from 72 to 96 hours before launch time.

There are two countdowns proceeding simultaneously:

The T-minus clock, a schedule of planned activities prior to launch (T−0), and
The L-minus clock, a mechanical countdown to the time of launch (L−0).

Except for the last few minutes, which are highly automated and rigid, scheduled activities rarely take exactly the scheduled time, and the T-minus clock only corresponds approximately to the time until launch.

A hold is the suspension of the normal countdown process, during which the T-minus clock is stopped and no planned activities take place. This can be done to investigate a technical process that has gone wrong, or to intentionally delay the launch, e.g. because of bad weather at the launch pad. Most countdown schedules also include some pre-planned built-in holds . These provide an opportunity to perform non-launch activities, handle unexpected issues, or to catch up on the schedule if it is running long.

Under some circumstances, a countdown may be recycled to an earlier time. When that happens, launch personnel begin following the countdown checklist from the earlier point.^[7]

During countdown:

Aerospace personnel bring the rocket vehicle to the launch site and load it with payload and propellants;
Launch-center computers communicate with sensors in the rocket, which monitor important systems on the launch vehicle and payload;
Launch personnel monitor the weather and wait for the launch window;
Security personnel prevent unauthorized persons from entering the "keep-out" area.^[8]

The procedures for each launch are written carefully. For the Space Shuttle, a five-volume set, Shuttle Countdown (KSC S0007), often referred to as "S0007", was used. Rosie Carver, a technical writer for United Launch Alliance, has created at least 15,000 procedures for more than 300 missions since the Solar Maximum Mission, which launched Feb. 14, 1980. These documents are living documents, which reflect new issues and solutions as they develop. Each mission requires approximately 100 procedure books.^[9]

Proceeding with the countdown depends on several factors, such as the proper launch window, weather that permits a safe launch, and the rocket and payload working properly.

The launch weather guidelines involving the Space Shuttle and expendable rockets are similar in many areas, but a distinction is made for the individual characteristics of each. The criteria are broadly conservative and assure avoidance of possibly adverse conditions. They are reviewed for each launch. For the Space Shuttle, weather "outlooks" provided by the U. S. Air Force Range Weather Operations Facility at Cape Canaveral began at Launch minus 5 days in coordination with the NOAA National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. These included weather trends and their possible effects on launch day. A formal prelaunch weather briefing was held on Launch minus 1 day, which was a specific weather briefing for all areas of Space Shuttle launch operations.^[10]

The launch window is a precise time during which aerospace personnel launch a rocket so the payload can reach the proper orbital destination.^[7]

During communications for a countdown, the launch team uses acronyms to keep channels open as much as possible. All Firing Room console positions are assigned unique 'call signs' that are used by the team for quick and positive identification of who is talking.^[11] For example, dialogue heard during the launch of a Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler Space Telescope on March 8, 2009, included:

Time: T minus 3 minutes
Launch Control (LC): OSM, third stage S&A arm permit to close.
Operations Safety Manager (OSM): Closed.
LC: SSC, third stage S&A armed.
System Sequence Controller (SSC): Armed.
LC: Prop 1, vehicle fuel tank press open
Prop 1: Open.
LC: Fuel umbilical purge to open.
Prop 1: Open.
LC: SSC, vent 1 heater control exit.
SSC: Exit.
LC: SSC, vent 2 heater control exit.
SSC: Exit.
LC: NSC reports spacecraft is go.
Mission Director: Kepler spacecraft is go.
LC: SSC - FTS bat one and two heater controls heaters off.
SSC: Off.
LC: Prop 1, pressurized first stage LOX tanks to relief.
Prop 1: Pressurized.
LC: Prop 2, top first stage LOX to 100 percent levels.
Prop 2: Up and down, 100 percent.
Time: Ninety seconds.
LC: SSC, hydraulic external power to on.
SSC: External.
Time: Eighty seconds.
LC: RCO, report range go for launch.
Range Control Officer (RCO): Range go for launch.
Mission Director: LC (Viera), you're go for launch.
LC: Roger.^[12]

In the context of a rocket launch, the "L minus Time" is the physical time before launch, e.g. "L minus 3 minutes and 40 seconds". "T minus Time" is a system to mark points at which actions necessary for the launch are planned - this time stops and starts as various hold points are entered, and so doesn't show the actual time to launch. The last ten seconds are usually counted down aloud "Ten seconds to liftoff. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." After a launch, most countdown clocks begin to show Mission Elapsed Time, which is typically shown as "T plus." The adjacent picture shows "+00:00:07", approximately seven seconds after liftoff.

The time T−0 is specifically the moment of launch commit, when it is no longer possible to prevent liftoff. This is necessarily slightly before the moment the rocket actually lifts off the launch pad. Liquid-fueled rocket engines (which can be turned off after ignition) are normally lit a few seconds before T−0 and brought to full throttle around T−0. Solid rocket motors, which cannot be extinguished, are lit at T−0 and achieve full power a few seconds later. If a rocket has hold-down clamps which can withstand full engine thrust, the moment the clamps are released defines T−0.

In Fritz Lang's film Frau im Mond , after each number the phrase "seconds to go" was repeated.

Film

At the start of films, a countdown sequence is printed on the head leader, and is used to synchronize film reel changeovers (switching between reels of film). In film (but not television) the 'Academy Leader' countdown first used in 1930 is in units of feet rather than time units; it starts at 11 and ends at 3 where it cuts to black for the last few feet. In 1959, SMPTE leader was created and measures seconds, not feet. It starts at 8 and cuts to black on the first frame of 2, which is accompanied by a 'pop.' This leader eventually displaced the older Academy and was the only leader used by the end of the optical (film) projection era.^{[ citation needed ]}

New Year's Eve

In many New Year's Eve celebrations, there is a countdown during the last seconds of the old year until the beginning of the new year. These countdowns usually end in fireworks. Some celebrations also have countdowns to midnight in preceding timezones.

Independence Day

In Malaysia, the countdown is also used to celebrate independence day, with an event called Ambang Merdeka. The countdown was carried out at 11:59:50 pm and ended with chanting Merdeka 8 times and singing the national anthem.

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References

↑ NASA's Launch Services Program [@@NASA_LSP] (January 31, 2015). ""L Minus" time is different from "T Minus" time."L minus" indicates how far away we are from actual liftoff& doesn't include built-in holds" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
↑ "NASA Mission 'E-Minus' One Month to Comet Flyby". NASA Mission News. 2010-10-04. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2013-09-13.
↑ Everett, William (1865). On the Cam: Lectures on the University of Cambridge in England. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Sever and Francis. p. 192.
↑ "Spektrum der Wissenschaft - DenkMal-Frage: "Was verdankt die Raumfahrt dem Stummfilm "Die Frau im Mond" (1929) von Fritz Lang?" [Spektrum der Wissenschaft - DenkMal question: "What does space travel owe to the silent film "Woman in the Moon" (1929) by Fritz Lang?] (in German). Wissenschaft-online.de.
↑ Weide, Robert (Summer 2012). "The Outer Limits". DGA Quarterly. Los Angeles, California: Directors Guild of America, Inc.: 64–71. A gallery of behind-the-scenes shots of movies featuring space travel or aliens. Page 68, photo caption: "Directed by Fritz Lang (third from right), the silent film "Woman in the Moon" (1929) is considered one of the first serious science fiction films and invented the countdown before the launch of a rocket. Many of the basics of space travel were presented to a mass audience for the first time."
↑ Ley, Willy (October 1968). "The Orbit of Explorer-1". For Your Information. Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 93–102.
1 2 Angelo 2003: 144
↑ Angelo, Joseph A. (2003). Space Technology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-57356-335-2.
↑ "Launching by the Book". NASA . April 30, 2007. Archived from the original on May 2, 2007.
↑ "Kennedy Space Flight Center Release 39-99: Space Shuttle weather launch commit criteria and KSD end of mission weather landing criteria". Nasa.gov. NASA. May 20, 1999. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009.
↑ "NASA, "The Space Shuttle launch team"". Science.ksc.nasa.gov. 1967-11-09. Archived from the original on 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
↑ NASA Channel, 8 March 2009, 10:40 Eastern Standard Time

External links

NASA Countdown 101 Archived 2023-07-01 at the Wayback Machine

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[L-Minus-1] NASA's Launch Services Program [@@NASA_LSP] (January 31, 2015). ""L Minus" time is different from "T Minus" time."L minus" indicates how far away we are from actual liftoff& doesn't include built-in holds" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[E-Minus-2] "NASA Mission 'E-Minus' One Month to Comet Flyby". NASA Mission News. 2010-10-04. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2013-09-13.

[3] Everett, William (1865). On the Cam: Lectures on the University of Cambridge in England. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Sever and Francis. p. 192.

[4] "Spektrum der Wissenschaft - DenkMal-Frage: "Was verdankt die Raumfahrt dem Stummfilm "Die Frau im Mond" (1929) von Fritz Lang?" [Spektrum der Wissenschaft - DenkMal question: "What does space travel owe to the silent film "Woman in the Moon" (1929) by Fritz Lang?] (in German). Wissenschaft-online.de.

[DGA-Quarterly-summer2012-5] Weide, Robert (Summer 2012). "The Outer Limits". DGA Quarterly. Los Angeles, California: Directors Guild of America, Inc.: 64–71. A gallery of behind-the-scenes shots of movies featuring space travel or aliens. Page 68, photo caption: "Directed by Fritz Lang (third from right), the silent film "Woman in the Moon" (1929) is considered one of the first serious science fiction films and invented the countdown before the launch of a rocket. Many of the basics of space travel were presented to a mass audience for the first time."

[ley196810-6] Ley, Willy (October 1968). "The Orbit of Explorer-1". For Your Information. Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 93–102.

[Angelo_2003:_144-7] 1 2 Angelo 2003: 144

[8] Angelo, Joseph A. (2003). Space Technology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-57356-335-2.

[9] "Launching by the Book". NASA . April 30, 2007. Archived from the original on May 2, 2007.

[10] "Kennedy Space Flight Center Release 39-99: Space Shuttle weather launch commit criteria and KSD end of mission weather landing criteria". Nasa.gov. NASA. May 20, 1999. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009.

[11] "NASA, "The Space Shuttle launch team"". Science.ksc.nasa.gov. 1967-11-09. Archived from the original on 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2014-06-28.

[12] NASA Channel, 8 March 2009, 10:40 Eastern Standard Time

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