SpaceX’s Starship IFT4 launch:    • SpaceX's Starship IFT4  Can It Survi...  

Have you ever wondered how astronauts stay safe in the event of a failed launch? That’s where the launch escape system comes in. These come in three flavours, solid rocket motor, liquid rocket motor, or ejector seat. In this video, we’ll talk about how these work, and show you some live examples using the spaceflight simulator Reentry.

LES’s that we cover: Mercury, Apollo, Soyuz, Shenzou, SpaceX’s crew Dragon capsule, Boeing’s Starliner, Blue Origin’s New Shephard, Gemeni, and Vostok. We also cover why the space shuttle didn’t have an LES, and what it had instead.

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Everyday Astronaut’s video on launch escape systems:    • Why have SpaceX, Boeing & Blue Origin...  

The excellent spaceflight simulator I used in this video is called Reentry, and it’s available on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/88...

References and credits:

Apollo test footage:    • Apollo Launch Abort System Test  

SpaceX crew Dragon capsule pad abort test:    • SpaceX Pad Abort Test  

Orion attitude control motor test:    • Orion Attitude Control Motor test  

1960 Mercury Redstone failure:    • MercuryRedstone 1 Launch failure (MR1)  

1983 Soyuz LES:    • Soyuz T101  launch failure  

Shenzou: CC BY 3.0, 中国新闻网,    • 神舟十二号飞船就位 将送3名航天员上太空  

New Shephard LES credit: Blue Origin

Space Shuttle launch:    • STS129 HD Launch  

Space shuttle images: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/airsp...

Mercury LES:    • Mercury "Beach Abort"  Launch Escape...  

Mercury abort handle https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia...

Gemini capsule: Andrew Gray, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Gemini ejection seat safety report https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/1...

Mercury Redstone rocket: CC BY 2.0, Alan Wilson, https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajw1970...

Apollo pad abort test: Mike Dorffler, NASA Project Apollo Gallery https://apolloarchive.com/apg_thumbna...

Intro/outro music: https://pixabay.com/music/synthwaveb...

0:00 Introduction
0:41 Basics of launch escape systems
3:44 Mercury overview & preflight checks
6:49 Mercury launch
11:47 Gemini overview & preflight checks
16:45 Gemini launch
18:25 Apollo overview & preflight checks
23:30 Apollo launch
24:49 Conclusion