Actually, all modern launch facilities divert all the vertical thrust sideways beneath the vehicle because if they didn't the reflected shock-wave of the ignition would destroy the vehicle. Watch any modern launch and you'll see the flame and exhaust diverted out from under the pad before the vehicle is released.Uncle Al wrote:Will the Cape need to build a heavier duty launch pad? I'm not sure the existing launch facilities could handle the "Pressure" from the rocket blast.
The water-dousing at ignition and launch is a noise-suppression mechanism that helps keep the vehicle from being damaged by the acoustic energy.
Launches are spectacular things, and involve a whole bunch of moving parts. To crib the line from Rush's Countdown [0], "It's a magic day when super-science meets the bright stuff of dreams", for without dreams -- and those who dream them -- nothing is possible.
[0] Watch the video very closely for the non-band action. The exhaust plume from under the pad is clearly visible, and I love that late-60s tech in the launch control room -- CRTs and Nixie tubes. For the win! The slow-motion sequence of Main Engine Start shows why the vehicle is held captive until the thrust is stable; that's what caused most of the early launch failures before we learned to do it right. It's a pity that "Shuttle" was quite probably the most dangerous vehicle ever designed, but what a show!
The video resonates heavily with me as the footage was of Columbia's maiden launch. I personally witnessed her last from a vantage-point a couple of miles away -- and then watched on the telly as the pieces fell back to Earth a couple of weeks later. Sometimes dreams go horribly wrong; but we cannot stop dreaming. Ever onward!