Want I want to see....

[Gargamel]

We have all these nice shots, from the ground, of rockets taking off.  We also have cool shots from the vessel itself, from cameras attached to the rocket.  With the high quality and low cost of modern 'action' cameras, I'd like to see some small cameras deployed from the space craft during launch, to get nice wide panoramic views of the vessel in flight.   This would probably be best done during a time of low atmospheric drag and low engine thrust, so the cameras would have a chance to take the shot before being pulled behind the craft.  I would hope they would also do so in a fashion that wouldn't risk the main vehicle for a glamour shot.    These little cameras would then most likely be recovered wherever they'd come down, or if that's not possible, transmit the images. 

Just a pipe dream I know, but still it'd be nice.    Perhaps one of the people who work for an aerospace company who play KSP might see this, and get that little bird in their ear....

[cubinator]

Maybe you'd just want a drone hanging out somewhere near the craft at the time it launches. Not sure how high you could get with those, but we do have some pretty cool drone shots of Grasshopper.

 

An orbital rocket gets going fast really quickly, so your only have the first moments, but it'd be at least a little bit of a new perspective. Maybe you could use a fleet of drones to create a VR experience out of it.

Edited May 7, 2018 by cubinator

[Wjolcz]

You could probably launch a sounding rocket to serve as a drone just before the big one takes off, though I'm pretty sure you could get the same result by just flying in plane nearby. And it also would be more stable. Probably cheaper too.

[Bill Phil]

Well, we could certainly do this in orbit...

[YNM]

I think you're describing a high-altitude chase plane with zoom lens.

Maybe if SpX have enough money to hire and modify a U-2...

[cubinator]

An airplane can get pictures like this:

 

You could do better if you were really sure you weren't going to hit the rocket. I think drone shots right at launch would be more exciting. You could even have a few flying around the landing zones for Falcon 9. You probably don't even need anybody piloting them, they can just be trained to fly "close but not too close" and to look at what's going to be interesting.

In space, you can just fly around your spaceship as long as it's not accelerating, like this:

What are the flight restrictions like for stuff like that? I'm sure if Elon Musk called up the range and said "Hey, I'd like to launch this monolith to the moon on a giant rocket, but also I want to have a drone hanging out nearby while it happens" they'd probably be able to sign him up for "a giant rocket + a drone" as opposed to the usual "one rocket"

[kerbiloid]

They should place several mini-rockets with web-cameras inside the shroud.
After the shroud is gone, launch every 20 km of altitude the next mini-rocket.

So, every mini-rocket will have low mass (just a web-cam) and delta-V (because it doesn't have to get into orbit itself, just follow the main rocket for several kilometers).

Or make the shroud as a bunch of mini-rockets itself.
Do not separate it as a whole, but jettison/launch its segments one by one.

Edited May 8, 2018 by kerbiloid

[Gargamel]

2 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

They should place several mini-rockets with web-cameras inside the shroud.
After the shroud is gone, launch every 20 km of altitude the next mini-rocket.

So, every mini-rocket will have low mass (just a web-cam) and delta-V (because it doesn't have to get into orbit itself, just follow the main rocket for several kilometers).

Or make the shroud as a bunch of mini-rockets itself.
Do not separate it as a whole, but jettison/launch its segments one by one.

See, now that's what i'm talking about. 

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

 + 

onboard = a lot of nice shots

[Tullius]

6 hours ago, cubinator said:

What are the flight restrictions like for stuff like that? I'm sure if Elon Musk called up the range and said "Hey, I'd like to launch this monolith to the moon on a giant rocket, but also I want to have a drone hanging out nearby while it happens" they'd probably be able to sign him up for "a giant rocket + a drone" as opposed to the usual "one rocket"

If there is no crew on board, I would guess none. After all, it is YOUR rocket that blows up, if YOUR drone misbehaves.

[p1t1o]

Ok so the space shuttle was really fragile...but Columbia was only hit by a piece of foam at low velocity.

Nobody is going to be putting drones in the path of rockets. 

Putting a drone in the way is exactly how we shoot down rockets.

***

Something should be done with telescopic lenses though. How about filming the launch from space, with extreme zoom?

Edited May 8, 2018 by p1t1o

[kerbiloid]

4 hours ago, p1t1o said:

Nobody is going to be putting drones in the path of rockets. 

OK, then

Spoiler

and a cam onboard

Spoiler

to make selfies

Then just remove spherical aberrations.

Upd.
Btw. If put an Echo bubble (66 kg, 30 m in diameter) on top of the craft, and inflate it when the shroud is gone, then...

Spoiler

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by kerbiloid

[p1t1o]

@kerbiloid

There's a simpler solution for manned launches:

[wumpus]

1 hour ago, p1t1o said:

@kerbiloid

There's a simpler solution for manned launches:

 

Sorry.  Only Scott Manley and a few other professionals are allowed a selfie stick.  That is all.

[Zeiss Ikon]

5 hours ago, p1t1o said:

@kerbiloid

There's a simpler solution for manned launches:

And made a non-qualifying entry in the "Photoshop My Selfie" game.

[NSEP]

On 5/8/2018 at 7:46 PM, p1t1o said:

@kerbiloid

There's a simpler solution for manned launches:

Holy smokes why don't we put a selfie-stick on a rocket! Maybe on the upper stage, to make the boring part less boring.

[kerbiloid]

Now we know what's that stick.
 

Spoiler