What does a space shuttle launch feel like?
It is a very exciting, noisy, shaky ride for the first two minutes. Then the solid rocket boosters drop off and it gets a lot smoother, but there still is a strong push on the back of the astronauts’ seats from all the power in the three main engines. Those three main engines burn fuel at an incredible rate — approximately 3,785 liters (1,000 gallons) every second. The shuttle goes from standing still on the launch pad to more than 27,359 kilometers per hour (17,000 mph) in just over eight minutes. That means the astronauts go 3,219 kilometers per hour (2,000 mph) faster every minute.
