Here’s an awesome video taken inside the flight deck of the space shuttle during a lift-off.  It includes the internal flight deck communications. The person who posted the video says it’s STS-113, flown by shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station in 2002. The crew voices you hear the most are probably mission commander James D. Wetherbee and pilot Paul S. Lockhart.  Also, one of the people who commented on the video says that the sudden flash of light that fills the cockpit at 2:35 into the video is when the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) separate from the craft.

It’s amazing how they bounce around in there during the early part of the launch.  At one point, one of the crew (the commander?) notes that this launch isn’t as smooth as the other ones he’d been on.  He notes that the bumpiness might be because of the weight of the cargo they were carrying (the P1 truss).

NOTE: Wikipedia notes that commander Wetherbee flew a total of SIX space shuttle missions–FIVE of them as commander. No wonder he sounds so calm, cool, and collected. In his other life, Wetherbee was a fighter pilot for the U.S. Navy. Pilot Lockhart was a test pilot with the U.S. Air Force and flew two space shuttle missions.

Technorati Tags: awesome, video, flight deck, space shuttle, lift-off, internal flight deck communications, STS-113, Endeavour, International Space Station, mission commander, James D. Wetherbee, pilot, Paul S. Lockhart, cockpit, solid rocket boosters, SRBs, weight, cargo, P1 truss