WEBVTT

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Intro music playing.

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It was a wet morning at Kennedy Space Center 
May 7 when a torrent of water was unleashed 
at Launch Pad 39A.

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It wasn't rain, but rather, it was a test of the pad's Sound Suppression System.

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The system was tested because NASA recently replaced
the six main system valves as part of the
Return to Flight effort.

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The Sound Suppression System uses water to absorb 
potentially damaging shock waves generated during 
a Shuttle launch.

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A water tank near the pad supplies water to
a series of 16 enormous nozzles, called "rainbirds."

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The tank emptied in just over 40 seconds as water
sprayed across the Mobile Launcher Platform as fast as 
900,000 gallons per minute!

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It was only the fourth test of the system in 
Shuttle Program history.

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