My name is Jared. I make NUMBER_TOKEND animations to show and explain how things work. This video goes really well with my previous animation, all about how the Soyuz spacecraft works and then how it docks to the International Space Station. Both of these videos were a lot of fun to make and I even had some help from two astronauts, Chris Cassidy and Scott Kelly. So, a big thanks to both of them. And of course, thanks to the sponsor for this video, which is Curiosity Stream, a subscription service with thousands of documentaries for less than $NUMBER_TOKEN a year. (gentle orchestral music) The Soyuz rocket is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On our globe, let's come over here to look at Europe and Asia. This is Russia, it's the largest country in the world. Mission control is in Moscow, Russia. The launch actually takes place right below in the country of Kazakhstan. So, why does Russia launch from a different country? When the Baikonur Cosmodrome was first built in the NUMBER_TOKENs, these two countries were part of the Soviet Union. The launch site has been in use ever since then. The other reason has to deal with a little bit of physics. Let me explain, the best place to launch a rocket is right along the Equator. Anywhere along here, the Earth is spinning at about NUMBER_TOKEN kilometers per hour. This means that a rocket launching to the east gets a free speed boost. You still get that speed boost when you are further away from the Equator, it's just not as much. If you look at where Russia is, it's not very close to the Equator. This is part of the reason why they still launch out of Kazakhstan. The rocket gets a little more of a speed boost. The Soyuz rocket is about NUMBER_TOKEN meters tall. The Soyuz spacecraft is hidden inside at the very top. This covering is called the launch shroud. This whole rocket is assembled, just a few kilometers away from the launchpad. First, we start with the Soyuz spacecraft, inside Building NUMBER_TOKEN. There are lots of tests to make sure it works correctly here on the ground. Then the Soyuz spacecraft is turned on its side and loaded into the launch shroud. Remember, this is the part of the rocket at the very top. This is all transported next door to Building NUMBER_TOKEN. This is where the Soyuz rocket is assembled in the horizontal position.
START_SPONSOR_TOKEN And of course, thanks to the sponsor for this video, which is Curiosity Stream, a subscription service with thousands of documentaries for less than $NUMBER_TOKEN a year. END_SPONSOR_TOKEN