Launch is one of the most complex parts of flight -- and one of the most likely places for something to go wrong. At NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, researchers are producing highly detailed simulations and visualizations to help keep astronauts safe during the dynamic liftoff conditions of NASA's Orion spacecraft. This simulation, run on NASA's Pleiades supercomputer, shows an ascent abort scenario that is triggered as the vehicle is traveling at close to the speed of sound. The video starts at abort initiation with motor ignition. Colored plumes indicate high pressure (red) and low pressure (blue). Each pixel changing from blue to red (and vice versa) over time is related to pressure waves that cause vibrations on the vehicle (white). The video slows down when the pressure and air flow conditions are particularly harsh. Regions where the color changes abruptly in space, but stays constant in time, indicate the presence of shock waves. Video credit: NASA/...