If you’re a sci-fi fan, you know Hollywood always has the lights go out when a spaceship takes a blast of photon torpedoes. Somehow we’ve figured out how to travel between the stars, but the electrical systems are kind of iffy.
So now step into a mobile launcher platform below the Space Shuttle during a launch. This little clip is from about 2006, though I’m not sure which Space Shuttle launch. Shake, rattle and roll. Notice how everything floats, with vinyl covers for personnel safety, to cushion and allow everything room to move quite a bit at launch – above.
And yes, as much like a tank as all this is built, the lights go out.
Zapata Talks NASA 