Shadowing Practice: "This is where I'd put my flight 13 footage..." | SpaceX Starbase - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Well, welcome to the Starbase Summary where I would show you my Flight 13 launch footage if I had any.
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This is the Starbase Summary, folks.
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We're going to go through the entire process here, but no spoilers.
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Spoilers, if you were paying attention, you know that Flight 13 had an on-pad abort, a brief lighting of the engines.
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Not all of them, four of them didn't light up, so it did not go that day on Thursday.
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But let's roll back the clock just a little bit and see how they prepared for that.
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starting off with the booster stacking here over on the mount
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we already saw it roll in between the chopsticks there's that's
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too cool it looks like stop motion animation the time lapse
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there getting it on the mount there's some venting from booster
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20 coming up shortly we will have ship 40 rolling out
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as well that's that's a lot of venting it continues the vent there you go
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that was interesting It's sort of shut down in a circular pattern, kind of going around the outside of the booster there.
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In any event, we know what is coming up.
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Oh, we're going to do some more venting, I guess.
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Let's get to the static or the pad abort footage here.
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The venting is super interesting, but coming up in just a bit, we'll get over there.
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We still need to get the ship out here.
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Come on.
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Okay.
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Some venting.
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More venting.
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Get a move on, folks.
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Okay.
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Here's the Starlink.
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That was probably a little bit too much at the beginning of the show there.
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But there you can see the Starlink loader.
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It's sort of that reverse PEZ dispenser.
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Maybe it's an upside down PEZ dispenser that lifts up the payloads to insert them into the ship.
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Then you see ship 40 going into the bay.
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Are we going to do more venting?
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Oh, no, it's grid fin testing.
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That's cool.
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We're good with grid fin testing.
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The lighting was pretty tough here, but you can see those grid fins turning to their full extent.
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the one on the right hand side there a little bit better
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when the light hits it here you can see that one edge
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and then are we going to come all the way nope
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we stopped right there we didn't get a bunch of little points oh are we going back
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which way are we going we're going to come this way
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anyways yeah nope
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so this is right in front of the office building it's sort of like a big viewing area
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if you've seen social media posts or some of the SpaceX footage, all the employees there in front of the glass walls of the building,
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that countdown clock is sort of facing the road so you can see it when you go by.
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Cool that they have it in there.
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I hope that there's like a web API or something for it as well so we can consume the information.
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We don't have to try and put a camera there and just watch what the countdown clock says, right?
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So here is the ship rolling up Remedios.
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A lot of people turned out for this.
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There were people there, if you saw the previous video, watching the booster rollout had a fair number of folks out there as well.
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You can see them in the foreground holding up cell phones and that sort of stuff, getting the booster rolling out.
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Caesar with the fantastic shot here, looking up the nose cone.
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I mean, look at this.
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It's like a parade.
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It's like you can come and you can escort the SpaceX booster on its way to the pad.
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It's honestly too cool.
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But rolling all the way out, those people on the SpaceX property there are probably SpaceX folks.
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Here's over on the launch side, the launch site side, I was going to say, sort of coming towards us in this perspective.
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We've got the sun over there in the west behind it.
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Wow, this is a good track.
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I wonder who did this track.
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Good job, Starbase Live operator.
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There's a Starlink terminal looking thing.
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Did you see, scroll back if you need to, did you see the little bump and it was sort of like Starlink shaped?
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I wonder.
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Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but it really did look like the form factor of a Starlink dish there.
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I don't know.
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What do we have here?
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Some workers?
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It's very orange.
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But at first I thought that was a very young person, but then I compared them to the scale of the car.
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What a cool shot!
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That's going to be from CP-11, the deployable that was over there on the side of the road.
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That's just a really smooth track, and you get sort of that 3D effect.
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Looks like we've got some shots from Colleen as well as the sun's going down.
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and then we get ship 40 all the way over there
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between the chopsticks pad two right next to the booster we
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get it lifted up here it's gonna go all the way
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up yeah there you go i like the spotlights i don't even know
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if the spotlights are there for like an operational purpose it's
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just cool to see the spotlights like the main event being
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lit up with the big spotlights a couple of them in
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a couple different directions not just one there of course you
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got your three sea level raptors the big white bells
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and then you got the three sorry the vacuum raptors are
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the white bells the sea level raptors are the darker smaller bells in the middle there
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and we're swinging all the way over zoomed in super tight
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on the top of the booster here that's the hot stage
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ring with all those big massive struts people for scale on
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the left hand side there look at all the people man there's like two people up there doing work
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and like 12 people supervising
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if i had a pass i'd be up there too hanging out about hey i'm in here
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if you need me if you need me to run down real quick
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and get something just let me know i'll just be standing
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by right here out of your way you saw the quick disconnect actually go towards
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and connect to the ship there as well while i was watching
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so here on july 16th this launch attempt date we see
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the stands rolling away from the pad those things look complicated
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they look expensive they look like they take time to make
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why risk them of course you probably have plenty of time to make them if something happens to the pad, but oh wow.
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How cool is that?
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They were moving the stands out of the way.
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Here's the range helicopter.
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This is the SpaceX helicopter that happens to just land right here next to our highway uplink site.
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It's a little comfort.
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Guys, it looks like it's like right next to that Cybertruck.
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Are those people next to the fuel tank?
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That's a fuel tank there so they can They can refuel the helicopter without having to fly all the way 15, 20 miles back to the airport and fuel up over there.
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They just land right here on the road, literally right across from our highway camera site.
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And they can top it off, fuel it up.
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Is that like a regular gas pump?
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I've never thought about that, but I guess it makes sense.
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Like there's not, from that perspective with this sort of rig, like a special aviation fuel connector just look like what you
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use at the corner store to fill up your camera or whatever.
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Huh.
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Alright.
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So helicopter taken off, got a little bit of a track here, but again this is launch day.
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You see some clouds there in the background, but
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that was not around the launch pad This is a little
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bit earlier in the day at some shutter shutter speed They're
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making the blades seem like they're going slower than they are I wonder
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if you could actually see the collective working at that sort of speed but
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That helicopter is flying around carrying the range out here at Starbase There is no let's say government range, right?
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It's not like Kennedy Space Center or Vandenberg Oh,
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better pay attention There's the dealers Did you see it stutter out?
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Did you see how we started to get flames?
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And then the flames went off
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And then there was another little sort of burst of flame A burst of light
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that happened and they shut off again So this was an on pad aboard An emergency Well, I'll say emergency That doesn't mean
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that it was an emergency Like somebody was in danger It just means
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that they lit the engines and the telemetry saw something it didn't like.
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This is not a human being with their hand hovering over a button, right?
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You could not react fast enough.
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This is, I will say, I don't know the number, but probably hundreds or thousands of sensors and software
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watching all of these values from all the sensors in the milliseconds
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that the engines kick in and start to spool up to produce thrust, watching the health of all of them.
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And that control computer saw something it did not like.
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and it said, nope, I'm not going to space today.
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So it shut down the engines, and you saw that little sputter there.
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Sometimes when this happens, those hard stops can actually damage the engine.
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It's not like a water hammer.
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I'm trying to search for an analogy, and I don't think that that's really the right way to talk about it, but when you have to sort of like rapidly stop those engines,
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sometimes they sort of spool down in a controlled manner.
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Sometimes it's like slamming on the brake on the live stream, the analogy I used was, you know, you can come to a stop at a stoplight when you know you're supposed to stop, but sometimes you have to slam on the brakes because some idiot cuts you off,
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and then all this change comes out of your change room and flies all over the place, or you cause a little bit of damage, right?
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It causes a little bit of ruckus.
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SpaceX is currently figuring out what was going on there.
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So this, by the way, this is another booster rolling out to Massey's.
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This is not the booster rolling back from the launch pad.
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This is the Booster 21 rolling to Massey's for crowd.
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Not going to wait around for it.
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You tell all those power lines there, right?
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Those are the power lines on the way to Massey's.
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And here's a shot of Massey's, as you may be able to recognize if you're in a seasoned Texas tank watcher here.
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So back over to the launch pad, they're going to proceed with that Booster 21 testing over at Massey's.
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But back at the launch pad, here is the ship being destacked from the top.
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Of course, since it's a full stack, the ship didn't lighten the engines.
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It didn't really do anything other than just sit on top of the booster, right?
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So don't really need to do too terribly much with the ship, I would think.
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You never know, but SpaceX has some time.
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We'll see what they say.
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The booster, though, you got to get the ship out of the way of the booster.
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So you get it off the top, you put it over there, you roll it back out of the way.
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Why leave it out in the elements?
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Why leave it on the launch pad, they roll it all the way back, and then here shortly we will also see the booster coming back because that's what they're going to want to inspect.
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And again, I am not going to make any conjectures on whether or not the engines were damaged.
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I'll just say it is possible that unexpected shutdowns, it's a commanded shutdown.
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It happened on purpose.
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It's not like the engines all flamed out and didn't work.
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There were four engines that didn't come on, but they intentionally shut down the engines, right?
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So let's call it as a unexpected did shut down, but it was an intentional shutdown when the telemetry of the sensors did not like the data they were seeing.
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I'm not going to pass judgment as to whether or not any damage actually occurred.
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The SpaceX engineers
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that are able to get their hands up in the engines are going to be the ones that figure that out.
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We did get a tweet from Elon saying that, if I'm not mistaken, the last information I saw was two engines would be replaced.
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I didn't see any specific information on which two, and I saw some conjecture on, well, are they going to replace two of the engines that didn't light, like two of the four engines that didn't light,
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or are there two engines they think need to be replaced
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because there might have been a hard shutdown that they're not happy with?
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We have a lot of these engine numbers.
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When it comes back out again, we'll be out there to catch it, and we'll see if maybe an engine was replaced.
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Was it just removed
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because it's easier to work on it on the engine stand than it is while it's on the vehicle?
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I guess we will see what happens, but for all we know, SpaceX is going to get over there, and they're going to see something else they didn't like.
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And maybe they'll replace some other engines.
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Maybe they'll take out some other engines and work on them and then put them back in.
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We will see.
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And especially we'll see what sort of official reports we get from SpaceX and the SpaceX launch broadcast.
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I'm sweating just looking at this image.
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That guy walking, like I feel you.
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You got the long sleeves on.
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You're out there working.
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You're trying to protect yourself.
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But it has been toasty down there in Starbase, folks.
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it has been ridiculously warm down there got a couple little
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engine sneak peeks those lines on there that's weird it looks a little too symmetrical
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and for a second i looked at that
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and i was like it's like a crack or something
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but they they were very symmetrical i think that might just be
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corner sealant or something like that i'm not the expert on
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that you know me i watched the video and i'm like hey that looked interesting what's what's that
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here we've got a worker for scale i love it i absolutely
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that is i wish there was a way to find those workers like who was the worker
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that was there on july 17th
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working up on whatever level that was
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while the booster was going by uh even just like as a photograph printed out
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and taped next to your computer monitor or something if i was
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that worker i would i would want that shot
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but anyways yeah they're sort of looking around here with the lift We got it in.
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Folks, that's the drill.
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Currently, information we have is that they may be going for it for Monday, but that was all pending their actual findings when they got the booster back.
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So, summary, got an odd pad abort, turned on most of the engines.
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Four of them didn't turn on.
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Some sensors didn't like what they saw, so they shut down the whole thing, and it did not go to space today.
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Rolled everything back.
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SpaceX currently checking it out, has more information, and check back with us on Monday to see if we're going to get a launch of them.
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But for now, I've been John Gallo
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if you heard cars in the background i am on the
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road waste no seconds trying to get stuff done out here
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but i appreciate y'all watching as always and we will see you nerds later
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “"This is where I'd put my flight 13 footage..."”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: engine, booster, pad, Spacex, launch. This video has 219 sentences and 2710 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:16. The speaker talks fast, about 204 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| booster noun | /ˈbustɚ/ | Something that boosts. |
| vent noun | /vɛnt/ | An opening through which gases, especially air, can pass. |
| shutdown noun | The action of stopping operations; a closing, of a computer, business, event, etc. | |
| spotlight noun | /ˈspɒtˌlaɪt/ | A bright, directional light or lamp, especially one used to illuminate the focus or center of attention on a stage. |
| sensor noun | /ˈsɛn.sɚ/ | A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner. |
| flame noun | /fleɪm/ | The visible part of fire; a stream of burning vapour or gas, emitting light and heat. |
| abort verb | /əˈbɔɹt/ | To miscarry; to bring forth (non-living) offspring prematurely. |
| raptor noun | /ˈɹæptɚ/ | One of the dromaeosaurs, a family of carnivorous dinosaurs having tearing claws on the hind legs. |
| conjecture noun | /kənˈd͡ʒɛkt͡ʃə/ | A statement or an idea which is unproven, but is thought to be true; a guess. |
| dispenser noun | /dɪˈspɛnsə/ | Something or someone that dispenses things. |
| shutter noun | /ˈʃʌtəː/ | One who shuts or closes something. |
| spool noun | /spuːl/ | A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle. |
| symmetrical adjective | /səˈmɛtrək(ə)l/ | Exhibiting symmetry; having harmonious or proportionate arrangement of parts; having corresponding parts or relations. |
| telemetry noun | /tɪˈlɛm.ɪ.tɹi/ | The science, and associated technology, of the automatic recording and transmission of data from a remote source to a receiving station for analysis. |
| spoiler noun | /ˈspɔɪ.lɚ/ | One who spoils; a plunderer; a pillager; a robber; a despoiler. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| shut down verb | To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
| get over verb | To overcome. |
| lift up verb | To elevate to a higher position. |
| roll out verb | To deploy or release (a new film or software, etc.); to launch (a product or service), especially in a gradual fashion across multiple regions. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| do out verb | To decorate, tidy, or clean (a place). |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Are we going to do more venting?
- We're good with grid fin testing.
- What do we have here?
- Did you see how we started to get flames?
- We'll see what they say.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've seen · I've never thought · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being destacked · were damaged · would be replaced |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 64 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shutter /ˈʃʌtəː/, ventilation /ˌvɛntɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, intentional /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/
- Long words — get the stress right: symmetrical /səˈmɛtrək(ə)l/, telemetry /tɪˈlɛm.ɪ.tɹi/, analogy /əˈnæləd͡ʒi/, millisecond /ˈmɪlɪˌsɛkənd/, ridiculously /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like booster, vent, shutdown.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.