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The noise of a rocket launch can shake a satellite to pieces. So to see how
delicate components such as solar panels will cope, scientists at
DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart, Germany, have built a giant air horn that mimics a
rocket at full throttle. The horn is pumped with 2500 cubic metres of air per
hour at 4 times atmospheric pressure to produce a 150-decibel blast of sound,
the equivalent of 10 fighter jets at full power. Earplugs anyone?