Countdown

For the game show, see: Countdown (game show), and the music television show, see: Countdown (music show).

A countdown is the backward counting to indicate the seconds remaining before an event, such as a launch, the start of a race, and New Years. The last ten seconds are usually counted down aloud "10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-Liftoff."

The first known use with respect to launching a rocket occurred in Fritz Lang's 1929 film Frau Im Mond. In the film, after each number the words "seconds to go" was repeated.