Original subtitles

All three engines up and burning.

Two, one, zero, and liftoff!

The final liftoff of Atlantis.

July 8, 2011.

...Continue the dream.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis

blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center.

Houston now controlling the flight of Atlantis.

The Space Shuttle spreads its wings.

This would be the last time

that a space shuttle would take flight.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration,

or NASA,

had worked tirelessly to build five shuttles.

Since the inaugural flight in 1981,

these spacecraft had journeyed between Earth and space.

This is the final page in the story

of the Space Shuttle program.

Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour,

and Atlantis.

For 30 years, this orbiter fleet

led the world's exploration of space.

355 astronauts from 16 countries

flew on the shuttles,

carrying out a variety of missions.

One of the program's biggest achievements

was the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope,

which provides remarkable images

of our mysterious universe.

The International Space Station,

where astronauts live and research,

could not have been constructed

without the aid of the space shuttles.

But the story of the Space Shuttle program

was not without its share of hardship.

When building the shuttles,

NASA faced multiple technological challenges.

It took 10 years to develop the world's

first reusable spacecraft.

In two separate tragedies,

the lives of 14 astronauts were lost

when the shuttles exploded.

But NASA overcame these obstacles,

and the shuttles continued to fly.

The passion of its dedicated astronauts and engineers

kept the Space Shuttle program going.

The shuttles carried with them

our dreams and unyielding desire

to explore the vast expanses of space.

We trace the 30-year history of the shuttles

that led man's journey to outer space

on today's "Cosmic Front."

Huntsville, Alabama,

is home to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

Every year, about 20,000 children

from around the world visit here.

They are participating in the immensely popular

Space Camp program.

Let's see that bunny hop.

Let's see you jump.

There you go, lots of hands!

Let me see you smiling.

There you go!

This microgravity training chair

simulates what one sixth of the earth's gravity feels like,

making you feel like you're walking on the moon.

There we go!

Wave to the people down on Earth!

The multiaxis training simulator

creates the sensation of what it's like

to lose control of a spacecraft.

Whoo!

The camp's most popular attraction

is one in which visitors perform work

outside the spacecraft.

Alright, now go to your right.

Alright, stop.

Don't cross your legs.

Satellite repairs are made from the robotic arm.

Almost everyone has seen this on television

or in magazine articles.

The shuttles have brought space exploration closer to us.

A graduate of Space Camp

has even gone on to become a real astronaut.

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger

attended the camp when she was in junior high school.

20 years later in 2010,

she was aboard the Space Shuttle

for a mission to the International Space Station.

The Space Shuttle is a spacecraft that can make

multiple journeys to space and back,

carrying passengers and cargo.

It has a length of about 60 meters,

and a total weight of about 2,000 metric tons.

It is one of the largest rockets in the world.

The Shuttle is propelled by three main engines

and two solid rocket boosters on its sides.

Four, three... The five engines produce

more than 3,000 tons of thrust.

Liftoff for Space Shuttle Discovery.

Roger After being launched,

the shuttle makes a rapid ascent.

It reduces its acceleration temporarily

to counteract the stress imposed on its body,

and then picks up speed again.

Two minutes after takeoff,

the rocket boosters are exhausted

and ejected into the ocean.

They are later retrieved for reuse.

The external fuel tank is also jettisoned.

It is the only component that is not reused.

The backside of the Shuttle houses a large payload bay

which has the capacity to carry

a little more than 20 tons of cargo.

When needed, laboratories that are used

to perform various experiments

are installed in the cargo area.

Inside the Shuttle's nose under the cockpit

are the living quarters.

Up to seven crew members who work in shifts reside here.

From the cockpit, the large robotic arm

attached to the Shuttle can be maneuvered.

After completing its mission,

the Space Shuttle reduces its speed

to reenter the earth's atmosphere.

Hurdling towards Earth,

it faces temperatures hot enough to melt steel.

Approximately 30,000 heat-resistant tiles

protect the spacecraft and its crew.

These tiles also help to ensure that the Shuttle

can be reused.

After reentering the earth's atmosphere,

the Shuttle uses its wings

to glide through the air and land.

With reusable components enabling it to make

multiple journeys into space,

the Shuttle was a groundbreaking spacecraft.

It was a short journey.

And to the ship that has led the way time and time again,

we say farewell, Discovery.

In the 1960's, the American space program

set its sights on the moon.

The race between the United States and the Soviet Union

to land a man on the moon was won by the Americans

when Apollo 11 made its lunar landing in 1969.

However, the Vietnam War was becoming

increasingly contentious during the same time period.

The increase in military spending

led to budget cuts for the space program.

In 1970, the end of the Apollo program

was officially announced.

But NASA had not abandoned its dreams of exploring space,

and was already taking steps towards an ambitious new plan.

One that involved building a space station.

In order to travel beyond the moon to other planets,

a space station was required to gather knowledge

about spending an extended period of time in outer space.

Multiple trips to transport astronauts

and components to the earth's orbit

would be necessary to build the space station.

NASA decided to build a cost-efficient spacecraft

that could make numerous journeys between Earth and space.

But coming up with a design for a reusable space vehicle

proved to be a challenge.

It began developing the Space Shuttle in 1972,

the same year of the last lunar landing.

Bob Thompson headed the project.

He was the Space Shuttle Program Manager

for 11 years.

Thompson had been involved in

all of the previous manned space programs:

Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.

The design and construction of the Space Shuttle

was his final undertaking.

He began by reevaluating the technology

developed for the Apollo program,

analyzing the very foundation it was based on.

We didn't try to reuse all of Apollo.

We were able to do Apollo

because of what we call staging.

You could have a first stage, help you get started,

throw away a lot of weight.

Light another propulsion system.

Go so far.

Throw all that away.

But I was throwing stuff away like mad.

It gets pretty costly, and it gets limited.

So it was pretty clear in 1970.

We would like to get away from throwing everything away

to begin to learn how to reuse things over and over.

For a rocket to orbit Earth,

it must reach the incredible speed

of 7.9 kilometers per second.

The rockets used prior to the Shuttle

were able to achieve such a high speed

by detaching parts of their bodies at different stages.

However, since the Space Shuttle

cannot release any parts of itself,

engineers needed to develop

a more powerful, but lighter, engine.

This is the Space Shuttle main engine,

also known as S.S.M.E.

Lightweight, but powerful.

To fuse these seemingly contradictory ideas,

engineers developed a novel engine system.

First, the liquid hydrogen inside the engine combusts,

causing the turbine to rotate at an extremely rapid rate.

At the same time, liquid oxygen is injected.

As a result, a powerful chemical reaction occurs

inside the combustion chamber.

This engine produces a massive amount of power.

More than three times the amount used to launch

Apollo 13 to the moon

at an astounding pressure of 210 atmospheres.

But this type of system

places a lot of stress on the engine.

Every experiment resulted in cracked parts,

or an exploded engine.

Thompson and his team endured

countless failed experiments.

To this day, Thompson keeps an object

assembled from pieces that had broken off during testing.

It serves as a reminder of this period of struggle.

Find that problem and fix it.

Find this problem and fix it.

Find that problem and fix it.

These are all 15 or 20 different problems

that developed in the engine program.

It took 10 long years

to finally develop a reusable main engine

capable of functioning in space.

However, the three engines were not powerful enough

to obtain the speed needed to blast into space.

So to supplement propulsion,

engineers developed large-scale rocket boosters

to attach to the outside of the ship.

The Space Shuttle was nearing completion.

But the engineers encountered another set of obstacles.

The unthinkable happened when a jumbo jet

carried the shuttle to its launch site

at the Kennedy Space Center.

Upon arrival, the shuttle was found to be

in terrible condition.

During the transport process,

a large portion of the heat-resistant tiles

had been ripped off.

This was disastrous for the Shuttle.

To create a reusable spacecraft, heat-resistant tiles,

capable of withstanding extreme temperatures,

had to be used.

These heat-resistant tiles are made of silica,

a material known to block heat transfer.

However, silica tiles are soft and susceptible to breakage.

After investigating why the tiles came off,

developers found that the problem

was with the tile's adhesive.

Heat-resistant tiles contain many small air bubbles,

and when a lot of pressure was applied,

the tiles began to peel off.

By reprocessing the surface of the tiles,

and making them harder,

engineers were able to keep the tiles

from ripping off due to vibrations and wind pressure.

Three years behind schedule,

the Space Shuttle was finally ready for takeoff.

It was a hard-nosed, 10 or 12-year grind

to build an airplane,

insulate it from the heat of entry,

put electronics in it, put flight controls in it,

so it could come back and land,

build a rocket engine that would give you

the ISP's you wanted, so you could

build that much weight and take it to orbit.

It was all understandable.

But it took a lot of work.

And a lot of money.

April 12, 1981.

The Columbia Space Shuttle was waiting for

liftoff into space.

This was the first time ever

that a reusable spacecraft would be launched.

To witness this momentous occasion,

nearly 500,000 spectators came to the launch site.

The winged Space Shuttle was a novel design,

and the world viewed this as the start of a new era.

Two astronauts were chosen

to ride the Columbia Space Shuttle on its maiden voyage.

Robert Crippen and John Young.

Because it was a test flight,

there were only two crew members.

A decade-long experiment was finally being put to the test.

There's obviously an apprehension

any time you get ready for a launch like this.

The thousands of people who'd been involved,

thousands of individual processes that had to take place,

no one person can be there and see all of that,

so you're somewhat apprehensive.

Did everything get put in place as it should have been?

Is everything going to work alright?

So you sit and watch it count down and liftoff.

Eight, seven, six, five, four.

We've gone from the engine start.

The Shuttle released a plume of smoke

and a ball of flames.

It was engulfed in a bright, blinding light.

40 minutes after its launch,

the Columbia went into geocentric orbit.

The two astronauts' duty was to ensure

that the Shuttle's complex systems

would work properly in space.

And most importantly, to return home safely.

In two days, the Columbia circled the planet 36 times

before returning to earth.

The Shuttle had opened the door for a new era

in space exploration.

After Columbia returned to Earth,

more problems than expected were revealed.

Nearly 150 heat-resistant tiles

were damaged during the flight.

The shuttle's second launch date was significantly postponed

because of the additional time needed for maintenance.

Seven months after its maiden voyage,

Columbia was ready for its second flight.

A lot more was at stake.

It was the first ever attempt to launch a shuttle

that had already been to space.

This was the moment of truth,

to see if this space shuttle was, in fact,

a practical vehicle for space exploration.

Two astronauts were chosen to embark

on this important mission.

Joe Engle and Richard Truly.

Truly played a role in the development of the Shuttle,

and was in charge of testing the landing functions.

He is still active in the world of space exploration,

and continues to advise the next generation.

My first flight, STS-2,

was really important in the series of flights

because it was the first time

that we had ever reflown a spacecraft into orbit.

We have main engine start.

The time had come for the second launch.

We have ignition.

We have ignition of the solid rocket boosters and liftoff.

Liftoff of America's Space Shuttle,

and the Space Shuttle has cleared the tower.

This was Truly's first trip to space.

A huge sense of responsibility weighed on his shoulders.

Hey, good.

The old eyeball looking out the window.

The best device I think.

And we've got a great picture

from camera Delta beyond, going down into the cradle.

On the last day of the flight,

President Reagan visited the control room

to offer encouragement to the two astronauts.

Let me just say I'm sure you know how proud

everyone down here is,

and how this whole nation, I'm sure the world,

but certainly America,

has got its eyes and its heart on you.

For two straight days,

Truly and Engle worked tirelessly

on the shuttle's performance tasks.

And they proved that the Space Shuttle

was capable of making multiple trips to space.

We were gonna be flying this flight

for years and years, and this was the first time

that it had been reflown into space.

And sure enough, we did.

Here we are decades later,

and we have flown it way over 100 times.

But this was the first time,

and so it was, it was a thrill for me to be

involved in such an important flight.

The goal was to launch the Space Shuttle

several dozen times a year.

So by 1985, they had built four shuttles.

NASA grew confident in the performance of their shuttles,

and called for other countries to join them

in the exploration of space.

Canada had already contributed a large robotic arm to NASA.

And the European Space Agency

had expressed its commitment to promoting

research and development in space programs.

With the shuttles now having the capacity

to seat up to seven passengers,

they began carrying astronauts with varied backgrounds,

including scientists and engineers.

As a result, NASA could carry out a variety of missions,

which included performing complex experiments

and deploying satellites.

To make space travel possible for anyone, at any time.

The Space Shuttle ushered in a new age

where this dream could become a reality.

But the shuttles,

which had made multiple successful missions,

were confronted by a sudden tragedy.

Space shuttle mission,

and it has cleared the towers.

January 28, 1986.

The Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center.

73 seconds later...

One minute 15 seconds.

Velocity 2900 feet per second.

Altitude nine nautical miles.

It suddenly exploded as the world watched.

The Challenger, along with its seven astronauts,

was engulfed in flames.

It was the first time in NASA's history

that lives were lost during flight.

The Challenger disintegrated.

Its bits and pieces were scattered

all along the coast of Florida.

The Space Shuttle program was suspended,

and a detailed investigation followed the accident.

The commission in charge of investigating the cause

focused on the footage of the launch.

The Challenger lifted off as expected.

But flames started to come out of the side

of one of the rocket boosters.

Rocket boosters are made of several components.

The fire's point of origin was in the section

that connects two parts of the rocket.

The O-ring is a mechanical gasket made of rubber

placed in this section.

It acts as a seal to prevent

high-temperature gases from leaking.

It is a critical component.

The commission started to believe

that the O-ring may have caused the accident.

On the morning of the launch,

temperatures were unusually low

at the Kennedy Space Center.

Some surrounding areas had dropped to below freezing.

Because of the cold temperatures,

the O-ring hardened and lost its sealing function.

This led to a gas leak, which caused the explosion.

Upon further investigation,

the commission found that NASA

had insisted on proceeding with the launch

despite the low temperatures

in an effort to increase the number of shuttle flights.

This is John Logsdon.

For years, he has been advising the government

regarding space exploration policy.

He believes NASA's overconfidence

in the Space Shuttle program

contributed to the Challenger accident.

And NASA and the U.S. space community

thought they could do anything.

And so on paper,

they said if we can solve these design problems,

we can operate the Shuttle like an airplane.

Launch it 50, 60, 70 times a year.

That was basically a fantasy

given the technological uncertainties

and the complexity of the vehicle.

The Challenger accident ended most of that self-delusion.

NASA was subject to harsh criticism.

The loss of seven astronauts' lives, along with the shuttle,

was a crippling blow.

There was even talk of how NASA

would not be able to recover.

It was the worst crisis the space agency had faced

since its founding.

Richard Truly, who was on the second space mission,

headed the program's overhaul.

He assumed this responsibility

after wrestling over whether or not to take the position.

The project to get the Shuttle back into operation

was called, "Return to Flight."

One of my biggest problems though

was not technical at all.

It was a leadership problem

in order to get the team to work together again.

To lose a spacecraft and seven people

was terribly

disappointing

and heartbreaking to all the people in NASA

that worked on the program.

And somehow, I had to create a team of people

that eventually would,

would get back to a new flight.

A task force of military officials

and former astronauts,

who were experts in their fields, was assembled.

They worked on changing the mindset of the employees.

Under their leadership, their goal was to restore

the workers' confidence and trust in NASA.

The task force dealt with

one technological challenge after another.

The rocket booster's sealing joints,

which connected the different parts of the rocket,

were strengthened to improve safety.

The number of O-ring seals was increased from two to three.

When it was determined that there were areas

of the engine and fuel tank that could be improved,

the design of the Shuttle was reevaluated.

Multiple changes were made to the Space Shuttle.

It may have looked the same from the outside,

but it had undergone a complete transformation.

On September 29, 1988,

two years and eight months after the Challenger accident,

the Space Shuttle was set for relaunch.

Three, two, one, zero, and liftoff!

Liftoff!

Americans returning...

All across America and the world,

people watched as the Space Shuttle Discovery

took flight once again.

It was the moment that everyone had been waiting for.

The Challenger accident and two and a half years

of the hardest job I ever did

of getting the Shuttle back together,

and I was deliriously happy

when we finally lifted off on that Discovery mission

in 1988 to fly again.

That particular day was a beautiful day for me.

The Space Shuttle succeeded in overcoming tragedy,

and resumed its odyssey of exploration.

April 24, 1990.

The 10th flight after resuming operations.

Discovery was carrying out the Space Shuttle's

most important mission to date.

It would transport a telescope to outer space.

One that would help unravel the mysteries of our universe.

The Hubble space telescope

is a 13-meter long giant space telescope.

In outer space, there is no atmospheric interference.

Because of this, the Hubble can take clearer images

of distant stars and galaxies.

This precision instrument can only be transported

and have maintenance performed on it by the Shuttle.

It is the only spacecraft that can cushion the telescope

from the impact of liftoff

and make multiple trips to space.

For this reason, the Hubble's size

was designed to fit perfectly

inside the Shuttle's payload bay.

But in order to keep interference

from the earth's atmosphere to a minimum,

it was necessary to transport Hubble

to an altitude of 600 kilometers.

This was approximately double the Shuttle's normal altitude

of around 300 kilometers, and was nearly the limit

of what was considered safe for the Shuttle.

On the adjacent launchpad, Space Shuttle Columbia

was placed on standby just in case.

Discovery, with the Hubble on board,

managed to safely reach its target altitude.

Discovery, Houston.

We're getting some real good

payload bay television downlink,

and we see that Steve has been hard at work

getting the RMS deployed.

Using the robotic arm,

the crew begin transporting Hubble out of the payload bay.

Pitch is about four degrees off, altitude-wise.

Okay.

Maybe that's what's making it look like that.

You gonna pitch it up?

Okay.

Discovery, go for Hubble release.

Okay, we have a go for release,

and we're gonna be a minute late.

Okay.

Hubble was deployed into orbit

at an altitude of 600 kilometers from Earth.

The shuttles made five more trips to the telescope

to perform maintenance and make improvements.

The Hubble telescope continues to send us images.

Images which could hold the key to unlocking the secrets

of the universe.

The success of Hubble enabled NASA

to finally shake off the nightmare

of the Challenger accident.

Certainly, you could not have Hubble without the Shuttle.

Hubble was able to give us

all these years of remarkable discoveries

and images that still thrill people.

I would say that the symbosis,

symbiosis between

Shuttle and Hubble

is probably the program's greatest achievement.

As the shuttles were making their comeback

during the mid-1980's through the early 90's,

historic changes were taking place back on Earth.

Bravo!

The Berlin Wall, which symbolized the Cold War,

was torn down, marking the end of the Cold War era.

This wave of change also reached

the world of space exploration.

In 1993,

Russia joined the International Space Station program,

which was being developed

by the nations of the Western block.

The U.S. had long dreamed of building a space station,

and the Shuttle program was created

to help make this happen.

By overcoming the divisions that had existed

between the Eastern and Western world,

this dream became a reality.

And liftoff of the Space Shuttle Endeavour,

with the first American element

of the International Space Station.

Components of the International Space Station

supplied by the U.S. and Russia

began to be transported into space.

As expected, the Shuttle played a major role.

After reaching a geocentric orbit of 400 kilometers,

construction of the space station began.

You have a go to install Unity.

One and a half.

Six inches.

Halfway down, keep it coming.

Them.

Good job.

Glad you caught on the back log.

The International Space Station project

was set into motion.

15 countries, including the U.S., Russia, and Japan,

participated in the program.

The world was steadily building a foothold

into the outer regions of space.

In May 2008, Japan provided an experiment module

for the Space Station.

It was given the name Kibo, meaning hope.

For 13 years, the Space Shuttle traveled back and forth

between Earth and the International Space Station.

The United States and Russia

were able to work together in space,

where there are no boundaries.

The Space Shuttle's accomplishments

made the unthinkable possible.

In January 2003, seven astronauts were on board the Columbia

for a scientific research mission.

My hat is off to.

He did some space acrobatics.

They conducted experiments

in a variety of different fields,

including life science and medicine.

There is a handover before

the blue shift goes off duty and the red shift...

After completing a 17-day mission,

all they had left was the return journey to Earth.

But tragedy would strike for the second time

in the Space Shuttle's history.

Columbia, Houston.

Com check.

During its reentry into the earth's atmosphere,

the Columbia suddenly disintegrated.

This shocked the entire world.

The shuttle shattered into thousands of pieces

over a 5,000 square kilometer area.

A thorough investigation was conducted,

just like after the Challenger accident.

A piece of foam insulation that had broken off

from an external fuel tank shortly after liftoff

was found to have caused the accident.

The broken piece had smashed into the Shuttle's wing,

creating a hole.

Unaware of this, the Columbia kept on flying.

When it reentered the earth's atmosphere,

superheated gases penetrated the hole

causing the Shuttle to disintegrate.

All seven astronauts died in this horrific disaster.

All Americans today are thinking as well

of the families of these men and women

who have been given this sudden shock in grief.

You're not alone.

Our entire nation grieves with you.

The Space Shuttle program was again

in danger of being scrapped.

But after a hiatus of two years and six months,

the Space Shuttle resumed operations.

Leaders of countries interested in completing

the International Space Station, as well as the public,

called for the program's continuation.

After the Columbia accident,

the Shuttle made 21 additional flights.

The space station was nearing completion.

However, massive amounts of money were spent

to ensure that the shuttles kept running safely.

Upon their return, the shuttles' maintenance

included the replacing of broken heat-resistant tiles

and the dismantling and inspection of its engines.

Because of the increasing cost of its upkeep,

a single mission costs over $1 billion.

Although the Shuttle was a reusable spacecraft,

the cumulative effect of these repeated trips

took a heavy toll on its body.

In 2004, President Bush announced

that the Shuttle would be retired

after construction of the space station was completed.

But the technology that was developed for the Shuttle

is now being applied to the next generation of spacecraft.

SpaceX, a private company that was established in 2002,

is using NASA's technology

to develop new types of launch vehicles.

In December 2010,

the firm's unmanned spacecraft

successfully circled the earth twice

before reentering the atmosphere

and safely returning to Earth.

This company ultimately aims to build

a manned space vehicle.

NASA also has announced a plan

to create a new type of spacecraft.

It's goal is to go beyond Earth's orbit,

and carry out manned expeditions to Mars.

The technology that was developed for the Space Shuttle

is helping to open the door

to the outer regions of space.

In June 2011,

Atlantis was transported to the launch site

for the Space Shuttle program's final blastoff.

From the initial liftoff in 1981,

over a span of 30 years,

the five shuttles circled the earth more than 20,000 times.

The shuttles and its crew took part

in numerous daring adventures.

For 30 years, it has carried science, payloads,

defense payloads, communication satellites,

hundreds of people into space,

and has for three decades

literally been our space program.

Will there be a next Shuttle?

I personally think there will be.

I don't think it's a last

big space plane we're ever gonna build.

There will be other vehicles

that do similar to what the Shuttle does.

The Shuttle had made dreams come true for mankind.

Their arrival conveyed the dawn of a new era

in space exploration.

Though the Shuttle's history

was filled with hardships and tragedy,

they brought us closer to space.

For 30 years,

the shuttles led us to the cosmic front

by fulfilling our dreams of space exploration

and stirring our imagination of future discoveries.