All language subtitles for NOVA.S52E19.Operation.Space.Station.High-Risk.Build.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
250 miles overhead,

traveling 17,000 miles
per hour...

...longer than
a football field...

...the weight of a fully loaded
jumbo jet,

one of humankind's
greatest feats of engineering.

The International Space Station.

KWATSI ALIBARUHO:
It is, to date,

the largest structure
that we have built in space.

♪ ♪

And it's a peacetime structure.

(man speaking on radio)

NARRATOR:
The I.S.S. is the longest
continuously inhabited structure

in space.

A one-of-a-kind laboratory.

WENDY LAWRENCE:
It's a place where you could do
scientific research

in a very unique environment,

that of microgravity.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But to reach this point required

a construction project
like no other.

Pieces built across the globe.

MICHAEL LÓPEZ-ALEGRÍA:
They don't get put together

until they're in space traveling

at 17,000-plus miles per hour.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
And it's the most dangerous
place

humans have ever attempted
to live and survive.

CHRIS CASSIDY:
In a space mission, the bad guy

is the environment.

The environment is trying
to kill you.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Outside the thin metal walls,
a merciless vacuum,

extreme temperatures,

and a long, long way
to terra firma.

LUCA PARMITANO:
You are constantly at risk
of dying

for a multitude of reason.

♪ ♪

ROBERT CURBEAM:
The systems to keep us alive
there

are working pretty much
at the limit of physics.

♪ ♪

MIKE FINCKE:
We're always asking ourselves,

"What's the next worst failure?
What could go wrong next?"

We need to be able to handle
those things when they happen,

because in space,
it will happen.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
This is the extraordinary story

of building the I.S.S.,

a perilous endeavor requiring

ingenuity, vision,

and, at times, nerves of steel.

♪ ♪

"Operation Space Station:

High-Risk Build."

Right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
February 10, 2001.

250 miles above the surface
of the Earth.

Astronauts Tom Jones
and Robert "Beamer" Curbeam

prepare for an extravehicular
activity.

A spacewalk.

Just over two years
into construction

of the
International Space Station,

the structure
is far from complete.

The space shuttle Atlantis has
brought up a new component:

the laboratory module Destiny.

Tom and Beamer need to connect
vital life support systems

to enable astronauts
to live and work in the lab.

They are working in a lethally
dangerous environment,

and suddenly,
something goes wrong.

♪ ♪

A coolant valve fails,

spewing toxic ammonia crystals

into the vacuum of space.

WOMAN:
Mm-hmm.

CURBEAM: There's ammonia
all over the place.

NARRATOR:
Years of training

mean Beamer remains calm,

but it's a serious problem.

JONES (over radio):
Need a hand, Beam?

CURBEAM:
Yeah, I am going to need one.

BOB CASTLE:
We don't know exactly
what the leak rate was,

but I knew we didn't have long.

NARRATOR:
The next few moments
will determine

the fate of a $150 billion
multinational space endeavor...

JONES (over radio): Hey,
Houston, Atlantis. Do you copy?

We're having a hard time
with the leak.

NARRATOR:
...shape the future
of human spaceflight...

MAN (over radio):
Stand by, uh, we're discussing,
uh, next steps.

NARRATOR:
...and, critically, determine
whether the astronauts live

or die.

♪ ♪

Constructing a high-tech
science laboratory

in the harsh, unforgiving
environment of space,

hurtling around the Earth
at 17,000 miles per hour,

might seem
like a crazy thing to do.

But a structure
as big and complex

as the
International Space Station

could never be launched
fully assembled.

♪ ♪

It meant a massive
engineering challenge:

connecting modules
in low Earth orbit

by hand.

♪ ♪

It's the culmination of years
of planning

that began shortly after
the Cold War space race...

...when East and West
space programs

had competed to demonstrate
technological superiority.

(device beeping,
man talking on radio)

ALIBARUHO:
So many of the earlier programs

were fueled not just by science,

but they were fueled as much
by geopolitical competition.

NARRATOR:
In the end,
the Soviets lose the moon race,

so they pivot
toward something more enduring:

a long-term human presence
in space.

Setting out to master
living and working in orbit,

in 1986, they launch Mir,

the world's first
modular space station.

(crowd shouting and cheering)

But by the early '90s,

the chaotic collapse
of the Soviet Union

had dealt a serious blow
to those ambitions.

(crowd chanting)

LAWRENCE:
There was a concern
at the time

that some
of the Russian scientists

who had expertise in the area
of developing nuclear weapons

might take that expertise
to other countries.

(crowd shouting)

NARRATOR: To avoid a dangerous
new arms race,

America has a radical idea

to keep Russian scientists
engaged

in peaceful work:

a collaboration
with huge ambition.

LAWRENCE:
The Soviet Union
had been our enemies.

We had been trained to go
to war against them.

But now, suddenly, new tasking.

They're not enemies anymore,
they're partners.

(camera shutters clicking)

NARRATOR:
In 1993,

the United States, Russia,

Japan, Canada,
and several European nations

agree to merge
their human spaceflight programs

into a collective effort...

...the International Space
Station.

ALIBARUHO:
It's huge, and it's got so much
technology,

and it's got
so many moving parts.

LÓPEZ-ALEGRÍA:
There are modules being built

all over the world,
in different countries

with different languages,

different alphabets,
different measuring systems.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
A Russian-designed
life support module based on Mir

will form the anchor.

Over time, it will be extended
with 15 more modules.

MIKE FINCKE:
We had to figure out
how to put Soviet designs

with these American, Japanese,
European design together,

and then we couldn't even test
them together on the ground.

LÓPEZ-ALEGRÍA:
They don't get put together
until they're in space,

traveling at 17,000-plus
miles per hour.

MIKE FINCKE:
And they had to work
the first time,

and that only works
on these science fiction shows,

not really in real engineering.

LAWRENCE:
Building and assembling things
that have been built

in numerous countries
around the world,

sometimes using
different measurement systems,

what could go wrong?
(laughs)

NARRATOR:
15 nations collaborate across
a complex construction schedule.

The ambition
for this orbiting station

is unprecedented.

LAWRENCE:
We very quickly realized,

we don't speak each other's
languages very well,

but we do have a language
in common:

the language of spaceflight.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: It will require
more than 40 missions

to piece together
its many modules.

Exterior trusses to provide
structural support.

Radiator panels
to dissipate heat.

And around an acre
of solar panels

to power the station.

All of which must be carefully
assembled in microgravity

by astronauts working

in one of the harshest
environments known to humankind.

ANNOUNCER:
Main engines start.

Six engines up and running.

And liftoff.

The International Space Station
is underway.

NARRATOR:
The bold venture kicks off
on November 20, 1998,

from Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan.

A Proton-K rocket carries
the Russian component Zarya,

meaning sunrise, into orbit.

ANNOUNCER:
And liftoff
of the space shuttle Endeavour.

NARRATOR:
16 days later,

the U.S. Unity module joins
Zarya.

(man speaking Russian
on radio)

NARRATOR:
But it's not until 20 months
later,

with the arrival of Zvezda,
which means star,

that life support systems
and living quarters

are finally added.

On November 2, 2000,

the I.S.S. welcomes
its first residents...

MAN:
The first crew of
the International Space Station

has reached their home.

NARRATOR:
...NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd

and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko
and Sergei Krikalev,

marking the beginning
of continuous habitation

onboard the orbiting outpost.

Three spacewalks
the following month

configure power systems
and add a framework of trusses

to support the station's
solar arrays and radiators.

But things are only
just getting started.

MAN:
Great news, Mario--
go for docking.

NARRATOR:
The space station's
early success

is followed by a sobering truth:

building a home in orbit

is as dangerous
as it is ambitious.

And with every new addition,

the risks grow.

♪ ♪

Its next module, Destiny,
an American-built laboratory,

will lay the foundation

for U.S. scientific research
aboard the station.

Its installation falls
to two first-time spacewalkers,

TOPGUN pilot Robert "Beamer"
Curbeam and Tom Jones.

MAN (over radio):
The thermal cover is down,

so you can go ahead and egress.

JONES: I think it's a great day
to go and do a spacewalk.

So, uh, Beamer,
when you're ready...

CURBEAM (voiceover):
When you're first starting
and you're going out the hatch,

your first thought is,

"I want to make sure
that I get this right,

that I do everything right."

NARRATOR:
While their crewmate
Marsha Ivins

uses the shuttle's robotic arm

to maneuver the 16-ton
Destiny module into position,

the spacewalking pair
will assist

with its attachment to Unity

and integration
with the rest of the station.

This is when the game starts,

and you've got
to be serious about it.

It's time to go to work.

♪ ♪

JONES (over radio):
Beamer, K bolts are complete.

You have a go
to head on to the lab.

CURBEAM: Roger that.

NARRATOR:
One of their primary tasks

is to connect
Destiny's coolant lines

to the space station's
cooling system

to regulate
the onboard temperature.

Heat doesn't dissipate in space
the way it would here.

It just stays there.

And if it just stays there,

you're gonna probably overheat
whatever you have.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Every 45 minutes,

as the I.S.S. orbits the planet,

its exterior is exposed
to direct sunlight,

raising its temperature

to a blistering 250 degrees
Fahrenheit.

Then, as the station slips
into the Earth's shadow,

the temperature plummets
500 degrees

to minus 250.

♪ ♪

To combat
these wild temperature extremes,

the space station's
cooling system

uses loops of
mechanically pumped fluid.

(liquid flowing)

Inside U.S. modules,

circulating water transfers heat

to an external loop
filled with liquid ammonia.

Which then passes through
three waffle-shaped panels

on the station's exterior

to radiate the heat into space.

It's this
pressurized ammonia loop

that Robert Curbeam
needs to connect to Destiny.

JONES (over radio):
Beamer, as soon as, uh,
you get, uh, on the lab,

you're going to be
removing the four fluid caps,

checking for ammonia crystals.

CURBEAM:
Okay, great.

NARRATOR:
The pressurized system

keeps the ammonia
in liquid form.

Any crystals forming
around pipes or connections

are evidence of leaks.

lead flight director Bob Castle
keeps watch over Tom and Beamer.

CASTLE:
When he's got the suit on,
Bob's completely fine.

But one or two breaths
of pure ammonia

and you will very likely
die within minutes.

Everyone watches the systems
on the station

and on the shuttle

to make sure that everything

is still working the way
it should be.

NARRATOR:
While the team knows
what's expected of them,

in space, any number of things
can go wrong.

CURBEAM (over radio):
Hold on.

I've got a little bit of ammonia
coming out of there.

Some ice crystals.

(voiceover): When I actually
removed the hose,

I saw a lot more crystals

growing all around
the two orifices.

And I knew I had a problem.

WOMAN: Mm-hmm.

CURBEAM: There's ammonia
all over the place.

NARRATOR:
An automatic shut-off valve
has failed.

JONES (over radio):
Need a hand, Beam?

CURBEAM:
Yeah, I am going to need one.

because there was
so much ammonia coming out.

CASTLE:
Beamer immediately reported,

"Oh, it's spewing
all over the place."

"We see the accumulator
going down."

JONES (over radio): Hey,
Houston, Atlantis-- do you copy?

We're having a hard time
with the leak.

MAN: And stand by, uh,
we're discussing,

uh, next steps that we need
to do.

NARRATOR:
Without its coolant,

the Destiny module
would be uninhabitable,

potentially jeopardizing
the entire mission

of the space station.

ALIBARUHO:
That heat must be ejected

from the spacecraft eventually,
or else

♪ ♪

CASTLE:
We don't know exactly
what the leak rate was,

but I knew we didn't have long.

NARRATOR: Beamer needs to find
the shut-off valve upstream

and turn it off.

CURBEAM:
I did find very quickly

that it was going to be a lot
harder than I thought.

NARRATOR:
The valve is stuck.

When I tried to close it,
it didn't close.

I tried again-- it didn't close.

They said it was gonna be
about 25 pounds of force.

I can tell you--

I've spent a lot of time
in the gym--

it was not 25 pounds of force.

It was much, much more.

I tried to close it again.

And finally,

JONES (over radio):
You just pulled the bail?

CURBEAM:
Yes, and that stopped the leak.

JONES: Very good, Beam.

Good idea.

NARRATOR: Mission Control
breathes a sigh of relief.

With the leak stopped,

to the station.

(radio static hisses)

The I.S.S. is safe.

JONES (on radio):
What's next?

NARRATOR:
But now Beamer is covered
in toxic ammonia.

CASTLE:
Sooner or later,
he's gotta get out of the suit.

And sooner or later,

he's gotta come back
in the cabin

and, and expose the outside
of the suit to his crewmates.

Who are not interested
in dying horrible deaths.

CURBEAM:
I thought to myself, "What are
they gonna do with me?"

You know,
now that I have this toxin

on the outside of the suit.

I knew that the procedure
to go back into the spacecraft

was going to change,
I just didn't know how.

NARRATOR:
Tom wipes the toxic crystals
off his crewmate's space suit

using a brush
in their E.V.A. kit.

CURBEAM (over radio):
Concentrate on the right side.

That would be the side
that got sprayed the worst.

JONES:
Okay.

NARRATOR:
But before he can reenter
the space station,

Beamer must burn the last
remaining traces of ammonia

off his suit

in the baking heat of the sun.

(boy singing in Latin)

CURBEAM: The amazing thing
about the procedure

to help me decontaminate
the outside of my space suit

was that it gave me
the opportunity

for 45 minutes.

(boy singing)

Which was awesome,

and it was incredible--
I loved it.

And you see the Gobi Desert,

you see all the different parts
of Asia,

you see the Himalayas
to the south,

you see a little bit
of cloud layer there.

(boy singing)

And you just bask in it.

(boy and chorus
singing softly)

(singing ends)

NARRATOR:
Over the next four days,

undeterred by the experience,

Beamer clocks up 12 more hours
of spacewalks

to ensure
Destiny is safely attached.

JENNIFER BUCHLI:
The Destiny module is what
we refer to as the U.S. Lab.

It's really our core
lab capability.

So, we have freezers,

we have different
payload facilities

to conduct science.

This is sort of the heart
of the U.S. segment.

NARRATOR:
Destiny is designed
for microgravity research

in a variety of fields,
from life sciences

to materials science and more.

Microgravity
is not zero gravity.

The Earth still exerts a pull
on the I.S.S.

This pull is what keeps
the station in orbit,

circling the Earth
in constant free fall.

Creating an environment

that allows scientists

to observe phenomena that cannot
be replicated on Earth.

But the instruments on board
are also designed

to put our own planet
under the microscope.

BUCHLI:
We have a really unique
capability

to look down on Earth.

Our orbital path takes us
around 90%

of the Earth's
inhabited surfaces.

So, this is what allows us,

over time, to see
how the Earth is changing.

♪ ♪

How weather patterns
are changing

and affecting our environment.

How the forest canopy
is changing

and the carbon cycle of Earth.

You have these instruments

all on the same platform
going over the same area.

And so, you get a global picture

of the health of what's
happening to our planet.

NARRATOR:
The new Destiny module
not only provides

a platform
for scientific research,

it also increases
the habitable volume

of the space station
by over 40%.

A welcome addition for those

building and living
on the I.S.S.

After the installation
of the Destiny lab module,

it was fast and furious.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Over the next 21 months,
eight successful missions

add the Canadian Space Agency's
Canadarm 2,

a 57-foot-long robotic arm;

Quest, which will serve as the
primary airlock for spacewalks;

the S0 truss,

forming the station's backbone;

and radiator trusses
to help dissipate heat.

All of this made possible

by an iconic spacecraft.

♪ ♪

ALIBARUHO:
The I.S.S.

could not have been built
without the space shuttle.

Full stop.

NARRATOR:
But in February 2003,

after 16 successful shuttle
missions to the space station,

disaster strikes.

MAN (over radio):
Columbia, Houston-- comm check.

Columbia, Houston--
U.H.F. comm check.

♪ ♪

ANNOUNCER:
Flight controllers here
in Mission Control

have declared a contingency,

as communications was lost
with the space shuttle Columbia

during its descent from orbit
en route to landing

at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida.

NARRATOR:
After more than two weeks
conducting experiments in orbit,

space shuttle Columbia
disintegrates on reentry,

killing all seven crew members.

CURBEAM: Those are my friends,
you know?

I knew them personally.

I knew them professionally.

Some of them were in my class.

I miss them every day.

(man speaking on radio)

CURBEAM:
It caused us to lose
seven very incredible people.

And believe me,
they were incredible.

(woman speaking on radio)

MAN (over radio):
This is amazing.

It's really getting, uh,
it's really bright out there.

MAN:
Yup.

Yeah, you definitely don't want
to be outside now.

CURBEAM:
The Columbia disaster,
we later found out,

was due to foam shedding
off of the external tank.

NARRATOR:
During launch,

a falling piece
of insulating foam

struck the shuttle's left wing,

damaging the thermal protection
tiles

designed to shield it from
extreme heat during reentry.

And what that did was,

that allowed very hot plasma
to get inside of the wing

and basically melt
the inner structure

of the spacecraft.

NARRATOR: Test simulations
back on the ground

reveal the devastating impact

of this seemingly small,
briefcase-sized chunk of foam

traveling at high speed.

All shuttles are grounded

while a full investigation
is carried out,

effectively halting construction
of the I.S.S.

The only way to reach
the orbiting outpost

is via Russian Soyuz capsules

launched from Baikonur,
Kazakhstan.

To conserve vital supplies like
oxygen and water on the I.S.S.,

the crew is reduced from three
to just two.

Commander Gennady Padalka
from Russia

and flight engineer Mike Fincke
from the United States

form the two-person crew
of Expedition 9.

MIKE FINCKE:
I grew up in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.

It's not a super-wealthy city,

but we have all kinds
of resources for education.

So, I went to the planetarium,

I went to the library,
I learned,

and I knew that I wanted
to become an astronaut.

I met my wife
at Johnson Space Center,

here at NASA,

and like men and women do,

we fell in love

and we started a family,

and I still hadn't flown yet.

And then the opportunity
came up.

(people talking in background)

RENITA FINCKE:
When I married him, I knew

that he wanted to go into space.

And so,

I was always going to support
his dream,

even though
it was going to disrupt

our planning
for life on the ground.

NARRATOR:
Mike spent eight years training
before this mission,

a mission scheduled
to last six months.

It's been his ultimate ambition,

but one that involves
personal sacrifice

for himself and his wife,
Renita.

(baby crying,
people talking over radio)

RENITA FINCKE (over radio):
It's a girl!

Boy, she sounds upset.

RENITA FINCKE: Oh, she's got
some lungs on her.

Well, we heard her
all the way up here.

RENITA FINCKE:
It was about two months

into his six-month mission
that we had the baby.

NARRATOR:
For the first time in history,

an American astronaut
is in space

when his child is born.

It will be four months
before Mike returns to Earth

to hold his daughter
for the first time.

During his absence,
she will grow.

But Mike's body
will also undergo changes.

While his new baby
is developing muscles quickly,

Mike's muscles will deteriorate

because of microgravity.

Renita and fellow
biomedical engineers

at Johnson Space Center

research ways
to overcome this challenge.

RENITA FINCKE:
As you're up there longer
and using your muscles less,

you're going to need
to find ways to counteract

all the changes
that are happening.

NARRATOR:
Without exercise,

astronauts' muscle mass
can fall by up to 50%

over a six-month mission.

RENITA FINCKE:
We provide crew members

with aerobic exercise,
as well as resistance exercise.

So, we're able to build muscle
as we're exercising,

so that we can make sure
that everybody is fit

for doing what their duties are
in space.

NARRATOR: In their role
as the station's caretakers,

the crew must
occasionally carry out

physically exhausting work

on the outside
of the space station.

For Mike and Gennady,

this poses
an additional challenge,

since, for safety,

spacewalks require
two crew members.

This means leaving the I.S.S.

completely unoccupied
during the operation.

MIKE FINCKE:
One of our planned spacewalks
was to travel to the very end

of the space station,

which is the very aft end
of Zvezda.

NARRATOR:
The plan is to install equipment

in preparation for the arrival
of a cargo vehicle

from the European Space Agency.

The two spacewalkers

undertake a tightly
choreographed procedure.

But no matter how much
they plan and practice,

in space, there's always room
for the unexpected.

MIKE FINCKE:
We're always asking ourselves,

"What's the next worst failure?
What could go wrong next?"

We need to be able to handle
those kind of things

when they happen,

because in space,
it will happen.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Two hours into the spacewalk,

it does.

♪ ♪

doing what we needed to do.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But as they worked,

they were inadvertently
causing a problem.

♪ ♪

MIKE FINCKE:
Our space suits were providing

a very little bit of momentum

♪ ♪

So, we were actually pushing it
to go out of orientation.

(radio crackling)

NARRATOR:
The two astronauts working
at one end of the station

have caused
the entire structure to tip.

How could this happen?

♪ ♪

The stability of the I.S.S.
and its orientation,

or attitude,

should be maintained through
the use of four gyroscopes.

A gyroscope is a wheel or disc
spinning on its axis.

The heavier the disc
and the faster it spins,

the more stable the gyroscope.

That's because a spinning disc

creates momentum perpendicular
to the plane of rotation,

which makes it resist
tipping over.

Embedded in the I.S.S.

are four huge gyroscopes
pointed in different directions,

with 220-pound wheels spinning

at over 100 revolutions
a second,

usually enough
to keep the whole station

from rotating in any direction.

The space station constantly
experiences forces,

from solar winds
or from the Earth's gravity.

If left unchecked,

they would cause
the space station

to tilt or tumble.

The gyros counteract
those movements.

But they can only compensate
so much.

And they're already
close to their limit

when Mike and Gennady

push the station
out of alignment.

So, the space station went
into a mode that said,

"Look, I can't control myself
anymore.

"I'm not out of control,

but I'm gonna go into"
what we call free drift.

So, the space station
just started to drift

and point up, point up.

And there we are,

and we looked up, and we were

in a very unusual attitude,
and there was,

planet Earth was zooming below.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Holding a desired orientation
in space

is crucial to help keep
the station's solar arrays

locked onto the sun.

This isn't just
about efficiency.

It's about survival.

♪ ♪

MIKE FINCKE:
We're completely off the grid,

and in order to keep it powered,

we're collecting as much
solar energy as we can

when we're on the light side
of the planet.

NARRATOR:
When the station slips
into darkness,

for 45 minutes every orbit,

solar-charged batteries
become crucial for powering

critical life-support systems.

♪ ♪

With the solar panels
unable to charge

the I.S.S.'s batteries,

to conserve power,
Mission Control turns off

non-essential systems.

♪ ♪

The only way to get
the space station

back into the correct attitude

is with the use of thrusters...

...located exactly where
Mike and Gennady are working.

(radio crackling)

But there's a new problem.

Gennady and I were working
and talking to our,

our Russian colleagues
on the ground,

and all of a sudden,
it became very quiet.

(radio crackling,
transmission breaking up)

NARRATOR:
The power-saving protocols

have inadvertently cut off
all communication

between the astronauts
and Ground Control.

♪ ♪

(radio crackling)

There was no one else
to give us instructions.

And Gennady and I said,
"Well, what are we going to do?"

NARRATOR:
Mission Control
has a terrible dilemma.

To restore attitude,

they must activate
the thrusters.

But with no way to communicate
with Gennady and Mike,

flight controllers have no idea

whether their astronauts
are in the firing line.

ALIBARUHO:
If a crew member was going
to be moving by them,

that crew member
would be blasted with hot gas

or contaminated

because the gas
that the thrusters used

was extremely toxic,

extremely, extremely toxic--
deadly.

MIKE FINCKE:
We don't want to be anywhere
near that action.

If we were there
in our space suits

when the thrusters went off,

we would've experienced
the, the thrill of being melted.

NARRATOR:
Suspended hundreds of miles
above Earth,

the two spacewalkers cling to an
empty, drifting space station,

unsure what to do next.

♪ ♪

As the planet turns slowly
beneath them,

Mike scans the horizon

and spots something

that provides a spark of hope
against the void.

MIKE FINCKE:
We saw where we were going.

We were headed over Greece,
and headed north and east,

so, we knew we were
going to be over

what we call
a Russian ground site.

(static crackling)

NARRATOR:
After several minutes
of silence...

(man speaking Russian on radio)

NARRATOR:
...success.

Roscosmos manages to reestablish
backup communications.

MIKE FINCKE:
We heard Moscow.

They said, "Hey, guys, you know,

"the space station
is not in good control.

"We need to reestablish control.

"We highly suggest--
in fact, we tell you

"to move away
from those thrusters.

It's not in your interest
to stay there."

♪ ♪

So, we had to go hand-over-hand

to move away from the thrusters
to be safe

from any plume damage
or any heat

that was being produced.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
With the pair clear,

the thrusters are fired.

♪ ♪

Attitude reestablished.

♪ ♪

MIKE FINCKE:
It was a good view.

We got to look at planet Earth
as we regained orientation

from being pitched up
all the way

being pitched down.

We got the chance
to just sit there

and wait as the station
regained its orientation.

Then they said, "Okay,
we're back to normal work.

"Get back out there
and finish your job.

Stop slacking."
(laughs)

NARRATOR:
On October 23, 2004,

after traveling
more than 78 million miles

aboard the International
Space Station,

Expedition 9 hands over
command of the outpost

to the crew of Expedition 10

and makes preparations
to return to Earth.

(talking indistinctly)

I was kind of missing things
back on planet Earth.

I was missing my family--
it got bigger

while I was gone, we had a baby.

And I knew I had
to go back home.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: For almost two years,

I.S.S. has been in stasis.

With no way of getting
new modules up,

its completion relies
on one crucial factor:

NASA's return to flight.

(birds chirping)

(helicopter blades whirring)

Less than a year
after Mike's return to Earth,

following an overhaul
of NASA's safety practices,

the space shuttle program
is reinstated,

with the first assignment
a mission to the I.S.S.

(crowd cheering)

On July 26, 2005,

the crew of Discovery prepares
for STS-114.

(on radio):
Okay, Eileen,
our long wait may be over.

So, on behalf of
the many millions of people

who believe so deeply
in what we do,

good luck, Godspeed,

and have a little fun up there.

ZEBULON SCOVILLE:
STS-114 was our return to flight

after the Columbia tragedy.

We had made mistakes,

and we were ready to fly again

with the solutions

to be able to show

that we belonged in space,

and we could keep going.

MAN (on radio):
Okay, here we go.

ALIBARUHO:
The fact is,

we had to have the space shuttle

to finish building
the International Space Station.

NARRATOR:
For mission specialist
Wendy Lawrence,

STS-114 will be her first visit
to the I.S.S.

and fourth and final venture
into space.

(man speaking on radio)

NARRATOR:
The flight will carry supplies
to the station

and prove
that the shuttle program

is safe enough to continue.

(man speaking indistinctly
on radio)

We're ready to go.

ANNOUNCER:
T-minus ten seconds.

Go for main engines start.

Seven, six, five--

three engines up and burning.

Three...

♪ ♪

LAWRENCE:
Main engines lit off,

solid rocket boosters lit off.

You literally feel like
you're in your slingshot.

You know when you're
leaving the launch pad.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: In the wake
of the Columbia disaster,

NASA implements a series
of new safety protocols:

a redesign
of the shuttle's external tank

to reduce the potential
for foam shedding;

installation of multiple cameras
to cover the launch

and check for any anomalies;

and an enhanced in-orbit
inspection of the shuttle

using new cameras and sensors.

♪ ♪

EILEEN COLLINS (over radio):
Houston, Discovery.

We have a good plus-X maneuver.

NARRATOR:
Discovery reaches orbit,

apparently without issue.

LAWRENCE:
Flight day two for us

was the initial
on-orbit inspection.

ALIBARUHO:
We used the shuttle robotic arm

and the new sensor package
to examine

the structural integrity
of the thermal protection system

to see if there was any damage
that may have occurred.

NARRATOR:
Meanwhile, on the ground,

analysts scour footage
of the launch

and discover
several troubling incidents.

♪ ♪

A large bird hitting
the shuttle's fuel tank.

♪ ♪

A small piece of thermal tile
detaching.

And a large section of foam
falling from the external tank.

Could history
be repeating itself?

We looked at the side
of the vehicle,

we looked around
our nose cap area, as well.

Didn't see any damage,
so we were, like, "Okay.

"Not great to hear
that foam came off.

Doesn't look like
it hit a critical area."

NARRATOR:
The inspection isn't conclusive,
though.

They need a closer look.

And to do that,

they'll need the help
of the I.S.S. crew

and a shuttle maneuver
never before attempted.

LAWRENCE:
We came to 600 feet
below the station.

We basically did a back flip.

NARRATOR:
Inside Discovery,

commander Eileen Collins
initiates the maneuver

to pitch the shuttle
360 degrees.

The shuttle was performing

what we called
the rendezvous pitch maneuver

to allow the I.S.S. crew

to take scores
of high-resolution photographs.

NARRATOR:
The crew onboard
the I.S.S.

have a window
of just 93 seconds,

when the underside
is in the sun,

to take high-resolution images
of the shuttle's heat shield.

SCOVILLE:
Those were then downlinked

to engineers to be able
to look for any damage

or misconfiguration
of those tiles.

LAWRENCE:
As we came out of our back flip,

we got to watch space station

come up over the tail
of our orbiter, Discovery.

And I called that
our "Star Wars" moment,

because it was just so cool.

It was, like,
here's this big spacecraft

right next to mine,
rising up over the tail.

NARRATOR:
While the shuttle crew

unloads supplies
onto the station,

engineers on the ground
pore over

the images of the shuttle,

searching for anything
out of the ordinary.

♪ ♪

(camera shutter clicks)

SCOVILLE:
Engineers identified
that there was

a small piece of gap filler.

What this is
is a piece of fabric

that is meant to fill spaces

in between the tiles
on the orbiter.

This gap filler had actually
stuck up

into the surrounding area

above the outer mold line
of the orbiter.

sticking out
from in between the tiles

on the underside of Discovery.

Something they'd never seen
before.

SCOVILLE:
The problem with this is,

as this reenters
the Earth's atmosphere,

this could actually
cause the smooth flow

to hit that gap filler,
and then become turbulent,

which creates downstream heating

and puts extra heat stress
on the orbiter tiles.

LAWRENCE:
The flow might come back
together in a way

where it now becomes almost
like a blowtorch,

and it might burn through

one of the thermal protection
system tiles.

NARRATOR:
This could turn the shuttle

into a fireball.

The gap fillers
protect the tiles

from vibrations on launch,

but are not needed for reentry.

LAWRENCE:
The decision was made

that these two gap fillers
really need to be removed

before we come back for landing.

MAN (on radio):
...one hour and ten minutes,
the I.M.U. aligned...

LAWRENCE:
The underside of
the space shuttle orbiter

was not designed
to have astronauts there.

There were no handholds
whatsoever.

Really, the only way for us

to have done
the gap filler removal

was to have a crew member
on the end of a robotic arm.

(man speaking indistinctly
on radio)

LAWRENCE:
I got to fly the station
robotic arm

for that E.V.A.

Steve Robinson was
on the end of the arm,

and I flew him to where no
astronaut had ever been before:

on the underside of
the space shuttle orbiter,

beneath the belly.

NARRATOR:
Once Steve locates
the gap fillers,

he must remove them.

ROBINSON (over radio):
My brakes set?

MAN:
The brakes are on, you're a go.

♪ ♪

MAN:
Nicely done, Steve.

♪ ♪

ROBINSON:
Okay, that came out very easily.

Probably even less force.

It looks like this big patient
is cured.

MAN:
Copy that.

NARRATOR:
After a two-week,

5.8-million-mile journey
in space,

on August 9, 2005,

Discovery sets off for home.

LAWRENCE (over radio):
...circuit breakers
coming back in.

Okay, we did see that...

NARRATOR:
Only now will the team
find out if the fix worked.

ANNOUNCER:
Discovery's altitude
now 72 miles.

Speed 17,000 miles per hour.

And now all of a sudden,
you're coming back to gravity,

something you've spent
virtually your entire life in,

and it's not pleasant.

NARRATOR:
The shuttle's immense speed

as it reenters
Earth's atmosphere

superheats the air,
tearing molecules apart,

creating a plasma.

Temperatures outside soar

to a blistering
3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

ANNOUNCER:
As Discovery descends
into the atmosphere,

it will perform
a series of four banks

to dissipate speed.

NARRATOR:
Well past the point
of no return,

all the seven crew members
can do now

is trust that their inspection
was thorough

and the repair is sufficient.

MAN (over radio):
Discovery, Houston.

Energy, ground track, and nav
are all go.

Your touchdown is 2600 at 205.

COLLINS:
And Discovery copies, thank you.

♪ ♪

Houston, Discovery
has the runway in sight.

MAN:
Copy runway.

♪ ♪

ANNOUNCER:
Main gear touchdown.

Nose gear touchdown.

And Discovery is home.

SCOVILLE:
Let me tell you,

when Discovery touched down
on the runway,

we knew that it had been
a flawless reentry profile.

There was a sense of both relief
and accomplishment

of all the teams that had shown

that we could again fly
the space shuttle safely.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
With the shuttle program
reinstated,

construction of the I.S.S.
can now resume.

♪ ♪

Over the next six years,

19 shuttle missions,
and 94 spacewalks,

numerous parts and modules

are bolted onto the
International Space Station.

Among them Columbus,

a cutting-edge science
laboratory from Europe.

The Japanese Kibo laboratory,

with an exterior facility
to conduct Earth observation,

communication,
and materials science research.

The Poisk
Mini-Research Module 2,

Russia's first major addition
since 2001.

And the Tranquility module,

with its now world-famous
observation cupola.

♪ ♪

In May 2011, the I.S.S.

is finally complete,

a $150 billion space laboratory.

♪ ♪

LAWRENCE:
It was a milestone
many, many, many people

had been working to

to achieve its original goal,

which, to be a place where
you could do scientific research

in a very unique environment,
that of microgravity.

MIKE FINCKE:
We've opened some of the secrets
of the universe,

all the way
from science and physics

to how to work together
as humans.

How to plan and
overcome difficulties together.

♪ ♪

LAWRENCE:
When we humans really want to,

we can take
that proverbial sword

and we can truly beat it
into a plowshare.

We can do some pretty remarkable
things together, peacefully,

for the benefit
of all humankind.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪