We can do this again...we can do even greater things....but it's going to take AMERICANS doing this. Not "blacks" or "whites," not "hyphenated Americans" like "Mexican-Americans" or "Greek-Americans" or "German-Americans" or whatever, not "gays" or "straights" or "transgender" or whatever. Just AMERICANS, with a common vision, pulling together to achieve a great, great, massive, wonderful goal. WE HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE, this and things like Saturn V as well. WE CAN DO IT AGAIN!!!!
The SRB's make shuttle look very crude, like a old car running on bad gas. I was really surprised that they decided to use Solid Rocket fuel which technologically is older and less advanced than its liquid counterpart. We need a vehicle like Soyuz which is very graceful, more advanced, reliable, safe, and 1/15th the cost.
HOLY CRAP...watched this on a tiny tv screen in a dorm at PennState....all that smoke we thought it blew up...wow what a feeling when it cleared the launch pad!!!
People today don't realize how gutsy this really was. They had never even test fired the SBRs vertically before. Nobody for certain had a clue what would happen, there were no computer simulations like there are today, and if something had gone wrong in orbit, they'd have died in re-entry as there was no way to repair damages. The Ejection seats mentioned were modified from a SR-71 and were only rated at relaively low altitudes. This was probably the most balsy test flight man has ever taken on.
Great post! Loved every second of it... pre-launch, the build up to launch, the dramatics, the crowd, the launch itself... and I especially enjoyed hearing people's reaction (on/off air) to each little goal met during the climb. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! (I think I was 12 when I saw this live in school).
I seeing this when I was 11 years old. Back then and no one knew what to think of this new spacecraft that launched like a rocket, orbited like a satellite and landed like an airplane. We were all on pins and needles waiting to find out if this new experiment would work. We were thrilled when it did. Thanks for posting!
@stabbingmeagain Commander of STS-1 John Young stated in an interview that when the SRB's ignited, they produced a shock-wave that induced an unintended deflection of the main tail body flap. This was to such a degree that had they been aware of the damage at the time, thet would have been required to eject from the shuttle losing Columbia, and possibly both he and STS-1 pilot Robert Crippen not surviving the ejection. Terrifying! But Young just grinned about it, as you might expect...
I remember this well, the anticipation of seeing this for the first time was incredible, and the joy of hearing Gene Cernan just added to the excitment of it. how far we have fallen since.
@uzimodem Fallen? We have a permanent presence in Space with the ISS. We have actively driven on the surface of another planet, and have expanded our understanding of space 100 fold. Fallen? I beg to differ.
@jonesy97 :and how do we get our men and women to space? on our own launch system? we have none. we have to hitch rides with the Russians. and going to the moon?nope, china is doing that for us. I beg to differ.
@uzimodem hey i wouldn't just lose hope just cause the shuttles retired there are companies building new spacecrafts like SpaceX's Dragon capusle, Boeing's CST-100 capsule, Sierra Nevada Corp.'s mini shuttle Dream Chaser, and of course NASA still developing its new spacecraft Orion MPCV capable of traveling to asteroids and Mars.
@uzimodem Since the shuttle program ended, yes, but the way you made it sound, is that it's been all down hill since the first STS launch. But, yes, not taking the lead as the primary means to get to space, I agree. Also, Obama has seen to it to cancel any return trip to the moon, and probably killed a manned Mars mission in the planning stages. Far, indeed.
@jonesy97: the evidence is clear. and when you have Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan and the rest of the heros who went to the moon saying this situation is a national disgrace, I tend to give credence to what they say. This is unacceptable and is a national disgrace.
Although computers are more advanced today. Rocket hardware has gone backwards technologically since 1972. Shuttle used dangerous solid rocket fuel which should NEVER be used to lift people because it cannot be turned off once started. Also, Shuttle had no escape system. The average person does not know they only care about what it looks like.
Thanks for sharing, it brings me memories since I was kid. At that time, I was living in a comunist country, but even so they provided on replay these images, I shared the same emotions with eyewitnesses :) "Come on, baby... Come on, baby! Go, honey, go, fly like an eagle"...
:The relativ atommasses are to handel (addit) with (g/mol=(x)*10^-36) for the exactly molecularmass, divide it by the number of atoms and verb they paralell to the exactly ratio you want. You can to addit the sames atoms before do the paralell verbs.
It is a kind of magic sure.
Amazon.de sell an periodensystem with relative atommasses and more (study knowledge).
I like the Texas Instrument calculators (not the cheapest.)
I remeber the day vividly... If you listen to a song called Countdown by Rush, it is a good tribute to this day..btw, I'm Canadian. were proud of the US and were good Allies
People don't realize what balls Joung and Crippen had to hop into this thing and take it for a test flight into space. Nobody for sure knew how the orbiter would react, the SRB shock waves could have easily renedered the Columbia incapable of re-entry (Joung said later if he'd know the condition of the ship he might have punched out of it). The boosters had never even been tested other than horizontally. NOBODY had ever test flown a space craft into space on it's very first flight before this.
Why has this only got 42 thousand views??!! This was a step forward in human engineering: a reusable maneouverable space craft thaat can orbit earth! Aerspace engineering is so MASSIVELY undervalued. Hardly anyone is even interested anymore. For example, you never hear people cheering during a launch nowadays. I wish that the human race would appriciate more how awe inspiring space travel is, and how important it is. I bloody well hope that they don't cancel the James Webb Space Telescope.
Through success and tragedies, the shuttle program is something we 30+ year olds will never forget. Why did they see fit to end the shuttle program? Does anyone know?
How come at the last shuttle launch there wasn't a news reporter yelling "Go baby!" in pure excitement that we are going to space. I think it's sad really.
@tack534 Well, if it is any consolation, I WAS at the press site for STS-135 and I did yell "GO" at the top of my lungs when I saw Atlantis fly. Of course, no live TV camera caught it to my knowledge, but a lot of us were cheering after the launch, partly because of the last minute delay. BTW, the guy yelling go on this was Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon (ex-astronaut and ABC color commentator for the early shuttle flights).
@tack534 Well, if it is any consolation, I WAS at the press site for STS-135 and I did yell "GO" at the top of my lungs when I saw Atlantis fly. Of course, no live TV camera caught it to my knowledge, but a lot of us were cheering after the launch, partly because of the last minute delay. BTW, the guy yelling go on this was Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon (ex-astronaut and ABC color commentator for the early shuttle flights).
@luvbasic in 1981 it was unheard of to strap a plane onto rockets and send it into space and have it return as a powerless glider. Up until that day, only rockets went up with disposable capsules returning the astronauts to earth. This was an amazing and unprecedented launch - and landing.
I'd say the orbiter (and shuttle to which it ia attached) is one of the sexiest things I've ever seen. Much sexier than that female reporter you've got there.
You have no idea how science works. Granted there are some time wasting (mainly due to bureaucratic nonsense, not the fault of the Scientists). However technological innovation comes slowly but surely. At least if you want to be safe about it.
@anodeenzyme Actually, I wondered why they didn't do both. I would like to have seen them take the shuttle to orbit the moon as a experiment to a long range travel using the shuttle.
@wullebulle123 Yes, for the first four test flights, Columbia had ejection seats for the two man crew. After STS-4 they were deactivated, and later entirely removed.
@DickLodge68 As far as I understood it, the crew compartment was not ejectable. It simply survived Challenger's break-up in one piece and plunged into the Atlantic. And I really, really hope, no one of the crew survived the break-up and had to experience that. If the crew compartment would have been ejectable, it would have been wise to attach some parachutes to it, wouldn't it. But maybe I didn't get that right. Not sure...
@codiersklave No, I believe you are correct and I'm wrong. Yes, that would have been terrifying and like to think they went out in a millisecond. The Columbia crew on the other hand knew something was wrong. I'm really sad to see the program go, as I grew up with it really. 135 STS flights and two accidents...I'd take those odds anytime if given the chance.
Way to go yanks!! I'm from Argentina but I have to tell you, it makes me proud to watch such a great endeavour being carried out by humanity. As we humans can be the source of great pain and damage, we also can be a light of hope in the darkness. This is what a leading nation should do. Not war, not oppression. This is what the world want to see from you guys. I will be more than proud to be lead by this kind of country, constantly pushing the boundaries.
I'm not an American, I'm Pakistani. But well done guys! 30 years of awe and wonderment. You gave every little boy his ultimate dream. And those "little boys" include grown men like me =D
The Rush song "Countdown" from 1982 is a tribute to this launch. It intergrates the official NASA launch audio by Hugh Harris into the song. Not their best song but a nice tribute for this amazing event. "This magic day when super-science, mingles with the bright stuff of dreams..." Thanks for this video.
Great positive things the shuttle did, but i shall never forget the crews of the 1986 and 2003 tragedies (86 especially) and families concerned, never forgotton.
That chill "going throttle up" in 1986 will haunt me for ever.
Looks like a lot of folks are reminiscing. I remember seeing STS-3 going up in person as a teenager, and brought my kids down to see STS-132 last year. I had chills like I've never experienced in my life watching today's final launch.
I remember getting up at 4 in the morning to see this, I think I was about 12 years old. It was good to see the late Frank Reynolds again. I used to love watching ABC World News Tonight. Hard to believe the shuttle program has existed almost as long as I have been alive. The shuttle program ending feels like losing an old friend and I'm sad to see it go.
@AfGun0111 Each space shuttle was named after an old English exploring ship back in the 16-1700s, so Columbia was named after Captain Cook's ship, Columbia, I believe.
After convincing my dad, I saw this after waiting almost 24 hours without sleep. Monday, 17 April 1978 (Pacoima California)- First flight STS-1 Sunday, 12 April 1981 - Wednesday, 14 April1981 (Fri,17 Apr)- Tuesday, 17 April 1985 (Little Creek Virginia) Last flight STS-107 January 16, 2003 – February 1, 2003 Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral Florida.
This video brought back so many happy memories. I was a great fan of the space program when I was child and a young adult. I love the comments of Frank Reynolds, Jules Bergman, Lynn Sherr, and Gene Cernan (he kicks butt). Thank you for this great video. Bobcnn1, you made my day!!!
I was a mere child visiting from Orlando, camping at Jetty Park with my family that week. To wake up to the sounds of the ocean, the cool breeze, the sand under my feet and the excited anticipation while resting on the jetty rocks... The launch was everything a child could expect. One of the best days of my life, sharing it with my parents, brother/sisters and grandparents.
I was late for school to watch this. It was the only time I was able to over-rule my parents. I thought I was watching the opening of a window into the future...
It was a fantastic step forward.... but we've lost the pace that was expected of us...
@Bladod As a Yank, I thank you... yet I think that at the end of the day we here on this side of the pond tend to look at it like Armstrong said - a 'giant leap for all mankind.'
Too amazing to belong to one nation... it was really for all.
@needlove1982 I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AGREE. Now we spend our money for social"welfare" programs that do nothing to benefit mankind. How would Jack Kennedy view NASA today?
@needlove1982 Yup, now your country has cut the taxes of the richest so noooo way you gonna be going back to the moon or to Mars... It's hitch a lift with the commie bastards from now on! You're owned by bankers now and bankers don't understand space exploration, only space exploitation :-(
Just think, kids, the oil industry gets more money from the government in the form of subsidies and tax cuts than NASA EVERY YEAR. They pollute 1/4 of our coastline we give them money meanwhile the government agency that put us on the moon gets cancelled.
@bobcnn1 Frank Reynolds (29 November 1923 – 20 July 1983 the 14th anniversary of Apollo 11 launch) Mr. Reynolds was 59 years old. I watched him on ABC.
excellent video, thanx for posting! It was better coverage than seen in the UK (see the STS-1 video I uploaded). There seemed to be more and different camera angles than in the UK coverage. I wonder why that was?
ABC News had their own cameras at these Space shuttle launches, the UK along with NBC and CBS use NASA tv cameras or somthing like that. Be advised that the ABC also showed NASA Cameras in the Black and white format that the other TV stations did not show. ABC news did their homework when it came to the early years of the Space Shuttle program. Smart People!
We can do this again...we can do even greater things....but it's going to take AMERICANS doing this. Not "blacks" or "whites," not "hyphenated Americans" like "Mexican-Americans" or "Greek-Americans" or "German-Americans" or whatever, not "gays" or "straights" or "transgender" or whatever. Just AMERICANS, with a common vision, pulling together to achieve a great, great, massive, wonderful goal. WE HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE, this and things like Saturn V as well. WE CAN DO IT AGAIN!!!!
ladylejean215 9 hours ago
two dislikes from russia ! haha
pringles040392 1 week ago
@pringles040392 No.
akierrs2 1 week ago
@pringles040392 Actually the only ride into space is from the Russians so their probably laughing at the rest of us.
1805Azazel 1 week ago
The SRB's make shuttle look very crude, like a old car running on bad gas. I was really surprised that they decided to use Solid Rocket fuel which technologically is older and less advanced than its liquid counterpart. We need a vehicle like Soyuz which is very graceful, more advanced, reliable, safe, and 1/15th the cost.
ti994apc 2 weeks ago
HOLY CRAP...watched this on a tiny tv screen in a dorm at PennState....all that smoke we thought it blew up...wow what a feeling when it cleared the launch pad!!!
Parses6 2 weeks ago
I would kill to be present at this launch. Absolutely awe-inspiring
RHCPKK 3 weeks ago
this whole scene revolved around what 'should' happen. science is amazing.
edyken77 3 weeks ago
People today don't realize how gutsy this really was. They had never even test fired the SBRs vertically before. Nobody for certain had a clue what would happen, there were no computer simulations like there are today, and if something had gone wrong in orbit, they'd have died in re-entry as there was no way to repair damages. The Ejection seats mentioned were modified from a SR-71 and were only rated at relaively low altitudes. This was probably the most balsy test flight man has ever taken on.
Willysmb44 1 month ago 7
Great post! Loved every second of it... pre-launch, the build up to launch, the dramatics, the crowd, the launch itself... and I especially enjoyed hearing people's reaction (on/off air) to each little goal met during the climb. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! (I think I was 12 when I saw this live in school).
Burnsengine 1 month ago
Comment removed
trrn13p 1 month ago
I seeing this when I was 11 years old. Back then and no one knew what to think of this new spacecraft that launched like a rocket, orbited like a satellite and landed like an airplane. We were all on pins and needles waiting to find out if this new experiment would work. We were thrilled when it did. Thanks for posting!
irvinetustin 2 months ago 2
Other than STS-1, I have a hard time watching Columbia, knowing what its ultimate fate is. Not forgetting about its astronauts either.
23supermac 2 months ago 2
@23supermac I get goosebumps watching every launch of Challenger.
Lowgaen11 1 month ago
the space shuttle will always have a special place in history. I will never forget the shuttle program.
jamestaylor457 2 months ago
@5:15 "go.. fly like an eagle go.."
In hopes nothing catastrophic happens haha.. and thankfully nothing did.
Godspeed.
stabbingmeagain 2 months ago
@stabbingmeagain Commander of STS-1 John Young stated in an interview that when the SRB's ignited, they produced a shock-wave that induced an unintended deflection of the main tail body flap. This was to such a degree that had they been aware of the damage at the time, thet would have been required to eject from the shuttle losing Columbia, and possibly both he and STS-1 pilot Robert Crippen not surviving the ejection. Terrifying! But Young just grinned about it, as you might expect...
THEORIGINALEXSCAPER 1 month ago 2
Nice!
spaceneard 2 months ago
I want both the very first and very last launch side by side in one video.
Ryoske6 3 months ago 2
I live in central Florida and I miss the hell out of these launches. I miss it so much.
ladylejean215 3 months ago 3
I remember this well, the anticipation of seeing this for the first time was incredible, and the joy of hearing Gene Cernan just added to the excitment of it. how far we have fallen since.
uzimodem 3 months ago
@uzimodem Fallen? We have a permanent presence in Space with the ISS. We have actively driven on the surface of another planet, and have expanded our understanding of space 100 fold. Fallen? I beg to differ.
jonesy97 3 months ago
@jonesy97 :and how do we get our men and women to space? on our own launch system? we have none. we have to hitch rides with the Russians. and going to the moon?nope, china is doing that for us. I beg to differ.
uzimodem 3 months ago
@uzimodem hey i wouldn't just lose hope just cause the shuttles retired there are companies building new spacecrafts like SpaceX's Dragon capusle, Boeing's CST-100 capsule, Sierra Nevada Corp.'s mini shuttle Dream Chaser, and of course NASA still developing its new spacecraft Orion MPCV capable of traveling to asteroids and Mars.
SixTailedNaruto64 3 months ago
@uzimodem Since the shuttle program ended, yes, but the way you made it sound, is that it's been all down hill since the first STS launch. But, yes, not taking the lead as the primary means to get to space, I agree. Also, Obama has seen to it to cancel any return trip to the moon, and probably killed a manned Mars mission in the planning stages. Far, indeed.
jonesy97 3 months ago
@jonesy97: the evidence is clear. and when you have Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan and the rest of the heros who went to the moon saying this situation is a national disgrace, I tend to give credence to what they say. This is unacceptable and is a national disgrace.
uzimodem 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Although computers are more advanced today. Rocket hardware has gone backwards technologically since 1972. Shuttle used dangerous solid rocket fuel which should NEVER be used to lift people because it cannot be turned off once started. Also, Shuttle had no escape system. The average person does not know they only care about what it looks like.
ti994apc 4 months ago
So is this the time it blew up? or was that its 2nd launch im a little confused
EpicZeldaWin 4 months ago
@EpicZeldaWin
No, it's the inaugural, first flight. The two tragedies were Challenger in 1986, then Columbia in 2003.
@Bobcnn1
Thanks for sharing, it brings me memories since I was kid. At that time, I was living in a comunist country, but even so they provided on replay these images, I shared the same emotions with eyewitnesses :) "Come on, baby... Come on, baby! Go, honey, go, fly like an eagle"...
trotica 4 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
:The relativ atommasses are to handel (addit) with (g/mol=(x)*10^-36) for the exactly molecularmass, divide it by the number of atoms and verb they paralell to the exactly ratio you want. You can to addit the sames atoms before do the paralell verbs.
It is a kind of magic sure.
Amazon.de sell an periodensystem with relative atommasses and more (study knowledge).
I like the Texas Instrument calculators (not the cheapest.)
For better, for good, God and the earth..
getdown1983 5 months ago
I remeber the day vividly... If you listen to a song called Countdown by Rush, it is a good tribute to this day..btw, I'm Canadian. were proud of the US and were good Allies
MegaDogwater 5 months ago
@MegaDogwater i was over from the uk on holiday and was lucky enough to see this...most amazing thing i have ever seen.
5sheldoncooper 5 months ago
People don't realize what balls Joung and Crippen had to hop into this thing and take it for a test flight into space. Nobody for sure knew how the orbiter would react, the SRB shock waves could have easily renedered the Columbia incapable of re-entry (Joung said later if he'd know the condition of the ship he might have punched out of it). The boosters had never even been tested other than horizontally. NOBODY had ever test flown a space craft into space on it's very first flight before this.
Willysmb44 5 months ago
Why has this only got 42 thousand views??!! This was a step forward in human engineering: a reusable maneouverable space craft thaat can orbit earth! Aerspace engineering is so MASSIVELY undervalued. Hardly anyone is even interested anymore. For example, you never hear people cheering during a launch nowadays. I wish that the human race would appriciate more how awe inspiring space travel is, and how important it is. I bloody well hope that they don't cancel the James Webb Space Telescope.
LasergunExtreme 5 months ago
The Russians were MAD!
AccessDenied55 5 months ago
wow, that gave me chills!
reznorfan15 5 months ago
Through success and tragedies, the shuttle program is something we 30+ year olds will never forget. Why did they see fit to end the shuttle program? Does anyone know?
shawnoandrew 5 months ago
@shawnoandrew The cost with no returns, it comes down to greed, there are other manned vehicles capable of space flight that are in use.
Burnz2much 5 months ago
I miss you Space Shuttles!!
thisnameistotallybad 6 months ago
this is amazing!!
crazyboynph 6 months ago
How come at the last shuttle launch there wasn't a news reporter yelling "Go baby!" in pure excitement that we are going to space. I think it's sad really.
tack534 6 months ago
@tack534 Well, if it is any consolation, I WAS at the press site for STS-135 and I did yell "GO" at the top of my lungs when I saw Atlantis fly. Of course, no live TV camera caught it to my knowledge, but a lot of us were cheering after the launch, partly because of the last minute delay. BTW, the guy yelling go on this was Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon (ex-astronaut and ABC color commentator for the early shuttle flights).
JMChladek 5 months ago
@tack534 Well, if it is any consolation, I WAS at the press site for STS-135 and I did yell "GO" at the top of my lungs when I saw Atlantis fly. Of course, no live TV camera caught it to my knowledge, but a lot of us were cheering after the launch, partly because of the last minute delay. BTW, the guy yelling go on this was Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon (ex-astronaut and ABC color commentator for the early shuttle flights).
JMChladek 5 months ago
This makes me really miss the space shuttle! :( Such an awesome machine, it makes me proud to be an American!
gumby2440 6 months ago
i was only 11 when this happened. Watching this now still gives me chills. We were a better country back then and a slightly better world...
zestydude87 6 months ago
This is still exciting 30 years later...
Derby14 6 months ago
I love Gene Cernan but he's a little bit annoying in this clip.
FantasticBob7000 6 months ago
Billions of Dollars in Bush wars and no money for space missions.
PIEDEDIPIOMB0 7 months ago
@PIEDEDIPIOMB0
Yeah! Bush stole my childhood. We should have gone to Mars. Not fight in Iraq! Damn Bush!
pluto4847 6 months ago
Just got to love the excitment of the reporters
crissy214 7 months ago
Of course this is utter non-sense...no one has landed on the moon! Yeah right!
DickLodge68 7 months ago
@luvbasic in 1981 it was unheard of to strap a plane onto rockets and send it into space and have it return as a powerless glider. Up until that day, only rockets went up with disposable capsules returning the astronauts to earth. This was an amazing and unprecedented launch - and landing.
ilmsff7 7 months ago
He called the shuttle "A strange assemblage"?
I'd say the orbiter (and shuttle to which it ia attached) is one of the sexiest things I've ever seen. Much sexier than that female reporter you've got there.
luvBasic 7 months ago
Thirty mortal years wasted footling about in low earth orbit. Perhaps now we can start making some forward progress.
anodeenzyme 7 months ago
@anodeenzyme
You have no idea how science works. Granted there are some time wasting (mainly due to bureaucratic nonsense, not the fault of the Scientists). However technological innovation comes slowly but surely. At least if you want to be safe about it.
Prosercunus 7 months ago
@anodeenzyme Actually, I wondered why they didn't do both. I would like to have seen them take the shuttle to orbit the moon as a experiment to a long range travel using the shuttle.
cryinglion 7 months ago
I remember watching this live. And now its all over. A sad day.
ocerg1111 7 months ago
Wait wait wait.... you want to strap a plane, to ROCKETS???
JNorm123 7 months ago
could they eject????
wullebulle123 7 months ago
@wullebulle123 Yes, for the first four test flights, Columbia had ejection seats for the two man crew. After STS-4 they were deactivated, and later entirely removed.
Guysm1l3y 7 months ago
@Guysm1l3y Fine....Challenger had a completely ejectable pod. Don't you remember?
DickLodge68 7 months ago
@DickLodge68 What do you mean, ejactable pod?
codiersklave 7 months ago
@codiersklave When Challenger exploded they searched for the cockpit for any possible survivors.
DickLodge68 7 months ago
@DickLodge68 As far as I understood it, the crew compartment was not ejectable. It simply survived Challenger's break-up in one piece and plunged into the Atlantic. And I really, really hope, no one of the crew survived the break-up and had to experience that. If the crew compartment would have been ejectable, it would have been wise to attach some parachutes to it, wouldn't it. But maybe I didn't get that right. Not sure...
codiersklave 7 months ago
@codiersklave No, I believe you are correct and I'm wrong. Yes, that would have been terrifying and like to think they went out in a millisecond. The Columbia crew on the other hand knew something was wrong. I'm really sad to see the program go, as I grew up with it really. 135 STS flights and two accidents...I'd take those odds anytime if given the chance.
DickLodge68 7 months ago
@Bladod, theyre going to do it again, pull something outta their hat
cappygolucky 7 months ago
Way to go yanks!! I'm from Argentina but I have to tell you, it makes me proud to watch such a great endeavour being carried out by humanity. As we humans can be the source of great pain and damage, we also can be a light of hope in the darkness. This is what a leading nation should do. Not war, not oppression. This is what the world want to see from you guys. I will be more than proud to be lead by this kind of country, constantly pushing the boundaries.
Please, think about it...
huracan200173 7 months ago
I'm not an American, I'm Pakistani. But well done guys! 30 years of awe and wonderment. You gave every little boy his ultimate dream. And those "little boys" include grown men like me =D
shaheertanveerakhan 7 months ago
Listen to how excited everyone is watching this ship go into space. Don't hear this kind of excitement today...people today just don't get it.
gsaum 7 months ago
Emotional just to look at... amazing memories
GenerationKill001 7 months ago
It was an amazing moment in American history. You had the feeling that day that our space program was invincible, that we could do anything.
sc0ner 7 months ago
the action starts at 4:51 seconds goood
Raven240994 7 months ago
Amazing, what a spaceship, there's nothing that compares to it now. Not even close.
ntt688 8 months ago
The Rush song "Countdown" from 1982 is a tribute to this launch. It intergrates the official NASA launch audio by Hugh Harris into the song. Not their best song but a nice tribute for this amazing event. "This magic day when super-science, mingles with the bright stuff of dreams..." Thanks for this video.
msfirefly226 8 months ago
No bucks, no Buck Rogers....
vitoduval 8 months ago
Great positive things the shuttle did, but i shall never forget the crews of the 1986 and 2003 tragedies (86 especially) and families concerned, never forgotton.
That chill "going throttle up" in 1986 will haunt me for ever.
Urko2005 8 months ago
Last year at school i was watching this, was amazing.
I thought to myself as it took off "its going to fall over" , it was so wierd a shape.
Urko2005 8 months ago
Looks like a lot of folks are reminiscing. I remember seeing STS-3 going up in person as a teenager, and brought my kids down to see STS-132 last year. I had chills like I've never experienced in my life watching today's final launch.
rdspam 8 months ago
I remember getting up at 4 in the morning to see this, I think I was about 12 years old. It was good to see the late Frank Reynolds again. I used to love watching ABC World News Tonight. Hard to believe the shuttle program has existed almost as long as I have been alive. The shuttle program ending feels like losing an old friend and I'm sad to see it go.
sammy2trees 8 months ago
I love the enthusiasm right after launch. Truly American pride.
MrHurrikanable 8 months ago
I´ve Seen the first Launch in 81,I was thirteen.Today,with 43years,i watch the last launch.30 Years!!
TheRalf1968 8 months ago
@TheRalf1968 I was 4 at this time. Today, I shed some tears.
weatherman2007 8 months ago
A shame today is the end of the space shuttle program, and that to get to space, we'll have to hitch a ride with the Russians.
jazzguitar2010 8 months ago
@AfGun0111 Each space shuttle was named after an old English exploring ship back in the 16-1700s, so Columbia was named after Captain Cook's ship, Columbia, I believe.
gwhizkids 8 months ago
@gwhizkids Captain Cook's ship was the Endeavour
roseanne74 8 months ago
@roseanne74 Sorry, my mistake :) Not good with history and all that...unless it's ancient!
gwhizkids 8 months ago
Why they called it Columbia?
AfGun0111 8 months ago
@AfGun0111 After Christopher Columbus
weatherman2007 8 months ago
How can anyone dislike this video? This makes me very proud to be an American.
llcrabbie 8 months ago
I WAS 11 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE FIRST LAUNCHED I RAN ALL THE WAY HOME IN MY LUNCH HOUR TO WATCH GREAT !!!!
roadhoggz1 8 months ago
I like how people keep showing up behind the reporter. The woman eating peanuts at 1:25. And the anonymous security personnel 2:10.
hankaaron1961 8 months ago
@hankaaron1961 The random guy looked like Ric Ocasek from The Cars. :)
alastormspotter 8 months ago
didnt the Soviet Union create their first space shuttle BEFORE this one? i saw pics of it
jarhead565 9 months ago
Goosebumps!! :')
RevolutionTotalWar 9 months ago
i am proud of USA, i'm from Malaysia
JorJorArmany 9 months ago
Videos like this should be saved for hundreds of years. A truly amazing moment for mankind.
bazerrem 9 months ago
After convincing my dad, I saw this after waiting almost 24 hours without sleep. Monday, 17 April 1978 (Pacoima California)- First flight STS-1 Sunday, 12 April 1981 - Wednesday, 14 April1981 (Fri,17 Apr)- Tuesday, 17 April 1985 (Little Creek Virginia) Last flight STS-107 January 16, 2003 – February 1, 2003 Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral Florida.
airforcemax 9 months ago
Osama Bin Laden clicked thumbs down just before Seal team 6 broke through.
In case your wondering...
buddacafe 10 months ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
now tell me americans aren't cool
ThjeshtLife 10 months ago
I remember my mom let me stay home from school to watch this.
fdrachman 10 months ago
"A powerless glider" you mean there's another type?!! X-D I remember this well, got the afternoon off school for it!! :-)
planejunky 10 months ago
Im glad that I grew up during the Shuttle Program.............
AccessDenied55 10 months ago
lol who would thumbs down something like this??
A4moondoggy 10 months ago
It just breaks my heart this is coming to an end.
ceceliacolleen 11 months ago
That was amazing! Gave me goosebumps :)
Alexfor2002 11 months ago
This video brought back so many happy memories. I was a great fan of the space program when I was child and a young adult. I love the comments of Frank Reynolds, Jules Bergman, Lynn Sherr, and Gene Cernan (he kicks butt). Thank you for this great video. Bobcnn1, you made my day!!!
mikesmith8836 11 months ago
Happy 30th Anniversary Columbia.
I was a mere child visiting from Orlando, camping at Jetty Park with my family that week. To wake up to the sounds of the ocean, the cool breeze, the sand under my feet and the excited anticipation while resting on the jetty rocks... The launch was everything a child could expect. One of the best days of my life, sharing it with my parents, brother/sisters and grandparents.
russty36 11 months ago
Is it just me that gets a wierd buzzing feeling everytime i watch this? :)
garrl007 11 months ago
i remember this like it was only yesterday..
sjinouck 1 year ago
Yeah..I remember my teacher's diagram to go with the launch in kindergarden vividly. Goodbye old friend... :(
maestro4202 1 year ago
the triumph of humanity and engineering
cl191 1 year ago
White external Thank, paintend only on sts-1 & 2 than they realize that the white paint increase the weight, so decide to let it un-painted
iw1dfl 1 year ago
I was late for school to watch this. It was the only time I was able to over-rule my parents. I thought I was watching the opening of a window into the future...
It was a fantastic step forward.... but we've lost the pace that was expected of us...
AgentJayZ 1 year ago 3
2:16 that is one cool dude.
yusefelhalal 1 year ago
sucks, 1981 was cooler and more high tech than 2011. We don't even have the ability to goto orbit anymore.
TheQevlhma 1 year ago
@TheQevlhma umm yeah we can still get into orbit. The Russians do it cheaper atm, but Space X will be ready within a few years
memberHD 1 year ago
@neocon70 You were conceived on April 12, 1981?
oisiaa 1 year ago
@neocon70
Well, half of you was.
brimalow 1 year ago 4
I was a senior in highschool in florida. I went and saw the launch, was amazing!
daveandcliff 1 year ago
With the last flights coming I had to look at this again. I remember it well. I am not an American, but it makes you proud to be human.
Well done Yanks, well done.
/salute
Bladod 1 year ago 87
@Bladod As a Yank, I thank you... yet I think that at the end of the day we here on this side of the pond tend to look at it like Armstrong said - a 'giant leap for all mankind.'
Too amazing to belong to one nation... it was really for all.
jjobie 8 months ago
@Bladod I Agree
TheRalf1968 8 months ago
@Bladod as an american i thank-you for the appreciation.
coolbreez1214 5 months ago
@Bladod
Seeing this also makes me proud to be a human. I was 1 when this happened.
vineethonkan 4 months ago
AHHH....I miss the days when people were proud of this country and to be Americans, and were dreamers and risk takers. I MISS MY AMERICA!!!
needlove1982 1 year ago 23
@needlove1982 I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AGREE. Now we spend our money for social"welfare" programs that do nothing to benefit mankind. How would Jack Kennedy view NASA today?
gekko14 6 months ago
@needlove1982 Yup, now your country has cut the taxes of the richest so noooo way you gonna be going back to the moon or to Mars... It's hitch a lift with the commie bastards from now on! You're owned by bankers now and bankers don't understand space exploration, only space exploitation :-(
Damnblastify 6 months ago
@needlove1982 Get in line buddy.
EpicZeldaWin 4 months ago
well done America now lets go to MARS.
solentgreen2020 1 year ago
All that is great about America!!
WheelSlip8 1 year ago
I was in 6 th grade and did a report on this in science class ! Great day for AMERICAN EXPLORATION !
wailingbones 1 year ago
People dressed funny in 1981
bshaun2 1 year ago
@bshaun2 They were still hanging on to the 70's, but just think if they saw how we dressed now how strange they would think it is.
spoung45a 1 year ago
@spoung45a
yea your right about that.
The kids shoes with the flashers in the heal would freak people out for sure.
bshaun2 1 year ago
A masterpiece.
Pretenders911 1 year ago
I remember this like it was yesterday. GOD I'm now 47 years old just where has the time gone ?
RussRubens 1 year ago
I remember this like it was yesterday.
RussRubens 1 year ago
30 years later...it would be the end...
dechm4af 1 year ago
Thanks for putting this up! It gives me chills seeing it again all these years later.
JuliusScenester 1 year ago
Just think, kids, the oil industry gets more money from the government in the form of subsidies and tax cuts than NASA EVERY YEAR. They pollute 1/4 of our coastline we give them money meanwhile the government agency that put us on the moon gets cancelled.
airdriver 1 year ago
@airdriver
The world runs on oil not space shuttles you twit
bshaun2 1 year ago
Lets's eject on the launch pad !! YAY!!!
newenglander2009 1 year ago
Damn you Obama!
Demokrator86 1 year ago
Living proof that even cool under fire Apollo 17 veteran Gene Cernan can scream, whoop and shout "Go Baby!" just like the rest of us. :)
JMChladek 1 year ago
29 years ago!
knightfan96 1 year ago
this must have been so fantastic to witness first hand
quasarwaves 1 year ago
I love listening to Cernan. You can so hear his excitement, the kind only an astronaut watching a new vehicle can have.
aesguerra15 2 years ago
With Frank Reynolds, was Astronaut Gene Cernan and WABC science editor, Jules Bergman.
kcufmalsi 2 years ago
This is WABC'S Frank Reynolds speaking... The best anchor WABC ever had.
kcufmalsi 2 years ago
Main anchor is Frank Reynolds
bobcnn1 2 years ago 2
Do you have anymore Coverage of the countdown and launch of STS-1?
zellco321 2 years ago
This is all I have.
bobcnn1 2 years ago
@zellco321 a channel called 321liftoff has almost any kind of coverage of shuttle launches you could want. ~~Cheers~~ !!
Hoodmonsa 9 months ago
@bobcnn1 Frank Reynolds (29 November 1923 – 20 July 1983 the 14th anniversary of Apollo 11 launch) Mr. Reynolds was 59 years old. I watched him on ABC.
airforcemax 9 months ago
Anybody know who the commentator is?
WVsonofliberty 2 years ago
excellent video, thanx for posting! It was better coverage than seen in the UK (see the STS-1 video I uploaded). There seemed to be more and different camera angles than in the UK coverage. I wonder why that was?
lunarmodule5 2 years ago
ABC News had their own cameras at these Space shuttle launches, the UK along with NBC and CBS use NASA tv cameras or somthing like that. Be advised that the ABC also showed NASA Cameras in the Black and white format that the other TV stations did not show. ABC news did their homework when it came to the early years of the Space Shuttle program. Smart People!
will28c9 2 years ago