Space Shuttle: A Remarkable Flying Machine (1981)

[CatalinElton]

Columbia - one of them birds who forever fly!

[geomodelrailroader]

the Shuttle is an amazing mechine I will miss them Columbia, Challenger,Discovery,Atlantis,­and Endeavour thank you my brave ships you done a good job

[almirantenegro]

in portugues say "saudade " of space bus !

[MrBennetzen]

Hail Columbia!!!!

[Zoomer30]

Looks like it had one big missing tile right next to the steps they walked down, in the black "triangle area" comeing up to the hatch. Not sue, could just be really discolored.

I watched this live when I was a kid, someone should tell Young to show more emotion, cant tell if he's happy ;-)

[ExNASATerry]

I had the privilege of working in Mission Control for this flight. (You can see me in the distance at the 14 minute mark, next to the bald gentleman in the front row.) A very exciting time! The shuttle's an amazing machine. I wish we could be sure there was something else coming down the road to replace it.

Thanks for posting this.

[albanyjohn]

@ExBearFan1 Thanks for that.

[techguy3000]

They waited until the last moment to lower the landing gear! What if it failed?

[ExNASATerry]

@techguy3000 Haven't you heard: "Failure is not an option!" :)

The shuttle falls like brick anyway. Lowering the gear increases the drag, so you want to wait as long as possible. Also, it lands very fast: over 200 mph. Lowering earlier adds a lot of aerodynamic stress to the gear. Besides, earlier wouldn't make any difference: if it doesn't come down, it doesn't come down, and it's a very bad day.

[techguy3000]

@ExNASATerry I guess so. ;)

[gdsnuff]

Thank you very much for posting this video!!

[albanyjohn]

Was that Christa McAuliffe @ 9.55. Oh I hope not, that would be truly freaky.

[ExNASATerry]

@albanyjohn No, this was long before the "Teacher in Space" program. It might be Bonnie Dunbar. Thirty years ago, I could have told you for sure. :)

[albanyjohn]

@ExNASATerry Thanks for responding. Must have been exciting times working with NASA.

[gbriff]

great film thanks

[vfr802]

The Shuttle program inspired such a great measure of national pride for me. It will always be an awesome achievement.

[Joshster66]

guy dancing 5:30 is amazing

[ShinigamiSuryc]

Awesome! Keep up the great uploads!

[robry84]

awesome video, great upload! thanks for sharing. Those who are still interested, find a copy of "When We Left Earth" in HD on the internet somewhere. It's almost 6 hours of space history, amazing really. It was a 6part special Discovery Ch did a few years ago. Totally worth a watch imo. Thanks again Airboyd!

[robry84]

awesome video, great upload! thanks for sharing. Those who are still interested, find a copy of "When We Left Earth" in HD on the internet somewhere. It's almost 6 hours of space history, amazing really. It was a 6part special Discovery Ch did a few years ago. Totally worth a watch imo. Thanks again Airboyd!

[MrMegaFredzeppelin]

GREAT DOCUMENTARY!!!!!!!

[Devendra95]

This is amazing. This video was uploaded on the same day when i'm doing my project on the space shuttle! Thanks for the upload

[0MoTheG]

tiles missing already back then, I wonder if they always knew there was a significant risk. I didn't know about the heat build-up, does anyone know more? Is that because the ship it like a thermos flask isolated by the void?

The wheels and landing-gear look oddly undersized.

[TheSithTeacher]

We want to see more of this in the future... LESS WARS... MORE SPACE EXPLORATION pls.

[TripleZ89]

@TheSithTeacher

Ummm no STAR WARS??

[1yakko1]

@TheSithTeacher Sadly.. war is money

[Crumatoc]

@TheSithTeacher Space Exploration will be just as much money as wars.

[1Nekit1]

@TheSithTeacher Shuttle can only go on orbit. [1981 - 2011] R.I.P. - Space Shuttle Discovery

[PPiTTislakatamia]

r.i.p columbia

[runway34r]

Why didnt they leave that huge center fuel tank white instead of orange?

[johngibbons86]

@runway34r they were painted white to protect the tanks from ultraviolet light during the extended time that the shuttle spends on the launch pad prior to launch but it turned out it wasn't a problem so in order to save weight the tanks rust-colored spray-on insulation was left bare.

[spins321]

@runway34r I am *probably* wrong, but I think orange is the unpainted natural finish? They stopped painting it white due to weight? I remember hearing or reading about it, but it's been so long...

[BOLIPILOT1]

Who'd have thought that this Virgin craft would have ended up in a fireball re-entry. RIP Columbia crew...

Great video & great bit of histroy. I remeber rushing home from school to watch the launch.

Thanks for the uploads Airboyd, please keep em coming.

[NLonDS]

Epic! Great video!

[gundrag000]

30 mins !

[MartinWAPerth]

Awesome!