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'On 8th July, 2011, Atlantis left the earth for the last time. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:09 | |
'After 30 years and 135 missions, | 0:00:12 | 0:00:15 | |
'the space shuttle was making its final flight. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
'I'm Kevin Fong and I used to work at NASA | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
'with the shuttle's medical research team. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
'For the last month of this last mission, | 0:00:25 | 0:00:27 | |
'I was granted unprecedented access to the shuttle programme.' | 0:00:27 | 0:00:31 | |
It's a machine that's going to come alive very, very soon. | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
'I was with the astronauts as they went through | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
'their final weeks of training.' | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
-I'm glad I'm wearing this, not that. -Yeah. It's a little warm. | 0:00:38 | 0:00:41 | |
I'm bracing myself against the seat in front, | 0:00:41 | 0:00:44 | |
dropping out of the sky like a stone here. | 0:00:44 | 0:00:46 | |
'And I found the unsung heroes | 0:00:46 | 0:00:48 | |
'who've worked on the shuttle since the beginning.' | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
After this is all gone, what's next for you? | 0:00:50 | 0:00:54 | |
To go look for another job. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:56 | |
'And I met the man in charge of it all during one of the most | 0:00:56 | 0:00:59 | |
'extraordinary and emotional months in NASA's history.' | 0:00:59 | 0:01:03 | |
Today, this being Atlantis' last flight, was really special for me. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
Um...this was the first...first space shuttle I commanded. | 0:01:08 | 0:01:13 | |
Before this era finally passes into history, | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
I want to see what it takes to get this remarkable machine into orbit. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:20 | |
And along the way, I want to talk to the men and women | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
who've worked here at NASA as part of the shuttle programme | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
and understand what the last three decades has meant to them. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:29 | |
30 years ago, I was sitting in an assembly hall at school | 0:01:53 | 0:01:56 | |
watching the first shuttle launch off the colour television then. | 0:01:56 | 0:02:01 | |
Back then, I never imagined I'd get a chance to work here. | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
And having done that, it's just incredible to get the chance | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
to come back and see the last shuttle launch. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
And the last 25 days of the last flight of the last space shuttle. | 0:02:13 | 0:02:17 | |
Thank you. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:18 | |
'I'm on my way to Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
'Johnson is home to the astronauts and their training ground. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:30 | |
'And it's where I used to work.' | 0:02:30 | 0:02:32 | |
They seem to be expecting me. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:35 | |
'And I want to say hello to some friends in my old department, | 0:02:35 | 0:02:38 | |
'the shuttle medical research team.' | 0:02:38 | 0:02:40 | |
Guys! This is your doing? | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
Yeah. A little bit. How are you? | 0:02:42 | 0:02:44 | |
Good to see you. Good to see you. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
-How are you? -Fine. How are you doing? -It's good to see you. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:51 | |
-It's good to see you. Got your flag. -Yes. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:02:53 | 0:02:55 | |
-Yeah. -Is it strange with the shuttle finishing now? -Oh, I know it's sad. | 0:02:55 | 0:02:59 | |
I hate to see that, but... | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
-You've been with the programme all along, haven't you? -25. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:04 | |
-Yeah, I've been here 25 years. -Weird to see it go, isn't it? | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
I know. Yeah. It is sad. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:10 | |
'Today, I've been invited to see the final shuttle crew | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
'and the mission control team being put through their paces. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:19 | |
'This is mission control, | 0:03:19 | 0:03:21 | |
'the nerve centre for shuttle flight operations. | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
'Commander Chris Ferguson is in charge of this final shuttle crew. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:30 | |
'They have a gruelling day of simulations ahead of them. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:34 | |
'It's a full dress rehearsal for their worst nightmares. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
'This is a high-fidelity, full-motion simulation. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:43 | |
'Everything is replicated, down to the last detail. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
'To the crew and mission control, it will feel like the real thing.' | 0:03:46 | 0:03:50 | |
What you're seeing there is this little cabin. | 0:03:52 | 0:03:55 | |
And on the inside, those black boxes are TVs facing into that cabin, | 0:03:55 | 0:03:59 | |
showing them exactly the view they're going to get during | 0:03:59 | 0:04:02 | |
all of these launch scenarios, all of the emergency-abort scenarios. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:06 | |
They have a pretty good idea from being in that what it's going | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
to be like if things go wrong on the day. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
'Neither the mission controllers nor the crew know what the | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
'training team is going to serve up today. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:26 | |
'Navigating through those simulated emergencies | 0:04:26 | 0:04:28 | |
'is going to be quite a feat.' | 0:04:28 | 0:04:30 | |
-"Liftoff confirmed." -Copy liftoff. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
-"Programme, Houston." -Roger, roll, Atlantis. | 0:04:32 | 0:04:36 | |
This is a room full of people, each of them | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
with a mission-critical task, | 0:04:39 | 0:04:40 | |
but the most important person down there at the moment | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
is the flight director, Richard Jones, | 0:04:43 | 0:04:45 | |
just sitting just off to the left there. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:47 | |
And it's his job to orchestrate all of this to keep that crew | 0:04:47 | 0:04:49 | |
and that vehicle safe. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:52 | |
'It's only seconds after launch and the crew are in trouble. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
'They've lost an engine and there are problems with the cooling system.' | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
-What's going on? -"It just went off." -We've lost PDL. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:01 | |
-"We've got a leak." -Leak on the right. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:05 | |
We do see the helium leak on the right. Go to work the procedure. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:09 | |
-And tell him he's still hot mike. -And you're still hot mike, Chunky. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
"You're still hot mike, chunky." | 0:05:13 | 0:05:14 | |
'The crew must decide whether to proceed or abort.' | 0:05:14 | 0:05:17 | |
"It's an upper system leak." | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
'The shuttle has past the point of no return. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:23 | |
'From here, they either continue to space | 0:05:23 | 0:05:25 | |
'or perform an emergency landing across the Atlantic.' | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
-Thank you. -Negative return. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:31 | |
-Atlantis, negative return. -Stay out open. | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
Stay out open, Chunky. It's a tank leak. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
'One wrong decision here | 0:05:36 | 0:05:38 | |
'and this emergency could become a catastrophe.' | 0:05:38 | 0:05:41 | |
Press the ATO, you can select Istres. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:43 | |
Looks like the right will make it to 23K, Chunky. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:47 | |
'They can't make it to orbit, so decide to land is Istres, France.' | 0:05:47 | 0:05:51 | |
OK. DPS, we have a little bit more time. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:53 | |
'That transatlantic flight would take a jumbo jet nine hours, | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
'but shuttle would do it in just 35 minutes.' | 0:05:57 | 0:06:00 | |
All right, we're going to have to live with that hot mike on board. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
And how many launches have you overseen in your time as flight director? | 0:06:03 | 0:06:07 | |
I've seen five before. This is going to be my sixth one. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:10 | |
What would you say to people who shrug and say, | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
"Well, it's been flying for 30 years, human space flight, | 0:06:12 | 0:06:16 | |
"mostly has become routine." | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
To what extent does it feel routine to you? | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
Putting humans on top of that explosion, in a way, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
that is going on underneath it just to get it into orbit, | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
it's just amazing. | 0:06:27 | 0:06:28 | |
And it's not even close to being routine. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:31 | |
You must have sims where everything goes wrong and theoretically, | 0:06:31 | 0:06:35 | |
the crew and the vehicle are lost. | 0:06:35 | 0:06:37 | |
How seriously do you take those? | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
Those are really ugly. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:40 | |
There are scenarios sometimes that you just cannot win. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
Sometimes you might have to do a bailout or it's a loss of control. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:48 | |
Those feel horrible when you have to go through them, | 0:06:48 | 0:06:51 | |
but there's so much to learn when you do go through them. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
They're almost like pieces of gold. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
'As the morning unfolds, the crew face launch after launch, | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
'each one featuring a new emergency.' | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
-Pick up. -We're going. Do we need all this capability? | 0:07:06 | 0:07:09 | |
They've chucked the kitchen sink at them. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
During the launch simulations, they've had engine failures, | 0:07:13 | 0:07:17 | |
they've tried to get to orbit, couldn't get to orbit. | 0:07:17 | 0:07:20 | |
They've then had to fly across the Atlantic, look for a landing site in Europe. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
And it's far from a foregone conclusion | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
that this simulation is going to work out all right. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:27 | |
-Abort ATO. -Atlantis, abort ATO. | 0:07:27 | 0:07:31 | |
"Abort ATO." | 0:07:31 | 0:07:34 | |
-This is Chris Ferguson. -Hey, Kevin. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:35 | |
Hi. Sorry to jump you after a long day in front of... | 0:07:35 | 0:07:39 | |
'After four hours in the sim, I get to meet commander Chris Ferguson. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:43 | |
'He only found out in January this year that the mission | 0:07:43 | 0:07:46 | |
'he was preparing for would be the shuttle's last.' | 0:07:46 | 0:07:50 | |
So, 24 days now before you go. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:53 | |
Have you managed to believe | 0:07:53 | 0:07:54 | |
you're going to be commanding the last flight? | 0:07:54 | 0:07:56 | |
I haven't counted the 24 days, but it's that close, huh? | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
-It's that close. -Yeah, they're clicking off pretty quickly now. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
I think I speak on behalf of my crew, we're extraordinarily honoured | 0:08:02 | 0:08:06 | |
and we're going to make everyone in America very proud | 0:08:06 | 0:08:09 | |
of 30 years of successful space shuttle. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
Of course, the last landing is going to be kind of, I guess historical. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:15 | |
We want to make sure we recognise the right people at the right time. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:19 | |
Have you imagined that moment, wheel stop? | 0:08:19 | 0:08:21 | |
It's going to be hard to capture 30 years of tremendous shuttle operation | 0:08:21 | 0:08:26 | |
in a sentence or two when it's all said and done. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:29 | |
We'll try to say something that's fitting. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:31 | |
Have you thought about what those words are going to be? | 0:08:31 | 0:08:33 | |
I have, but I can't let you know them now. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
-Oh, go on. -No, no, I can't. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:37 | |
'I'm in Florida, on my way to Cape Canaveral. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
'If Houston is the home of the astronauts, | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
'then Florida's Kennedy Space Centre is where the rockets are kept. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
'And it's where Atlantis will launch from in 20 days' time. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:02 | |
'Since it last flew in 2010, | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
'the spacecraft has undergone a complete refit. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:11 | |
'As this mission got closer, | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
'it was transferred to the giant vehicle-assembly building... | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
'..where it was attached to its vast external tank | 0:09:24 | 0:09:26 | |
'and twin solid rocket boosters. | 0:09:26 | 0:09:29 | |
'A week ago, this whole assembly was transferred to the launch pad, | 0:09:30 | 0:09:34 | |
'taking five hours to make the three-mile trip. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:37 | |
'And it's there that Atlantis will undergo all the final system checks | 0:09:40 | 0:09:44 | |
'that will make it ready for launch. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:46 | |
'Normally, it's impossible to get up close to a shuttle on the launch pad. | 0:09:58 | 0:10:02 | |
'But today, an astronaut friend from my NASA days is visiting Atlantis.' | 0:10:02 | 0:10:06 | |
That's a much better way to come to Florida. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:11 | |
'Dan Tani has a vital role on the ground for this mission. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:16 | |
'He's part of the CAPCOM team. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:17 | |
'He'll be in mission control, | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
'providing the vital communications link with the astronauts in space.' | 0:10:19 | 0:10:23 | |
-Hey, Dan. -Greeting crew! | 0:10:24 | 0:10:26 | |
-LAUGHTER -Nice ride! | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
'Dan has launched on two shuttle missions. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
'He knows this journey well. | 0:10:35 | 0:10:37 | |
'For this final flight, NASA has chosen Pad 39A, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:43 | |
'the same launch pad that sent Armstrong and his crew | 0:10:43 | 0:10:45 | |
'to the moon in 1969.' | 0:10:45 | 0:10:48 | |
So on launch morning, you get out of the Astrovan and, er... | 0:10:48 | 0:10:52 | |
you know, you stand here and you think | 0:10:52 | 0:10:54 | |
it's unbelievable that humans could | 0:10:54 | 0:10:56 | |
put something so complicated together. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
And what an incredible privilege it is, not only to stand there, | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
but hopefully in about four or five hours, | 0:11:01 | 0:11:03 | |
we're going to be circling the earth at 17,000 miles an hour. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:06 | |
It's really awesome. | 0:11:06 | 0:11:08 | |
You look up at the vehicle and steam is coming from it. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:15 | |
There's some creaking. There are motors that you hadn't heard before. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:21 | |
You feel like it's a beast that is awakening. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
And you get this awareness that it's a machine | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
that's going to come alive very, very soon. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
'At the base of the launch platform, | 0:11:32 | 0:11:34 | |
'a shuttle sleeping in its protective metal cocoon. | 0:11:34 | 0:11:37 | |
-This is the tail...? -The tail, yeah. -The rudder shuttle. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:41 | |
Yeah. Here's the rudder and the tail structure. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:44 | |
Those tiles, they're close enough to touch, but you don't touch them. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:48 | |
Oh, no, you don't touch anything out here. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:50 | |
We don't touch a flight part unless it's a requirement. | 0:11:50 | 0:11:53 | |
'For a successful shuttle launch, millions of things have to go right. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:58 | |
'If they don't, the result could be catastrophic.' | 0:11:59 | 0:12:03 | |
What you can see here, these stainless-steel things, | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
there are four of them on each SRB, so there's eight altogether. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:09 | |
These are the hold-down bolts that hold the entire stack, | 0:12:09 | 0:12:12 | |
4.5 million pounds of space shuttle | 0:12:12 | 0:12:14 | |
and booster to the launch platform on these four points. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:18 | |
What's interesting is at the moment of launch... | 0:12:18 | 0:12:21 | |
..the moment the SRBs are ignited, | 0:12:25 | 0:12:27 | |
there are pyrotechnics on the bolts and they're blown apart... | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
..to release the space shuttle from the launch platform. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
"Liftoff. 30 minutes..." | 0:12:37 | 0:12:39 | |
And that's just another component that has to work. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
Has to work 100%. If one of those bolts were to fail, | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
it would be a catastrophic failure. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
You cannot turn off this booster. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:53 | |
So it's a must-work function. | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
-Let's go. -It's probably the first and last time | 0:13:03 | 0:13:05 | |
I'll be catching a lift to a space shuttle while it's in the launch. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:09 | |
'This is the astronauts' lift | 0:13:09 | 0:13:12 | |
'and I'm going up 195 feet to the level of the flight deck.' | 0:13:12 | 0:13:16 | |
-This is it. -Welcome to 195. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:20 | |
'It's where every shuttle crew has entered their vehicle on launch day | 0:13:26 | 0:13:30 | |
'and it's a highly-restricted area.' | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
This is it. Once you're ready, and you have to be ready, | 0:13:33 | 0:13:36 | |
they'll wave you in and you'll make the walk out. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
That's to the white room. | 0:13:40 | 0:13:41 | |
You get ready and then you climb in from the white room, | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
through the hatch into the shuttle, get strapped in. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
Here's a piece of technology that passed us by | 0:13:49 | 0:13:52 | |
for the first couple of times we were up here, | 0:13:52 | 0:13:54 | |
but then somebody clued us in. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:56 | |
They go, "That phone up on the 195 works. It's a functional phone." | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
And, er...so what we started getting smart and doing is | 0:13:59 | 0:14:03 | |
on launch morning, bringing a couple of phone numbers | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
with you and you call your wife, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:07 | |
"Hey, just about to get on the space shuttle. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:10 | |
"I'll see you in a couple of weeks." Or I called my mom. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
-Did you really do that? -Absolutely. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
Hey, I had 20 minutes before I got strapped in. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:17 | |
It is just beautiful up here. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:27 | |
And 200 feet in the air off the coast, you know, | 0:14:27 | 0:14:32 | |
some sunshine, breeze in your hair. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:35 | |
And you're parked next to a hydrogen bomb. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:39 | |
And if you're the crew, | 0:14:39 | 0:14:41 | |
you're just about to get into a machine for the next few days, | 0:14:41 | 0:14:46 | |
if not few months, and leave the earth at 17,000 miles an hour. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:50 | |
'The astronauts are about to move to the next phase of their training. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
'And it's time for some real flying. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:04 | |
'The two hardest feats in all of rocket science | 0:15:04 | 0:15:06 | |
'are starting and stopping. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:08 | |
'Commander Chris Ferguson and Atlantis pilot Doug Hurley | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
'are about to practise landings in a specially-adapted jet | 0:15:18 | 0:15:22 | |
'that behaves exactly like a returning shuttle. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
'And they've invited me along for the ride.' | 0:15:25 | 0:15:28 | |
-Are you looking forward to this? -Yeah, these are fun. | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
We don't do a tonne of suited ones, but we do a fair amount. | 0:15:32 | 0:15:36 | |
-We do a lot of simulators. -I'm glad I'm wearing this, not that. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:39 | |
-Yeah, it's a little warm. -It's pretty warm. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:41 | |
'The shuttle returns to earth unpowered and falls from the sky | 0:15:43 | 0:15:46 | |
'at an angle seven times steeper than a commercial jet.' | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
Our shuttle trainer, which is a modified Gulfstream II business jet, | 0:15:50 | 0:15:53 | |
it has the exact same flying qualities as a space shuttle. | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
Of course, in order to get the flying qualities of a space shuttle, | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
you need to employ drastic techniques. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:01 | |
You need to deploy the landing gear at 30,000 feet | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
and the engines that are actually working | 0:16:04 | 0:16:06 | |
to push the shuttle training aeroplane backwards, | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
it's a tremendous rate of descent. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
I still remember my first experience. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:13 | |
It was 30,000 feet, I looked down at the runway, | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
it was a tiny little strip right under my left arm and I said, | 0:16:15 | 0:16:17 | |
"There is no way we are going to possibly land on that thing." | 0:16:17 | 0:16:21 | |
And he's says, "OK. You ready? I'm going to show you." | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
And it's amazing. You come downhill really fast, but it works. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:28 | |
And the space shuttle's the same way. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
So I'm about to get on this aircraft. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:35 | |
Chris Ferguson, commander of SCS 135, | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
is going to take it up to 20,000-odd feet, | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
put those engines into reverse... | 0:16:42 | 0:16:45 | |
..stick it in a 20-degree down dive, | 0:16:46 | 0:16:50 | |
get about 10 feet off the runway, as far as I can tell, | 0:16:50 | 0:16:54 | |
pull up, go around, do that 10 times. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
It's going to be interesting. | 0:16:58 | 0:17:00 | |
'The shuttle is designed so it can be steered | 0:17:07 | 0:17:10 | |
'at hypersonic speeds in the upper atmosphere. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
'But as it gets close to home, below the speed of sound, | 0:17:12 | 0:17:16 | |
'its short wings mean that it sinks like a stone.' | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
So we're on the climb on the way up to the first of those approaches. | 0:17:23 | 0:17:28 | |
We're getting ourselves up to something like 20,000 feet now, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:32 | |
getting ready to put ourselves at that very steep dive | 0:17:32 | 0:17:34 | |
with the engines in reverse. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
'Chris Ferguson's side of the cockpit | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
'is identical to the flight deck of Atlantis.' | 0:17:40 | 0:17:43 | |
There you go. That noise... | 0:17:43 | 0:17:45 | |
is the engines of this aircraft going into reverse. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:49 | |
'We're experiencing the deadweight and powerlessness of the shuttle.' | 0:17:51 | 0:17:56 | |
Looking out of the window now, I am looking straight down at the ground. | 0:17:56 | 0:17:59 | |
'We're falling at 28,000 feet per minute.' | 0:18:02 | 0:18:05 | |
All the way down. Bracing myself against the seat in front. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
It feels like you're falling out of the sky now. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:16 | |
'And just a few feet from the ground, | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
'we pull up and soar back into the sky.' | 0:18:19 | 0:18:21 | |
That's just amazing! It's just amazing! | 0:18:30 | 0:18:32 | |
We'll have come down 16,000 feet | 0:18:40 | 0:18:42 | |
by the time we're lined up with the runway. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:44 | |
You really do feel like this thing's pointed right at the ground. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:49 | |
Dropping out of the sky like a stone here. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:53 | |
'A mission commander has to complete at least a thousand of these | 0:18:54 | 0:18:57 | |
'practise runs before they fly the real shuttle. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
'Chris Ferguson has completed one thousand.' | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
Off we go again. It's just incredible! It's just amazing! | 0:19:11 | 0:19:15 | |
That is the craziest thing I think I've...ever done. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:33 | |
That was an hour and a half of going 28,000 to zero. | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
28,000 to zero, 28,000 to zero. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
Um...it was just incredible. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:43 | |
Just incredible. And the thing just drops out of the sky like a rock. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
And you're being flown by the guy | 0:19:46 | 0:19:48 | |
who's about to command the last space shuttle. | 0:19:48 | 0:19:51 | |
During its mission, there are many phases | 0:19:58 | 0:20:00 | |
when the shuttle is under extreme stress. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:03 | |
The fierce heat of re-entry is more than enough | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
to destroy an unprotected vehicle. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:08 | |
On 1 February 2003, space shuttle Columbia was due to | 0:20:11 | 0:20:15 | |
return from a 16-day mission. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
-SHUTTLE: -'This is Columbia, Houston. | 0:20:18 | 0:20:20 | |
'We see your tyre pressure messages and we did not copy.' | 0:20:20 | 0:20:23 | |
-MISSION CONTROL: -Is it instrumentation? | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
'Columbia, Houston - UHF com check.' | 0:20:27 | 0:20:30 | |
In the skies above Texas, Columbia broke up as she hit | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
the upper atmosphere. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:48 | |
Her insulating shield had been damaged on take-off | 0:20:52 | 0:20:55 | |
and she could not survive the heat of re-entry. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
All seven crew members - lost. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:03 | |
Terry White has worked on the shuttle's thermal protection | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
system since the beginning. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:16 | |
'His last job is to make Atlantis ready for mission. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:20 | |
'With Atlantis on the launch pad, he showed me around another | 0:21:20 | 0:21:24 | |
'shuttle - Discovery - which flew her last mission in February 2011.' | 0:21:24 | 0:21:29 | |
What we see is extreme temperature about 3,000 degrees | 0:21:29 | 0:21:33 | |
Fahrenheit on re-entry. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:35 | |
So it's really important to have the thermal protection system | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
intact to make sure that the orbiter, its payload | 0:21:38 | 0:21:43 | |
and the astronauts, get home safe. Right. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
Were you to take one of the tiles of the vehicle, | 0:21:46 | 0:21:49 | |
this is what it would look like. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:51 | |
That's a lot lighter than it looks like it should be. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
That feels a bit more like a polystyrene block. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:56 | |
Yes, that's the closest thing it's similar to. | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
These are easily damaged. You can actually hear one | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
when I push my thumb into it, you can hear it crack. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:04 | |
The coating is about the thickness of an eggshell. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
This is one of the new tiles. This one's so strong | 0:22:07 | 0:22:09 | |
you can actually bang it on the end of the table. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:11 | |
And these were developed after... | 0:22:13 | 0:22:15 | |
They were developed before the Columbia incident, but we started | 0:22:15 | 0:22:19 | |
using them after the Columbia incident. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:21 | |
That was a way to make the vehicles even safer. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:23 | |
So if you want a new tile, just one tile on the vehicle, | 0:22:23 | 0:22:26 | |
end-to-end, start to finish, how long would that take? | 0:22:26 | 0:22:30 | |
It takes ten days to two weeks, | 0:22:30 | 0:22:31 | |
-depending on where it's at... -One tile? -One tile. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:34 | |
-How long would it take to put 24,000 on? -A couple of years! | 0:22:36 | 0:22:41 | |
And they're about to send this to the museum. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:45 | |
After this has all gone, after these processing facilities | 0:22:45 | 0:22:49 | |
are empty, what's next for you? | 0:22:49 | 0:22:52 | |
To go look for another job! | 0:22:52 | 0:22:55 | |
I've been doing this for 33 years, but I'm not quite ready to | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
retire, so I'll go look for something else to do. | 0:22:58 | 0:23:01 | |
The last three decades have seen an extraordinary | 0:23:10 | 0:23:13 | |
team of specialists like Terry come together, | 0:23:13 | 0:23:16 | |
each an authority in their own field, each one dedicated to | 0:23:16 | 0:23:20 | |
a particular system needed to make the shuttle what it is. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:24 | |
And with no new craft fully developed to take manned | 0:23:24 | 0:23:27 | |
space flight to the next level, | 0:23:27 | 0:23:28 | |
this unique group of people will have to be broken up. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:31 | |
Today the astronauts have arrived in Florida for a dress rehearsal. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:39 | |
-Permission to go aboard. -Absolutely. -Permission to go aboard. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:42 | |
Have a great day, guys. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:44 | |
It's the first time they'll enter the shuttle on the pad. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:47 | |
-Come on in, boss! -How are you doing? -Great, man. -You look marvellous. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:51 | |
Waiting for them is another specialist team - | 0:23:51 | 0:23:54 | |
the Closeout Crew - who make sure | 0:23:54 | 0:23:56 | |
the astronauts are fully equipped and ready for launch. | 0:23:56 | 0:23:59 | |
These guys have obsessive attention to detail as a job requirement. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:07 | |
They must check every last aspect of the astronauts equipment, | 0:24:07 | 0:24:10 | |
powering their flight suits and strapping them in to the vehicle. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:13 | |
You are literally the last people on earth that the crew see | 0:24:15 | 0:24:18 | |
-before they go. -We connect with them | 0:24:18 | 0:24:20 | |
when they come in there and we make it | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
a point to connect with them because we want to make them comfortable. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:27 | |
'We're there for them and to help them do their job.' | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
All right. I'm going in. She's going in. Look out! | 0:24:32 | 0:24:36 | |
Chick comin' aboard! | 0:24:36 | 0:24:38 | |
'We've got to know several over the years | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
and got to be real good friends with a lot of them. We want to do it. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:45 | |
But we're not going to get the shot, you know. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
And we see them do it, we love it. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:49 | |
And we connect with all of them the best we can. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:52 | |
One of my biggest jobs that I'm going to have on launch day is | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
accounting for him, to make sure he's not in there | 0:24:56 | 0:24:59 | |
when I close the hatch! | 0:24:59 | 0:25:01 | |
Because he would go and fly on it, you know, as we all would. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:07 | |
That's my main job, my main check list. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
All right, guys. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:12 | |
And then the last thing we do is we look at the Commander in the window | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
and he's usually laying there and he gives us the thumbs up, he or she. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:20 | |
And we like that part. | 0:25:20 | 0:25:22 | |
We get to wave to them and then we go down the elevator | 0:25:22 | 0:25:24 | |
and we go over here in this field and we wait. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
We have to close and lock the hatch. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:32 | |
And this is the tool that you use to do that. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:35 | |
This is the key to the space shuttle. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:37 | |
This is the key to the space shuttle. This is called the locking T-tool. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:41 | |
And we turn it 450 degrees and then you lock it right there, | 0:25:41 | 0:25:46 | |
from the outside and you push these tabs and remove it. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
-How many of these do you have? -18. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
Always good to have spare keys for the space shuttle, I should imagine. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
-Yes. -I just quite like this "remove before flight" label! | 0:25:54 | 0:25:57 | |
-You don't want to take off with the keys still in the door! -No! | 0:25:57 | 0:26:01 | |
The launch is getting ever closer, so I am lucky to be able to grab | 0:26:06 | 0:26:10 | |
lunch with Rex Walheim, another member of the Atlantis crew. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:13 | |
I want to know how being an astronaut affects those | 0:26:13 | 0:26:16 | |
closest to them. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:17 | |
It's really tough on the family. How does your family cope? | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
My kids since they can remember, I've been an astronaut | 0:26:22 | 0:26:25 | |
so they've always know it's part of my job and the first time I told | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
them... I didn't tell them for a few days I'm going on the shuttle, | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
you know and I'll be gone a couple of weeks. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:33 | |
I kind of told them in their rooms and they were three and five | 0:26:33 | 0:26:36 | |
at the time. And they're kind of, OK. Everybody does that(!) | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
So, it wasn't a real big deal for them. It's kind of a vague memory | 0:26:40 | 0:26:43 | |
now, but they kind of know this is what dad does. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:46 | |
Who finds it hardest out of everyone on launch day? | 0:26:46 | 0:26:49 | |
On launch day, the spouses. Definitely the spouses. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
It is hard on them, especially my wife. It's hardest on them, | 0:26:52 | 0:26:55 | |
they understand what we're going through and they have no | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
sense of control over it like we do when we're in the cockpit. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
-Did you know her when you got selected? -Yes. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:04 | |
When I was first dating her I told her | 0:27:04 | 0:27:06 | |
I was applying to be an astronaut and being the type who tends to | 0:27:06 | 0:27:10 | |
worry a little more than others, | 0:27:10 | 0:27:12 | |
it was really kind of funny that she ended up married to someone | 0:27:12 | 0:27:14 | |
-who's an astronaut, so... -Will she be glad when you stop flying? | 0:27:14 | 0:27:18 | |
Yes. I think when I'm done doing the flying in space stuff | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
she'll be very happy about that! | 0:27:21 | 0:27:22 | |
In less than a week the astronauts will | 0:27:24 | 0:27:26 | |
arrive in Florida for the final time. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
They'll go into quarantine in dedicated, if somewhat spartan | 0:27:29 | 0:27:32 | |
crew quarters, where every astronaut | 0:27:32 | 0:27:35 | |
since Apollo has spent their last days on earth. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
'Cameras are rarely allowed here but before the crew of Atlantis | 0:27:38 | 0:27:43 | |
'arrive, my friend Dan gives me a guided tour.' | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
This is really our home away from home down here. It's awesome. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:49 | |
When you come down flight T38 in, | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
the crew will, you make the drive over here and just make this walk | 0:27:51 | 0:27:56 | |
and once you get in the elevator, | 0:27:56 | 0:27:57 | |
you think it's unbelievable... the real thing. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
'Dan introduces me to Gloria and Dolores, | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
'two of the most important people to the astronauts in isolation.' | 0:28:03 | 0:28:07 | |
All right. So, first of all these are the folks that keep us happy | 0:28:07 | 0:28:12 | |
down here and you want happy crew. Because they provide the food. | 0:28:12 | 0:28:15 | |
One of the things we do in the kitchen is to try to make | 0:28:15 | 0:28:19 | |
everything as home-made as we possibly can and everything | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
that we feed them and put on weight, they lose up in space! | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
We try to! | 0:28:26 | 0:28:28 | |
One of the things I didn't know about a week before launch, | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
there's a sheet came around and said what kind of sandwich do you want? | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
You know, on orbit. And I thought, a sandwich? What? And... I don't know. | 0:28:34 | 0:28:39 | |
Ham and cheese, I guess. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:42 | |
And so the morning of the lunch, these folks make | 0:28:42 | 0:28:45 | |
sandwiches for the crew, pack 'em away in a bag and they're on | 0:28:45 | 0:28:48 | |
the shuttle with us, under the seat, tied to the seat, | 0:28:48 | 0:28:51 | |
so that it doesn't float away. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:53 | |
And then as soon as you get into orbit, take off your suit, | 0:28:53 | 0:28:57 | |
you can have a sandwich. And I didn't know that so... | 0:28:57 | 0:29:00 | |
-Yours was ham and cheese. -Ham and cheese! | 0:29:00 | 0:29:02 | |
The biggest majority of them, peanut butter and jello. | 0:29:02 | 0:29:06 | |
It's a sin to say that! | 0:29:06 | 0:29:08 | |
The quarters are set up especially for each new crew. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:12 | |
'I meet manager Judy Hooper in the astronaut common room. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
'Judy has been here since the beginning looking after | 0:29:18 | 0:29:21 | |
'astronauts and their families in the run-up to launch.' | 0:29:21 | 0:29:24 | |
I've been here since STS One. I came on board in 1979. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:30 | |
And it was the most exciting thing that you could ever, ever imagine. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:37 | |
Everybody you run into, every engineer, every tech, | 0:29:37 | 0:29:41 | |
every astronaut, it didn't matter where they worked. | 0:29:41 | 0:29:45 | |
They would have done it for free. That's how cool it was. | 0:29:45 | 0:29:49 | |
I mean, you're working on the space shuttle. | 0:29:49 | 0:29:53 | |
What else could be better than that? | 0:29:53 | 0:29:55 | |
'I asked Judy about the toughest times she's faced here | 0:29:55 | 0:29:59 | |
'and she spoke about the first shuttle accident - | 0:29:59 | 0:30:02 | |
'Challenger in 1986.' | 0:30:02 | 0:30:04 | |
I was up on the LCC roof, watching the family through there. Um... | 0:30:04 | 0:30:11 | |
And I remember looking up and... | 0:30:15 | 0:30:18 | |
..somehow you know. | 0:30:19 | 0:30:21 | |
You know, you don't know the minute you realise it, | 0:30:23 | 0:30:27 | |
because I think you kind of go into shock. | 0:30:27 | 0:30:29 | |
And liftoff. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:34 | |
Liftoff of the 25th Space Shuttle mission, | 0:30:34 | 0:30:37 | |
and it has cleared the tower. | 0:30:37 | 0:30:38 | |
Challenger exploded 73 seconds into flight in the skies above Florida. | 0:30:40 | 0:30:45 | |
Challenger, go at throttle-up. | 0:30:45 | 0:30:48 | |
Roger, go at throttle-up. | 0:30:48 | 0:30:50 | |
RUMBLING | 0:30:53 | 0:30:55 | |
A fault in one of the solid rocket boosters | 0:31:06 | 0:31:08 | |
caused a catastrophic failure. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:10 | |
-Go ahead. -RSO reports vehicle exploded. | 0:31:16 | 0:31:19 | |
Copy. | 0:31:22 | 0:31:24 | |
All seven crew members, | 0:31:26 | 0:31:28 | |
including NASA's first civilian astronaut, were lost. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:32 | |
It's just so sad, because this was such a great crew, you know, | 0:31:41 | 0:31:46 | |
and to me, they're still great. | 0:31:46 | 0:31:48 | |
And I'm so glad that what they sacrificed could mean something, | 0:31:48 | 0:31:54 | |
because we learned from that, like everything else. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:58 | |
You're never ever going to make | 0:32:05 | 0:32:07 | |
human space exploration completely safe. | 0:32:07 | 0:32:10 | |
It's always going to be like this. | 0:32:10 | 0:32:12 | |
This is a memorial to all of the NASA astronauts who have died | 0:32:12 | 0:32:16 | |
either while training or on mission, and look at that monument. | 0:32:16 | 0:32:20 | |
There is plenty of space for more names. It will always be like this. | 0:32:20 | 0:32:24 | |
Exploration will always be risk, and without risk, there is no progress. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:30 | |
First Challenger and then the Columbia accident | 0:32:34 | 0:32:37 | |
cast long shadows over the programme | 0:32:37 | 0:32:39 | |
and caused NASA to search its soul. | 0:32:39 | 0:32:42 | |
They sought to learn from their mistakes | 0:32:42 | 0:32:44 | |
and make Shuttle ever safer. | 0:32:44 | 0:32:46 | |
With the flight of Atlantis days away, | 0:32:46 | 0:32:49 | |
I want to see one of the more recent weapons in that armoury. | 0:32:49 | 0:32:52 | |
-Kenny, this is your office here. -This is it. | 0:32:54 | 0:32:57 | |
If you will, let's open this up and undo those snaps | 0:32:57 | 0:33:00 | |
and show the cameras. | 0:33:00 | 0:33:03 | |
'Kenny Allen is a specialist cameraman. | 0:33:03 | 0:33:06 | |
'On launch day, he'll be one of the closest human beings to Atlantis.' | 0:33:06 | 0:33:10 | |
This is our camera tracking mount. | 0:33:10 | 0:33:13 | |
'After Columbia, NASA invested 39 million in specialist digital images. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:19 | |
'The pictures taken reveal in minute detail any damage the shuttle experiences during launch.' | 0:33:19 | 0:33:25 | |
The whole system is top-notch. | 0:33:25 | 0:33:28 | |
You won't find anything better than this anywhere in the world right now. | 0:33:28 | 0:33:32 | |
There's no way. | 0:33:32 | 0:33:33 | |
I see a seat in the middle of this, so that's your throne for the day. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:36 | |
On launch day, I come out here and I sit in the seat and we hear | 0:33:36 | 0:33:38 | |
the countdown and it's getting exciting and everything's nerve-racking, | 0:33:38 | 0:33:44 | |
and as soon as the shuttle lifts off and the sound comes in, | 0:33:44 | 0:33:47 | |
and your clothes, everything, it starts pounding, | 0:33:47 | 0:33:50 | |
and you can see I'm in this little enclosed area | 0:33:50 | 0:33:53 | |
and the sound waves start coming in here | 0:33:53 | 0:33:55 | |
and it really feels like somebody's just punching on my chest. | 0:33:55 | 0:33:58 | |
Its neat. At liftoff, I'm concentrating right on the joystick, | 0:33:58 | 0:34:02 | |
and I look through the scope | 0:34:02 | 0:34:03 | |
and I track throughout the duration of the flight, | 0:34:03 | 0:34:07 | |
and then as it goes up, and I track down and I stop, it's like, | 0:34:07 | 0:34:11 | |
"Yes! All right! We did another one." | 0:34:11 | 0:34:13 | |
Then you go rush off to see what you did. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:15 | |
Immediately after launch, | 0:34:15 | 0:34:16 | |
Kenny's images can be analysed frame by frame. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:20 | |
This is where we record the video that's shot out there. | 0:34:20 | 0:34:22 | |
-This is Tim Terry. -Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you. | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
The imagery's stunning, there's no doubt, | 0:34:25 | 0:34:28 | |
but it's not stunning just for stunning's sake. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:31 | |
There's groups of engineers looking at different parts | 0:34:31 | 0:34:33 | |
of the shuttle, just like I'm doing here, frame by frame, and they | 0:34:33 | 0:34:36 | |
all have their own little interest, their own little department, and | 0:34:36 | 0:34:39 | |
they all are looking at things in the minutest of detail, every launch. | 0:34:39 | 0:34:44 | |
If the shuttle's tiles were found to be severely damaged, NASA could | 0:34:44 | 0:34:48 | |
make a call whether to undertake repairs in space or offload | 0:34:48 | 0:34:52 | |
the crew to the International Space Station and abandon the shuttle. | 0:34:52 | 0:34:56 | |
You have all these cameras trained on this vehicle | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
because of a catastrophic accident. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:03 | |
Well, if you go back and look at the history, | 0:35:03 | 0:35:05 | |
135 Space Shuttle missions, we've had two mishaps. | 0:35:05 | 0:35:09 | |
On the Challenger, the only thing that found out what happened, | 0:35:09 | 0:35:12 | |
the only thing that identified what happened was photo. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:15 | |
The same thing with Columbia, when the foam hit the wing, it was seen. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:21 | |
But what we're here for at the end of the day is to say, | 0:35:21 | 0:35:24 | |
that shuttle's safe. It's not damaged in any way. | 0:35:24 | 0:35:27 | |
It's flying, we're going to bring those guys home. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:30 | |
With four days to go, the crew of Atlantis | 0:35:34 | 0:35:36 | |
arrive at Cape Canaveral on American Independence Day. | 0:35:36 | 0:35:39 | |
That's Chris and Sandy arriving in the jet on the right, | 0:35:42 | 0:35:45 | |
and Rex and Doug are on the jet on the left, | 0:35:45 | 0:35:48 | |
and they're in quarantine now, | 0:35:48 | 0:35:51 | |
which means that nobody except for front-line mission operations | 0:35:51 | 0:35:54 | |
personnel or close family are allowed within ten feet of them. | 0:35:54 | 0:35:58 | |
Good afternoon to everybody. | 0:36:01 | 0:36:03 | |
I think it's wonderful that you've all come out to join us, | 0:36:03 | 0:36:06 | |
when I know and I certainly hope that you will have an opportunity | 0:36:06 | 0:36:09 | |
to go home when this is all done and enjoy some barbecues, | 0:36:09 | 0:36:12 | |
some fireworks and some apple pie. | 0:36:12 | 0:36:15 | |
The crew now in quarantine, I wanted to find out what | 0:36:17 | 0:36:19 | |
goes through the mind of an astronaut | 0:36:19 | 0:36:21 | |
as they step away from the public gaze | 0:36:21 | 0:36:23 | |
and think of the mission they're about to embark upon. | 0:36:23 | 0:36:26 | |
So I went to meet with Dan Tani again, | 0:36:29 | 0:36:31 | |
and two astronaut friends he trained with. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:34 | |
Over the last decade, Dan has spent over four months in space. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:38 | |
Greg Chematov put the last bolt in the International Space Station, | 0:36:40 | 0:36:44 | |
and British-born Piers Sellers has clocked up | 0:36:44 | 0:36:47 | |
over 40 hours in space walks. | 0:36:47 | 0:36:50 | |
If we go through the arithmetic on it, this is amongst the most | 0:36:50 | 0:36:53 | |
risky jobs outside of the military during war there is. | 0:36:53 | 0:36:58 | |
I don't even like watching other people's launches. | 0:36:58 | 0:37:01 | |
If I'm back here, I never enjoy them. It just makes me nervous. | 0:37:01 | 0:37:07 | |
It's a dangerous business. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:08 | |
Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying, | 0:37:08 | 0:37:10 | |
and launch is probably about the most dangerous phase. | 0:37:10 | 0:37:14 | |
The more you know about the vehicle, the more you know about all | 0:37:14 | 0:37:17 | |
the very small margins, you know, there's a lot at risk. | 0:37:17 | 0:37:22 | |
So when you're watching, it is nerve-racking. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:24 | |
When you're in it, it's great, because you're going. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:27 | |
You have something to do. You have a job. | 0:37:27 | 0:37:29 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:37:29 | 0:37:34 | |
Explain that a bit to me, because you know what can happen, | 0:37:34 | 0:37:36 | |
you've seen what can happen, | 0:37:36 | 0:37:38 | |
and yet your launches, that's not in your mind. | 0:37:38 | 0:37:41 | |
They say when you climb Everest, you know the places where people | 0:37:41 | 0:37:45 | |
fell off and been killed, and for Shuttle, both my launches, | 0:37:45 | 0:37:51 | |
you listen for "go at throttle-up" | 0:37:51 | 0:37:53 | |
and you know that this is the moment that you lost Challenger, | 0:37:53 | 0:37:56 | |
and then when you're coming back home and you're coming through Mach 19, | 0:37:56 | 0:38:00 | |
you know this is when we lost Columbia, | 0:38:00 | 0:38:02 | |
so you have these, you pass these moments, and for me, there was | 0:38:02 | 0:38:05 | |
certainly relief past "go at throttle-up" and coming in past 19, | 0:38:05 | 0:38:10 | |
where you think, "Wow..." Not that that same thing's going to hit you, | 0:38:10 | 0:38:14 | |
but this was the moment, and I'm glad to be past it. | 0:38:14 | 0:38:21 | |
I never felt an active sense of jeopardy. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:23 | |
I guess it was there in the background, | 0:38:23 | 0:38:26 | |
but I never really paid attention to it, | 0:38:26 | 0:38:28 | |
and then coming down in the shuttle, | 0:38:28 | 0:38:30 | |
and it wasn't until I touched down, | 0:38:30 | 0:38:32 | |
and all of a sudden I felt this relief that must have been | 0:38:32 | 0:38:37 | |
collected for months, about, I'm really home, | 0:38:37 | 0:38:39 | |
I'm really going to be back, I'm really going to see my family again, | 0:38:39 | 0:38:43 | |
it's really over, I really got back down safely. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:45 | |
This is the question that everybody outside the fence is always | 0:38:45 | 0:38:49 | |
going to ask. 30 years of Shuttle, 135 flights. Why did you do it? | 0:38:49 | 0:38:55 | |
Why did WE do it? | 0:38:55 | 0:38:57 | |
It's raised our ability to do things in space from a very | 0:38:57 | 0:39:01 | |
rudimentary level to an extremely ambitious level. Now look what we do. | 0:39:01 | 0:39:06 | |
We have pretty much building sites up there with these gigantic arms | 0:39:06 | 0:39:09 | |
flying around doing things, so it's raised the level of technology | 0:39:09 | 0:39:14 | |
and engineering enormously over 30 years, | 0:39:14 | 0:39:18 | |
so that when we do get around to doing something further out, | 0:39:18 | 0:39:21 | |
we'll have a big repository of knowledge and experience to build on. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:25 | |
The world's news crews are gearing up for launch day. | 0:39:27 | 0:39:30 | |
The astronauts and the hardware are nearing their state of readiness. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:34 | |
But there's one thing that's still out of NASA's control. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:38 | |
So, worrying news, 48 hours to launch, | 0:39:38 | 0:39:41 | |
and I've just heard there's a 60% chance that the thing won't launch, | 0:39:41 | 0:39:45 | |
because of the weather conditions. | 0:39:45 | 0:39:47 | |
After all that engineering and all that technology, | 0:39:47 | 0:39:49 | |
it comes down to clouds and rain. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:51 | |
I'm just going to find out what's happening. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:53 | |
Kathy Winters is NASA's chief weather officer. | 0:39:54 | 0:39:57 | |
I wish I had better weather for the forecast, | 0:39:58 | 0:40:01 | |
but it is not looking favourable right now. | 0:40:01 | 0:40:03 | |
We're going to have some showers and potentially some | 0:40:03 | 0:40:05 | |
thunderstorms by launch time. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:07 | |
I'm Kevin from BBC. You have to understand, we're British | 0:40:07 | 0:40:10 | |
so we only ever talk about the weather, and you're the most | 0:40:10 | 0:40:15 | |
important weather woman in the world for me today, so I just wonder what | 0:40:15 | 0:40:18 | |
it's like to feel the pressure of getting this forecast right, Kathy. | 0:40:18 | 0:40:21 | |
I wouldn't call it pressure, I would call it exciting. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
It's really an exciting situation we get into. | 0:40:24 | 0:40:26 | |
It's not really, I guess, a feeling like stress | 0:40:26 | 0:40:29 | |
until maybe afterwards and then a big letdown | 0:40:29 | 0:40:31 | |
if you do happen to screw up, but that's kind of how it is. | 0:40:31 | 0:40:35 | |
The next stage in Atlantis's countdown to launch is to get | 0:40:35 | 0:40:39 | |
fuel aboard its giant external tank. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:42 | |
But over the whole of the next day, the weather takes over. | 0:40:43 | 0:40:47 | |
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise that | 0:40:53 | 0:40:56 | |
having lightning coming down when you're filling a vehicle with | 0:40:56 | 0:40:59 | |
thousands and thousands of tonnes, here we go, | 0:40:59 | 0:41:01 | |
of liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen, it's a dangerous thing. | 0:41:01 | 0:41:08 | |
At the moment, they're trying to get the rotating service structure | 0:41:08 | 0:41:12 | |
back away from the vehicle | 0:41:12 | 0:41:13 | |
so they can get access to it to get the fuel on board, | 0:41:13 | 0:41:16 | |
but they need to have no lightning and better weather than this, | 0:41:16 | 0:41:20 | |
and if that process slips by more than four or five hours, | 0:41:20 | 0:41:23 | |
they're going to have to rethink the whole thing, | 0:41:23 | 0:41:26 | |
possibly going to have to scrub. | 0:41:26 | 0:41:28 | |
-It's a bit crazy in here today, Jeff. -Absolutely. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:31 | |
'Atlantis's mission is to rendezvous with the International Space Station, | 0:41:31 | 0:41:36 | |
'but to do that, she has to launch at just the right time.' | 0:41:36 | 0:41:40 | |
I'm seeing lightning, and hearing thunder, do you really think | 0:41:40 | 0:41:43 | |
there's any chance of you getting off the ground tomorrow? | 0:41:43 | 0:41:45 | |
I think the weather we've got coming in tomorrow, | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
people have said there are some breaks in that weather, | 0:41:47 | 0:41:50 | |
and we only need, it doesn't matter how bad it is beforehand, | 0:41:50 | 0:41:53 | |
it's when we get to that key zero timeframe. | 0:41:53 | 0:41:55 | |
In any given day, how long is the window in which you can launch? | 0:41:55 | 0:41:59 | |
Normally it's about ten minutes long. It's designed to be ten minutes long. | 0:41:59 | 0:42:03 | |
When you're trying to an object going 17,000 miles an hour, | 0:42:03 | 0:42:07 | |
the ability for you to get that point in space at the same time they are, | 0:42:07 | 0:42:10 | |
starting from zero, is really a challenge, so you have to | 0:42:10 | 0:42:14 | |
shoot at just the right spot, at just the right angle so you have | 0:42:14 | 0:42:16 | |
enough of propellant and enough capability on board | 0:42:16 | 0:42:20 | |
to be able to steer the vehicle to meet the station at the right time, | 0:42:20 | 0:42:23 | |
because otherwise, you're not going to hit it. | 0:42:23 | 0:42:25 | |
It's the day before the launch, and taking advantage of a brief | 0:42:28 | 0:42:31 | |
break in the weather, the launch control team decide to press ahead | 0:42:31 | 0:42:35 | |
and peel back the orbiter's protective shield. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:38 | |
She's now ready for fuelling, | 0:42:38 | 0:42:39 | |
and I get my first proper look at Atlantis. | 0:42:39 | 0:42:43 | |
If the weather holds, Atlantis will be fuelled overnight, | 0:42:46 | 0:42:49 | |
ready for launch tomorrow. | 0:42:49 | 0:42:51 | |
In the early hours of the morning, I get the call. | 0:42:55 | 0:42:58 | |
Atlantis has been fuelled, countdown will begin. | 0:42:58 | 0:43:02 | |
Four o'clock in the morning, the morning of the launch. | 0:43:02 | 0:43:06 | |
If's kind of strange. | 0:43:06 | 0:43:07 | |
I didn't really think that I would feel anything in particular | 0:43:07 | 0:43:11 | |
this morning, but as time goes on, | 0:43:11 | 0:43:16 | |
I sort of start to feel like the people we've been talking to, | 0:43:16 | 0:43:20 | |
a bit happy, a bit sad. | 0:43:20 | 0:43:24 | |
There's a small part of me that doesn't want it to go today, | 0:43:24 | 0:43:29 | |
because then the end doesn't have to start so soon. | 0:43:29 | 0:43:32 | |
It's quite unexpected. | 0:43:32 | 0:43:36 | |
As I arrive at Kennedy, I see Rene and Travis from the close-out crew, | 0:43:36 | 0:43:40 | |
preparing to leave the shuttle on the launchpad. | 0:43:40 | 0:43:42 | |
-How are you? -Great. | 0:43:44 | 0:43:46 | |
-You ready this morning? -Yes, sir! Ready. | 0:43:46 | 0:43:48 | |
Do you think the weather's going to hold for you today? | 0:43:48 | 0:43:51 | |
Do you know, it's above my area of expertise. | 0:43:51 | 0:43:54 | |
I've had flight crews out there in the rain before | 0:43:54 | 0:43:56 | |
and we ended up launching, | 0:43:56 | 0:43:59 | |
so I've seen perfect weather and we ended up scrubbing. | 0:43:59 | 0:44:03 | |
So, who knows. | 0:44:03 | 0:44:05 | |
It's the space business, it's what we're in, if it cooperates, | 0:44:05 | 0:44:08 | |
we'll get her off the ground safe. If it's not safe, we won't go. | 0:44:08 | 0:44:12 | |
As dawn breaks, the odds of a successful launch have fallen to 30%. | 0:44:18 | 0:44:23 | |
The launch window opens at 11.21am. | 0:44:23 | 0:44:26 | |
If the weather forecast for that time isn't good, | 0:44:26 | 0:44:29 | |
countdown will be scrubbed. | 0:44:29 | 0:44:32 | |
But that hasn't stopped the public turning out in force. | 0:44:32 | 0:44:35 | |
-RADIO: -..history here on Magic 107.7, with the Space Shuttle launch... | 0:44:35 | 0:44:39 | |
..traffic is backing up... | 0:44:39 | 0:44:40 | |
At 7.35am, Chris, Doug, Rex and Sandy leave their crew quarters | 0:44:47 | 0:44:51 | |
for the three-mile journey to the launchpad. | 0:44:51 | 0:44:54 | |
There they go. They've spent their last night on Earth | 0:44:58 | 0:45:01 | |
in the building just behind me. They're off to the pad now | 0:45:01 | 0:45:04 | |
and hopefully on their way to space in a couple of hours' time. | 0:45:04 | 0:45:09 | |
There's so much riding on this launch today. | 0:45:11 | 0:45:14 | |
The end is hard enough. | 0:45:14 | 0:45:16 | |
No-one wants to go through countdown for it to be | 0:45:16 | 0:45:18 | |
cancelled at the 11th hour. | 0:45:18 | 0:45:20 | |
Up on level 195, Rene and Travis are there to meet the astronauts | 0:45:29 | 0:45:33 | |
and prepare them for flight. | 0:45:33 | 0:45:35 | |
In Houston's Mission Control, | 0:45:38 | 0:45:40 | |
Richard Jones tells his team to expect a decision. | 0:45:40 | 0:45:42 | |
We're getting close, folks. | 0:45:45 | 0:45:46 | |
Expect a go/no-go in the next 10 or 15 minutes. | 0:45:46 | 0:45:49 | |
At the one-mile mark, Kenny is primed and ready. | 0:45:57 | 0:46:00 | |
And by the countdown clock, Terry White is watching. | 0:46:12 | 0:46:16 | |
-Opening event doors. -Yes. -OK. | 0:46:17 | 0:46:20 | |
MUFFLED VOICES OVER RADIO | 0:46:20 | 0:46:24 | |
With the astronauts strapped in and the door locked, everyone is waiting | 0:46:24 | 0:46:28 | |
to hear the weather all-clear from launch director Mike Leinbach. | 0:46:28 | 0:46:33 | |
OK, guys, let's get ready. | 0:46:33 | 0:46:35 | |
OK, we're starting to feel pretty good down here on the ground about this one today, | 0:46:36 | 0:46:41 | |
so on behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you | 0:46:41 | 0:46:45 | |
and your crew on the final flight of this true American icon. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:48 | |
You are clear to launch Atlantis. | 0:46:51 | 0:46:53 | |
I copy that, sir, thank you. | 0:46:54 | 0:46:56 | |
T minus nine minutes and counting. | 0:46:56 | 0:46:58 | |
You know, despite all the weather that cheer you're hearing out there, | 0:46:58 | 0:47:02 | |
that's everyone being told that we're still go for launch, | 0:47:02 | 0:47:06 | |
so they've dodged around the weather, the rainstorms, | 0:47:06 | 0:47:08 | |
the thunderbolts, the lightning. It looks like it might just be | 0:47:08 | 0:47:12 | |
clear enough, and they're going to begin the final countdown to launch. | 0:47:12 | 0:47:15 | |
The giant vent hood is one of the last connections | 0:47:15 | 0:47:18 | |
between Atlantis and the launchpad. | 0:47:18 | 0:47:21 | |
When it's removed, liftoff can begin. | 0:47:21 | 0:47:23 | |
O2 flow. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:26 | |
T minus 35, 33. | 0:47:30 | 0:47:33 | |
T minus 31 seconds. | 0:47:33 | 0:47:35 | |
-We're holding at 31. -We have a problem with the switches. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:41 | |
The launch is suddenly held. | 0:47:41 | 0:47:43 | |
A sensor is saying that | 0:47:43 | 0:47:45 | |
the giant vent hood hasn't retracted and locked. | 0:47:45 | 0:47:47 | |
We are trying to verify using a camera | 0:47:47 | 0:47:50 | |
and we're positioning camera 62 right now. | 0:47:50 | 0:47:54 | |
It's getting pretty desperate now. | 0:47:54 | 0:47:56 | |
There are two minutes left in the launch window, | 0:47:56 | 0:47:59 | |
31 seconds still on the clock. | 0:47:59 | 0:48:01 | |
They have less than two minutes to find out if the sensor is | 0:48:01 | 0:48:04 | |
faulty or if the hood is indeed blocking the launch of Atlantis. | 0:48:04 | 0:48:09 | |
Launch control hunt for a view of the hood. And a decision is made. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:15 | |
We verify it is retracted. | 0:48:15 | 0:48:18 | |
31 seconds still on the clock. | 0:48:18 | 0:48:20 | |
No, no, the clock has started again. So we're 31 seconds to launch. | 0:48:21 | 0:48:27 | |
-Go for sequence start. -We are counting. -Copy. | 0:48:29 | 0:48:34 | |
-Ten seconds. -Copy that. -Main engine start. | 0:48:38 | 0:48:40 | |
MUFFLED VOICE ON RADIO Roger, Atlantis. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:27 | |
GREAT RUMBLING | 0:49:51 | 0:49:56 | |
Three miles out and more now. You can feel that in your chest. | 0:49:56 | 0:50:00 | |
It's a deafening roar. | 0:50:02 | 0:50:04 | |
Atlantis, go up, throttle up, no action, DPDT. | 0:50:08 | 0:50:11 | |
-Throttle up, no action, DPDT. -Single engine Zaragoza. 104. | 0:50:11 | 0:50:18 | |
Two minutes after launch, the solid rocket boosters detach | 0:50:18 | 0:50:21 | |
and fall back to the sea. | 0:50:21 | 0:50:22 | |
-Negative return. -Atlantis, negative return. | 0:50:28 | 0:50:32 | |
-MECO, MECO confirmed. -Copy MECO. | 0:50:35 | 0:50:38 | |
Now standing by for external tank separation. | 0:50:38 | 0:50:41 | |
As she pushes through the earth's upper atmosphere, | 0:50:41 | 0:50:44 | |
Atlantis detaches from its external tank. | 0:50:44 | 0:50:46 | |
Chris, Doug, Sandy and Rex are in orbit. | 0:50:49 | 0:50:53 | |
Atlantis's final mission to the International Space Station | 0:50:58 | 0:51:02 | |
would last 13 days. | 0:51:02 | 0:51:04 | |
Atlantis, station on the big loop, we have you in sight. | 0:51:04 | 0:51:07 | |
We'll be there soon! | 0:51:07 | 0:51:09 | |
The crew deliver over four tonnes of food, water and equipment | 0:51:09 | 0:51:13 | |
that will allow the Space Station to be manned for another year. | 0:51:13 | 0:51:17 | |
In Houston, my friend Dan Tani is capcom, | 0:51:20 | 0:51:23 | |
the astronauts' connection to Earth. | 0:51:23 | 0:51:25 | |
Atlantis crew on the ISS, this is Houston, are you ready for the event? | 0:51:25 | 0:51:29 | |
What advice do you have for kids wanting to get into NASA | 0:51:29 | 0:51:32 | |
and get in the field? | 0:51:32 | 0:51:34 | |
I think our advice would be just to work really hard in school, | 0:51:34 | 0:51:36 | |
especially in science and math, | 0:51:36 | 0:51:38 | |
because that's very, very important in this business. | 0:51:38 | 0:51:41 | |
Sandy, Chris, could you guys turn a flip for us in zero gravity? | 0:51:41 | 0:51:44 | |
-I love it! -There you go! I like the socks. Very nice. | 0:51:48 | 0:51:52 | |
America now want the commercial sector to take over | 0:51:55 | 0:51:58 | |
Space Station delivery runs, | 0:51:58 | 0:52:00 | |
freeing NASA to develop new spacecraft | 0:52:00 | 0:52:02 | |
to take humans beyond low Earth orbit. | 0:52:02 | 0:52:05 | |
Until then, astronauts travelling to the Space Station | 0:52:05 | 0:52:08 | |
will go on Russian vehicles. | 0:52:08 | 0:52:10 | |
NASA's vehicle assembly building is one of the largest structures | 0:52:12 | 0:52:15 | |
in the world, | 0:52:15 | 0:52:17 | |
but it now lies empty and with no immediate | 0:52:17 | 0:52:20 | |
successor to Shuttle, it's uncertain what will fill this void. | 0:52:20 | 0:52:24 | |
It's sort of eerie being here. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:29 | |
This place ordinarily, between missions, would have been a flurry | 0:52:29 | 0:52:33 | |
of activity while they processed a vehicle, but it's empty now. | 0:52:33 | 0:52:37 | |
And all of this huge, beautiful, specifically engineered infrastructure | 0:52:37 | 0:52:41 | |
is never going to be used to build a shuttle again. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:47 | |
After eight days aboard the Space Station, | 0:52:49 | 0:52:51 | |
Atlantis and her crew prepare to leave. | 0:52:51 | 0:52:54 | |
They still have to face the challenge of re-entry and landing. | 0:52:54 | 0:52:58 | |
We're glad to be heading home and we're happy to serve with you. | 0:52:59 | 0:53:03 | |
We'll see you again. | 0:53:03 | 0:53:04 | |
Thanks a million. We'll see you back home. Take care. Have a safe flight. | 0:53:04 | 0:53:07 | |
It's 5.45am, Kennedy Space Centre, and Atlantis is on her way. | 0:53:08 | 0:53:13 | |
Chris Ferguson has to wrestle with 100 tonnes of unpowered shuttle. | 0:53:13 | 0:53:17 | |
I know exactly what the view looks like from up there, | 0:53:17 | 0:53:20 | |
but this time it's for real. | 0:53:20 | 0:53:21 | |
They'll get one shot at the landing strip today. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:23 | |
This is where all that practice in the training aircraft | 0:53:23 | 0:53:26 | |
is going to pay off. | 0:53:26 | 0:53:28 | |
They really have to get down | 0:53:28 | 0:53:29 | |
and they only have one opportunity to do so. | 0:53:29 | 0:53:31 | |
Landing gear down and locked. | 0:53:41 | 0:53:43 | |
The last landing of Atlantis is perfect. | 0:53:59 | 0:54:02 | |
Nose gear touchdown. | 0:54:04 | 0:54:06 | |
And that's it. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:09 | |
30 years of Space Shuttle programme. As it comes to a halt there, | 0:54:09 | 0:54:15 | |
the whole thing comes to an end. | 0:54:15 | 0:54:19 | |
It's a difficult day for everyone, including someone I've known | 0:54:41 | 0:54:44 | |
for many years, Charlie Bolden, the head of NASA. | 0:54:44 | 0:54:48 | |
He's had to convince the world that it's the right time | 0:54:48 | 0:54:51 | |
-for Shuttle to come to an end. -How you doing? -Charlie. -Good to see you. | 0:54:51 | 0:54:55 | |
-Great to see you. -Fantastic, fantastic. -Thanks for talking to me. | 0:54:55 | 0:54:59 | |
Do you think that we'll ever see a vehicle as complex | 0:54:59 | 0:55:02 | |
and as capable as a Space Shuttle again? | 0:55:02 | 0:55:05 | |
Shuttle is an incredible technological marvel, | 0:55:05 | 0:55:08 | |
but one of its drawbacks was its complexity, | 0:55:08 | 0:55:12 | |
and it is a vehicle that required | 0:55:12 | 0:55:15 | |
thousands, literally thousands of people just to prepare it for flight. | 0:55:15 | 0:55:19 | |
What we're going to do, hopefully, in the future, | 0:55:19 | 0:55:22 | |
is simplify the design, make them technologically superior, | 0:55:22 | 0:55:26 | |
so that it doesn't take an army of people to prepare a vehicle | 0:55:26 | 0:55:31 | |
and to fly it and to recover it. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:32 | |
But Charlie's also a former astronaut, | 0:55:32 | 0:55:35 | |
a veteran of four Shuttle missions. | 0:55:35 | 0:55:38 | |
This being Atlantis's last flight was really special for me. | 0:55:38 | 0:55:41 | |
Um... | 0:55:41 | 0:55:44 | |
CHOKING: This was the first Space Shuttle I commanded, | 0:55:44 | 0:55:47 | |
so that made it really special. | 0:55:47 | 0:55:49 | |
Um... | 0:55:49 | 0:55:50 | |
But as the administrator of NASA, my job is to do what don't do very well, | 0:55:50 | 0:55:56 | |
and that is to stand in front of people and try not to be emotional. | 0:55:56 | 0:56:00 | |
You've known me a long time, | 0:56:00 | 0:56:02 | |
and I'm just not a person who can not be emotional. I love these people. | 0:56:02 | 0:56:07 | |
I love the vehicles, I love the programme. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:09 | |
I love what they stand for. | 0:56:09 | 0:56:11 | |
The final Shuttle mission marks the end of an incredible era. | 0:56:11 | 0:56:15 | |
This week, NASA will let go of thousands of its brightest and best. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:19 | |
Like me, they got an opportunity to do the flying, | 0:56:19 | 0:56:22 | |
but we owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the thousands, | 0:56:22 | 0:56:25 | |
literally tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands | 0:56:25 | 0:56:27 | |
of folk around the country who made all this possible. | 0:56:27 | 0:56:31 | |
-Toughest thing for you today? -Yes, it is. | 0:56:32 | 0:56:34 | |
32 years ago, I was loaned to this building | 0:56:34 | 0:56:37 | |
for three weeks to work on the Shuttle. | 0:56:37 | 0:56:41 | |
32 years later, tomorrow I clear the last things off my desk | 0:56:41 | 0:56:45 | |
and I am no longer an employee of Kennedy Space Centre. | 0:56:45 | 0:56:49 | |
It's very sad. | 0:56:49 | 0:56:50 | |
What are people going to remember Shuttle for? | 0:56:52 | 0:56:54 | |
What is its legacy going to be? | 0:56:54 | 0:56:56 | |
All they have to do is go outside on a clear night at the right time | 0:56:56 | 0:57:01 | |
and they can see the Space Station go over. | 0:57:01 | 0:57:03 | |
It couldn't have been done without the Shuttle. | 0:57:03 | 0:57:06 | |
I hope it's remembered as the biggest, proudest icon of America. | 0:57:08 | 0:57:15 | |
I really do. Nobody else has done it. | 0:57:15 | 0:57:17 | |
I want to think that what we have done here, | 0:57:20 | 0:57:25 | |
what we have accomplished will lead to something equally as great | 0:57:25 | 0:57:30 | |
and I choose to look at it that way. | 0:57:30 | 0:57:33 | |
-Are you going to miss Shuttle? -Sure, in a way. | 0:57:36 | 0:57:40 | |
But again, I have to look forward. | 0:57:40 | 0:57:42 | |
You can't spend time looking backwards, you got to look forwards. | 0:57:42 | 0:57:46 | |
So, for me, Shuttle is more than a machine, and having spent | 0:57:46 | 0:57:50 | |
a month in the company of the people who made it happen, I have | 0:57:50 | 0:57:53 | |
come to realise that its legacy is far richer than I ever imagined. | 0:57:53 | 0:57:57 | |
You know, it's not the science, or the engineering. | 0:57:57 | 0:58:00 | |
It's not the accidents, it's not even the Space Station. | 0:58:00 | 0:58:03 | |
Shuttle was always more than that. | 0:58:03 | 0:58:06 | |
It changed the way we saw the universe and inspired | 0:58:07 | 0:58:10 | |
everybody whose lives are touched, and he taught a generation to dream. | 0:58:10 | 0:58:14 | |
So that, for me, is its legacy. It is the bridge to all our futures. | 0:58:14 | 0:58:20 |