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A remarkable chapter in space flight
is coming to an end

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as the Space Shuttle awaits
its final launch.

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Since the early 1980s,
the Shuttle has been the pinnacle
of manned spaceflight technology.

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Columbia is a beautiful ship.
She's performing magnificently.

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Horizon and the BBC have covered
every step of its story.

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A mission of 37 orbits
going east from the Cape
out over the Atlantic...

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Over the last 30 years

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the Shuttle has contributed to some
dazzling scientific achievements.

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Hey!

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Oh!

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Wow!

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But the successes have been
overshadowed by tragedy.

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He said, "I don't see her.
I don't see the Shuttle."
I said, "It's gone." And it was.

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You just knew it was... You knew.

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Now that it's all over, how will
the Space Shuttle be remembered?

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As a great adventure
in human space exploration?

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Or as a fatally-flawed
white elephant?

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In the early days of the Shuttle
programme, each launch was
a thrilling event for America

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and for the astronauts involved.

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There's a period of time up on
the launch pad where you're standing

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with all the searchlights playing up
on the Shuttle.

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And here is this monster
that you're about to climb into.

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Because it's fully-fuelled and
there's a certain amount of boil off
of the liquid oxygen and so forth,

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it seems like it's a hissing,
breathing, alive machine.

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The voice communications become

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quite silent in the last minutes.
You hear the counting down

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and the main engines come on.

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Of course, that's about, I guess,

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1.25 million pounds of thrust.

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You get that kick in the pants
and you're up, up and away.

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We're going something over
about 100mph by the time
we reach the top of the tower.

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You're just sitting there
hoping like heck that nothing
happens to any of the engines

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because your mind's thinking
all the time. "What do I look for?

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"What do I need to be ready to do?"

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This strange, loud, roaring staccato
is somehow punctuated

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by another sound of an explosion.

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That's the solid rockets
being released.

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It looks like you're flying through
a fireball when those things go off.

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After that point, it's very smooth.

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The whole experience
is just a tremendous adventure.

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I smiled from ear to ear
right when the engines went off

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and said, "What an experience!
Let's go back and do that again!"

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MUSIC: "Hail To The Chief"

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Americans were deeply proud
of their new space programme.

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CHEERING

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The Shuttle was a symbol of
the very best of American ingenuity.

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'Ladies and gentlemen, the President
of the United States and Mrs Reagan

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'and astronauts
Mattingly and Hartsfield.'

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The fourth landing of the Columbia
marks our entrance into a new era.

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The test flights are over.
The groundwork has been laid.

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Beginning with the next flight,
the Columbia and her sister ships
will be fully operational.

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The excitement echoed the
celebration of the Apollo programme
decades before

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where the story
of the Shuttle begins.

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'We're go for landing.
Eagle, you're go for landing. Over.'

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'Tranquility Base here.
The Eagle has landed.'

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The American space agency, NASA,
had achieved a remarkable triumph

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in getting men to the Moon
and back.

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But even as the ticker tape fell,
NASA was in trouble.
The Moon shot had cost 25 billion.

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It didn't take long for the public
and politicians to question the
price tag of future space travel.

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The space programme needed
to be cheaper.

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Many at NASA had long dreamed
of building a reusable craft,

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a sleek, futuristic space plane,

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which would launch into orbit off
the back of a vast winged booster.

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Both vehicles would be able to land
on a standard runway.

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Though reusable,
this design was still too costly.

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So in 1970, NASA was obliged
to seek support from the Air Force,

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which had already experimented
with rocket planes
that could skim the edge of space.

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The Air Force agreed to collaborate,

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but only if NASA made
the space plane big enough
to carry hefty spy satellites.

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The Shuttle as we know it was born,

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the main vehicle
an enormous delta-winged orbiter,

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its vast body covered in a patchwork
of heat-resistant tiles

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which allow it to withstand
the intense heat of re-entry.

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Too big to launch
off the back of a booster plane,

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the orbiter is instead mated
with a central fuel tank

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flanked by two solid rockets
which provide the thrust
to take it into orbit.

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By 1972, the Shuttle's
distinctive design was set,

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though not everyone approved.

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We have a vehicle
which rests on a huge tank

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which has 750,000 gallons of fuel.

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And then there are these two great
solid rocket boosters, 150 feet long,
strapped on either side of it.

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And the orbiter sits on top.

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That's the equivalent of riding
a broomstick made of dynamite
with two firecrackers on either side.

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Despite the misgivings of some,
Space Shuttle Columbia was finally
ready to go on April 12th, 1981.

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20 years to the day
after Russia's Yuri Gagarin
first orbited the Earth.

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From the start, NASA planned
to make Shuttle flights routine

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with launches every two weeks.

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To help fund this ambitious
schedule, crews would work
with commercial satellites.

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New ones would be deployed
and old ones fixed when they broke.

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In April, 1984, the Shuttle faced
its first major challenge

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to show that it was worth
the billions it had cost.

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Its mission was to repair
the faulty electronics
in a satellite called Solar Max.

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But first, astronaut George
"Pinky" Nelson had to catch it.

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'Nelson on his way.
One hour and two minutes.

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'You'll have to hold on to it
with both hands, I imagine.'

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Unable to dock properly with
Solar Max, Nelson tried to stop the
satellite spinning...with his hands.

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'If you could go in that hole,
that would be fine.'

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Nelson's efforts only made Solar Max
tumble faster. It seemed a failure.

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Happily, though, controllers managed
to slow the spinning satellite

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enough for the Shuttle to manoeuvre
alongside and attempt to grab
Solar Max with its robot arm.

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- 'OK, we've got it'
- Roger, copy that.

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Outstanding!

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'Roger. It's all downhill from here.'

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With each passing mission,
the astronauts were learning
how to enjoy life in space.

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We are given the opportunity
to carry some music onboard,

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tapes to play
in a pocket stereo player.

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There's a song
called the Southern Cross

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by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

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I remember at one point looking out
the window at the Southern Cross
and playing that.

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# When you see the Southern Cross
for the first time

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# You understand now
why you came this way... #

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You could spend days just looking out
the window and taking it all in,
learning what continents look like.

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# But it's as big as the promise
The promise of the coming day... #

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I used to have little dreams
when I was a kid that I'd run down
the street and fly into the air.

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That's what weightlessness is like.

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We've bee having a lot of fun up here
and, of course, doing a lot of
good work for the space programme.

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The first day or so,
when you're adjusting to it,

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you flail around a lot, reach
for a switch and hit the ceiling.

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Zero G in itself
causes you to find games.

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I would be up on a flight deck,
working like a good pilot, and I'd
hear the guys laughing and roaring.

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When I finally went down,
there they were doing this precision
drill team stuff. It was fantastic.

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'We were constantly asking
the question, "Where's Joe?"

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'And lo and behold,
what should we find...

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'but...but look at that.

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'We have discovered
either an alien space creature

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'or... it is!
It is Dr Allan!

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'Largest personality,
but diminutive in stature,

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'he's managed to insert himself
in yet another crevice.'

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# Somebody fine will come along
Make me forget about loving you

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# At the Southern Cross. #

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By August, 1984,
NASA was so confident that the
Shuttle was now a routine space bus

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that it launched a new publicity
campaign - a competition
to put a teacher in space.

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The BBC followed the story.

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Around the country, teachers
started filling in the 48-page
application form.

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Among them was a social science
teacher from Concord, New Hampshire,
called Christa McAuliffe.

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Christa called us one evening
when she was at home in Concord

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and she said, "I'm applying
for this teacher in space programme."
And we thought it was great.

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In the first place,
we really didn't really think
she'd probably get a chance.

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But it was a fun process
to even apply

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and to get involved in any way.

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And so then, of course,
the nearer she got to it,
the more excited we all became.

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In all, 11,000 teachers applied,
but by mid-July
there were 10 left in the contest.

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And the winner, the teacher
who will be going into space,

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Christa McAuliffe.
Where is...? Is that you?

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Christa was the first choice
of all seven judges.

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She was described
as a great communicator
and composed under pressure.

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For NASA,
it was a public relations coup.

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Overnight, Christa became a national
celebrity, the most famous astronaut
since Neil Armstrong.

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You kids out there, do the best
you can and get the best education
you can. That's what it's all about.

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So when I'm up in that Shuttle,
I want everyone working real hard

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to make education what it should be
in this country! Thank you!

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Christa went to Florida to train
with the Shuttle crew and immerse
herself in the life of an astronaut.

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On January 28th, 1986,

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Christa and the crew
prepared for launch.

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Amongst the crowds waiting
for lift-off were her parents.

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'Velocity 2,257 feet per second,
altitude 4.3 nautical miles, down
range distance 3 nautical miles.'

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All seemed normal
until 73 seconds into the launch.

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- 'Challenger, go with throttle up.'
- Roger, throttle up.

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'One minute 15 seconds,
velocity 2,900 feet per second,
altitude 9 nautical miles...

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'Flight Controller is here looking
very carefully at the situation.'

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He said, "I don't see her.
I don't see the Shuttle."
I said, "It's gone." And it was.

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You just knew that it was...
No, you knew it was...

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You knew.

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'Obviously, a major malfunction.'

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I guess it must have been a minute
before I realised

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that the crew was either dead
or in the process of dying.

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I wanted to cry.

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And everybody around me.
We couldn't look at each other.

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I just sat in stunned silence
for the longest period of time.

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Basically, faced the wall,
sat in my chair

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and tried to hold back my emotions.

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- Go ahead.
- 'Vehicle exploded.'

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Copy.

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We're awaiting word from any recovery
forces in the down range field.

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As a team of experts began to look
for the cause of the accident,
a disturbing story unfolded.

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A full year before the launch,
a design fault had been discovered
in the solid rocket boosters.

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These are the powerful rockets
strapped to the fuel tank

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which provide extra thrust
during lift-off.

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The rockets are built for NASA
by a company called Morton Thiokol,

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based in Utah, over 2,000 miles away
from Cape Canaveral.

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This distance led to
a crucial design problem.

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Rather than have the rocket engines

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built near the Cape, which would have
been the best way, and barged in,

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they were built in...

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out in the prairies and then
they had to be freighted all the way.

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That meant being built in segments,
which meant you had the joints.

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With joints you may have problems.

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Each joint was sealed
using a rubber O ring

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which expanded during launch
to plug the joint
and seal in super-heated gas.

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Failure would mean that hot gas
would burst out like a blowtorch.

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So, for safety, the designers
built in a secondary O ring.

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Two minutes into every launch,
the solid rockets detach,
fall back to Earth

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and are collected for re-use.

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In January, 1985, one of
Morton Thiokol's engineers made
a routine examination of a booster

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that had been retrieved
from the previous Shuttle launch.

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What he found shocked him.

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When those boosters were separated

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and I inspected all six joints,
two joints had been badly
compromised.

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On that January flight, the primary
O rings in the compromised joints
had failed.

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Only the presence of the secondary
O rings had prevented
a catastrophic explosion.

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When I saw that in real time
in January of 1985,

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I almost had cardiac arrest.
I could not believe that we hadn't
blown it up at that point in time.

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The January launch had been
the coldest ever.

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Boisjoly concluded that the O rings
had failed because the cold
temperatures had made them brittle.

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He reported back to his managers
and NASA was informed.

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NASA ordered a full review
of the joints, but decided
the O ring system was safe enough

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to keep the Shuttle flying.

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A year later, as Challenger waited
on the launch pad,

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conditions were even colder than
they had been the previous January.

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NASA consulted with engineers
at Morton Thiokol

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who were reluctant to give
the go ahead for launch

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in such cold temperatures.

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But NASA was impatient.
Its recent launches had been dogged
by last-minute delays.

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This launch was already
four days behind schedule.

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In a last-minute tele-conference,
under pressure from NASA,

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Morton Thiokol withdrew
its opposition to the launch.

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But it WAS too cold

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and in one of the joints
both O rings failed.

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00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:28,200
The vehicle broke up
into hundreds of fragments.

220
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,600
The crew compartment
plummeted towards the ocean,

221
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,720
but at seven miles up, it took
nearly 2.5 minutes to descend.

222
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:45,160
Later, NASA calculated
that some of the crew might have
been conscious on descent

223
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,760
and that all were probably alive.

224
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:58,840
The seven astronauts perished
when the stricken craft hit the sea
at more than 200 miles an hour.

225
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:08,440
The destruction of Challenger
and its brave crew
greatly affected America.

226
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:14,800
The media appetite for Christa
McAuliffe meant the nation knew
this Shuttle crew like no other.

227
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,440
Commander Dick Scobee.

228
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:21,880
Pilot Mike Smith.

229
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,280
Dr Judith Resnik.

230
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,480
Dr Ron McNair.

231
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,320
Lieutenant Colonel Ellison Onizuka.

232
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:33,960
Captain Greg Jarvis.

233
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,560
And teacher Christa McAuliffe.

234
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,240
The tragedy grounded the Shuttle

235
00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,600
and paralysed NASA's
manned space programme.

236
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:05,240
But Americans could not give up
the dream of exploring space.

237
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,840
NASA set about a major redesign.

238
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,800
Clearly, the solid rockets
would have to be re-engineered,

239
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:18,560
but NASA also seized the chance
to make a host of other
safety improvements.

240
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:28,120
The astronauts appointed
to fly the next mission followed
every part of the redesign closely.

241
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,520
Morton Thiokol, Utah.

242
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,120
The first in a series of tests

243
00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:45,760
of the redesigned solid rocket.

244
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,200
The critical path begins.

245
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,320
The crew is here.

246
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,840
Their success and, ultimately, their
lives depend on the work of many.

247
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:03,880
We're obviously interested
in witnessing the test firing.
It's step one, as was said earlier,

248
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:09,920
in getting us back into manned
spaceflight. In the solids,
two rubbery O ring seals

249
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:15,960
were supposed to stop a leak of
hot gas. Now they're experimenting
with a third O ring.

250
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,040
This was its first test.

251
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,760
Six, five, four,

252
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,680
three, two, one.

253
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:25,520
Fire!

254
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:33,520
The ascent phase of this mission
will be like a test flight.
We have new solid rocket motors,

255
00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,960
the motors themselves have been
greatly re-engineered,

256
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,880
including parts of the booster.

257
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:45,640
And all those things together,
this will be the first flight test.

258
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:57,840
Landing and stopping can be just as
chancy as lift-off in this business.

259
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,600
June last year. They roll the
Shuttle slowly into a safety net.

260
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:10,440
And also last summer, they finally
had time to improve the spacecraft's
unreliable brakes and tyres.

261
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:36,960
'There are always going to be
problems and glitches.
That's what you expect.

262
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,600
'Certainly all of us as crew are
aware that this is a risky business

263
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:48,480
'and the crew of the Challenger
was no different. All we can do now
is regroup and rebuild

264
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:53,040
'and press on. We have to live
with what happened and keep going.'

265
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:58,040
We designed the Space Shuttle in
the '70s without an escape system.

266
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,040
And I think

267
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,600
everyone realises that was a mistake.

268
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:08,840
I don't think we'll ever see a rocket
built again without an escape system.

269
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,040
Hurricane Mesa, Utah.

270
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,280
They're using a dummy
to test a new escape system.

271
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:25,520
The tractor rocket concept is
an adaptation of the ejector seats
used in military jet aircraft,

272
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:30,160
only here the astronauts will be
pulled, not pushed to safety.

273
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:35,160
The engineers say it is a tested
system with a 90% success rate.

274
00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:38,760
Pinky has come to watch.

275
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:43,640
The most thing that goes through
my mind is I hope I never do it.

276
00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:49,680
The orbiter has to be flying
so the vehicle has to be intact
and flying through the atmosphere.

277
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:54,280
We couldn't bail out when the engines
were running or if we lost control

278
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:59,240
or if the vehicle was badly damaged.
This system would not work for that.

279
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,480
The system provides a narrow margin
of safety at best.

280
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,720
Escape is only possible
under limited circumstances.

281
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:37,960
Privately, some astronauts tell you
the whole thing is a sop
to public anxiety.

282
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,040
'Three, two, one.'

283
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:49,880
Whatever NASA's motives,
an escape system was
eventually included,

284
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,920
along with
a further 345 modifications.

285
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:59,080
Only then was the Shuttle considered
safe enough to go back into space.

286
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,040
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

287
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,200
For over two years now...

288
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,800
..each one of us here tonight
has had a dream

289
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,400
that one day

290
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:25,480
a Shuttle would once again
make its way to the launch pad
to launch Americans into space.

291
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,960
'Start. Three, two, one, zero.

292
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,840
'And lift off! Lift off.

293
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:38,080
'Americans return to space
as Discovery clears the tower.'

294
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:44,320
The Challenger disaster had shown
conclusively that space flight
was not a routine activity

295
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,960
and the refit had cost
over 20 billion

296
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:52,720
so the Shuttle would never again
be described as cheap.

297
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:58,560
It needed to do something
spectacular to prove that it was
no white elephant.

298
00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:00,640
Soon it got its chance.

299
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:09,000
In 1984, Horizon reported on plans
to build the world's
most ambitious telescope.

300
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,200
The Hubble Space Telescope will see
much further into the universe

301
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,440
than has ever been possible before.

302
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,840
Freed from the obscuring effects
of the atmosphere,

303
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:25,240
the optical system
at the heart of the spacecraft
will enable the telescope's mirror

304
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,280
to resolve details ten times better
than any instrument on the ground.

305
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,320
When it's installed
in the space telescope,

306
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:36,360
this mirror is set to revolutionise
our vision of the universe.

307
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:41,400
It will allow us to search
the stars for other solar systems
that may harbour life

308
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,960
and closer to home, we will be able
to study the planets

309
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:51,240
with a resolution equivalent
to the Voyager probe only a few days
away from its closest encounter.

310
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,160
In purely numerical terms,

311
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,720
it's as big or a bigger leap

312
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,960
than occurred when Galileo
first used a telescope,

313
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:06,200
rather than the naked eye, to look
at the universe and look at stars.

314
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:11,520
We know for sure
that every area of astronomy
will be very profoundly affected.

315
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,800
The space telescope will benefit
from the presence of man in space,

316
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:20,720
both to maintain its instruments
and to carry out repairs
if it breaks down.

317
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:25,280
No-one had any idea
how soon a breakdown would happen.

318
00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:36,800
In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope
was deployed into orbit.

319
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,640
But when the telescope was used
for the first time,

320
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,200
the Hubble astronomers received
a profound shock.

321
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,600
Instead of the pin-sharp pictures
they were expecting...

322
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,240
..they got these smudges,

323
00:30:55,240 --> 00:31:00,040
barely better than ground-based
telescopes could produce.

324
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:06,080
The problem was
the enormous mirror now seated
at the heart of the telescope.

325
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:12,240
It couldn't focus light perfectly
because it had been polished
a fraction out of shape.

326
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:19,240
Decades of work,
billions of dollars and the hopes
of a generation of astronomers

327
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,360
had been destroyed.

328
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,640
Once again, NASA was under attack.

329
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:33,200
Have we ended up with degraded
science or cancelled science?

330
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,240
If this aberration was
such a textbook case,

331
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,880
why wasn't it caught on the ground?

332
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,920
What are the possible things
that could have happened?

333
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,920
How many straws are there
on this camel's back?

334
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:50,720
It would be dishonest
to say the mood of the scientist
is very happy right now.

335
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,560
We're all frustrated, obviously.
And I'll stop there.

336
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:59,600
'The press conference
where we announced
Hubble's spherical aberration

337
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,840
'was by far the worst day of my life.
I was saying we messed it up.'

338
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:08,000
So at that point, I was convinced
the programme was dead.

339
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,760
People began to disintegrate.

340
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:16,320
Some had to be taken out by guards

341
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,440
to rehabilitation centres
for drugs and alcohol.

342
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,480
The astronomy community
was tearing itself apart.

343
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,320
I personally felt
like killing somebody

344
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,360
because having invested 12 years
of my life up to that point

345
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:34,800
in this project, and seeing that this
was a really major disaster for us...

346
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,520
..you know, the reaction is that one.

347
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:45,120
Everybody began blaming everybody
about how could this have happened,
how could such a mistake be made.

348
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:47,160
It was a very bad time.

349
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,760
The Hubble had to be saved
at all costs.

350
00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:02,080
Scientists and engineers
began desperately trying
to find a solution to its problem.

351
00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:08,120
..which we've listed as mechanical
correction or deformation.

352
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:15,040
'We formed a committee, a strategy
panel to come up with ideas
and about 30 suggestions came up.'

353
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,280
Number 85...

354
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,120
'We put everything on the table,'

355
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:25,760
even the craziest idea, to see
what we could do to fix the problem.

356
00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:31,880
This is replacement
of the secondary,
just as a straight correction.

357
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,920
They ranged from the shuttle bringing
the spacecraft back to Earth

358
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:37,960
and replacing the primary mirror...

359
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:43,400
..to send astronauts up
and actually,
inside the tube of the telescope,

360
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:48,240
and do something to the optics,
which was crazy,
but we discussed it.

361
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,800
A full aperture correction...

362
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:56,840
There were ideas even to try
to re-coat or change the shape of
the primary on orbit with heaters.

363
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:02,760
To put a mirror in front of the
telescope which was slightly bent,
so you'd have the correction in it.

364
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,960
Trying to move the instruments back
by several metres.

365
00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,720
Front end of the telescope...
A report... I don't have a picture.

366
00:34:09,720 --> 00:34:12,480
And so on and so forth.

367
00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:21,480
Among the proposals was
the ingenious solution,

368
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:28,280
an instrument that would match
the error in the mirror in reverse
and cancel it out.

369
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:34,120
This optical fix was called
the Corrective Optics
Space Telescope Axial Replacement,

370
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,640
or COSTAR for short.

371
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:46,720
There was no way of knowing whether
COSTAR would actually work.

372
00:34:46,720 --> 00:34:51,360
But hopes of saving the Hubble
now lay with this intricate design.

373
00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:00,520
Plans for an ambitious
repair mission began to take shape.

374
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:04,640
Everybody knew what happened when
we failed with Hubble the first time

375
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:09,880
and everybody knew the stakes
were very high. A second
failure would be unforgivable.

376
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,920
I mean, there were words
that were even...

377
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:15,560
Such as,
"This is the measure of NASA.

378
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:20,400
"This mission is the measure.
This mission defines...
Is there a NASA?"

379
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,840
There was enough pressure
to just do this mission,

380
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,280
but now suddenly,
instead of the future of Hubble,

381
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:31,320
the future of your entire space
programme is depending on success.

382
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:40,280
NASA was relying on the Shuttle
and its crew.

383
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:46,040
Along with COSTAR, they would also
have to put in a new camera
and make a host of other repairs.

384
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:52,520
It would mean a record 35 hours
of space walks over five days.

385
00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:57,200
By December 1993,
they were ready to go.

386
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:03,800
'Houston, we are inspired, we are
ready. Let's go fix this thing.'

387
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,440
The astronauts got to work.

388
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:12,480
They knew the tiniest mistake could
be catastrophic for the mission.

389
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,480
'Four, five, six.

390
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,720
'You're clear in. You got it.'

391
00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,320
'Look at that baby!

392
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,920
'Beautiful, spanking-new WF/PC.'

393
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,800
First came the delicate task
of putting in the new camera.

394
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:41,360
Later, COSTAR was manoeuvred into
position with less than an inch
of clearance on either side.

395
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,440
'Would you like to see it?

396
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:49,800
'Good work, guys.

397
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,520
'Whoo!'

398
00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:00,040
The astronauts had completed
every task to perfection.

399
00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:03,560
Now it was over to the scientists
on the ground.

400
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,760
Then it dawned on us - wait a minute,
this is only half the job.

401
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,600
Will that camera work?
Will COSTAR work?

402
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,640
Did we get the right prescription
for those glasses to put on Hubble?

403
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:28,080
Two weeks later, it was time
to put the repairs to the test.

404
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,440
First, they tried out
the new camera.

405
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,600
'As usual, everything on Hubble
happens at night for some reason

406
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:41,240
'and the first images were scheduled
to come down at 1am.

407
00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:44,800
'The whole camera team were
around the computer screen.

408
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:51,040
'The image slowly built, so you see
the bright things first and right in
the centre was a very bright star.'

409
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:53,080
CHEERING

410
00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:55,360
One bright... Right there.

411
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,880
CHEERING
We did it.

412
00:37:57,880 --> 00:37:59,920
Wait, wait, wait.

413
00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:05,080
Bring it up.
Come on, come on, come on.

414
00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:09,680
Those are actually stars.
Those are real stars.

415
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,960
LAUGHTER

416
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,160
CORK POPS

417
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:17,680
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

418
00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:22,280
'Everyone was thrilled.
There were cheers.'

419
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:24,320
It was black and white.

420
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:28,520
Before, we didn't know,
and afterwards, we knew. We had it.

421
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:43,960
Astronomers saw in spectacular
detail for the first time
where stars are born...

422
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:49,680
..how they die...

423
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,440
..and back in time
to the origins of the universe.

424
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:05,200
Without the Shuttle,
it wouldn't have been possible
to get these images from Hubble.

425
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:15,280
This incredible success was
a major milestone for NASA.

426
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:21,680
Hubble was saved and the Shuttle was
back in the nation's good books.

427
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:29,480
But the rescue mission would also
pave the way for a project
of even more extraordinary ambition.

428
00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:39,080
Ideas for a futuristic space station
had been around for decades.

429
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:44,120
Many of them inhabited
the murky world
between science fact and fiction.

430
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:49,040
But NASA had firm plans
to create one for real.

431
00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:58,440
In 1984, President Reagan revealed
to the world and to Mrs Thatcher

432
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,680
models of a permanent,
orbital space station.

433
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:03,920
One of its great...

434
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,960
But the plans stalled as
NASA scientists found it impossible

435
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,840
to decide what that space station
should be like.

436
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,560
The Russians meanwhile had
no such problems.

437
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:22,760
They had had Salyut 1 in orbit
since 1971.

438
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:31,040
And they had followed this success
by building the even more complex
Mir space station.

439
00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:36,840
Meanwhile, by 1993,

440
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,760
the US had spent
an alarming eight billion dollars

441
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:45,200
on countless re-designs without
building a single piece of hardware.

442
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:48,400
Congress was threatening
to pull the plug.

443
00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:58,640
But something had happened
that would give
the US space station a reprieve.

444
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:06,040
The old enemy, the Soviet Union,
had collapsed.

445
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:10,960
Russia's once spectacular
space programme was almost bankrupt.

446
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:14,600
In the new era of peace
between nations,

447
00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,120
NASA's chief administrator had
an idea.

448
00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:23,280
Dan Goldin invited the Russians
to collaborate.

449
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:29,120
This is a historic moment.
I'm just very excited.
Mr Koptev, I want to give you a hug.

450
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,840
APPLAUSE

451
00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:35,680
It was a hug that would get
Shuttle astronauts on to Mir.

452
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:40,000
I'm Jerry Linenger, of course,
and I'm in the base block

453
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,240
where you see most pictures
that come out of Mir.

454
00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:45,560
This is where we gather to eat...

455
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:50,600
Jerry Linenger was
the fourth American astronaut
to join the Russians on Mir.

456
00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:54,640
This is the commander's station.
Vasily says hello to everybody...

457
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:58,480
'I had a sense that I was doing
something good for the country.

458
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:03,800
'I was about 14 when I saw
the moon landings and I said,
"I'd like to do that some day."'

459
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:06,640
You get lucky sometimes.

460
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:13,240
Mir has been lived in
almost continuously
since she was launched in 1986.

461
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,680
SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN

462
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,440
But life on Mir was far
from perfect.

463
00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:42,680
The ageing space station
was falling apart.

464
00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:45,720
Oxygen generators
repeatedly broke down.

465
00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:49,960
There were daily chemical leaks.
Even the toilet malfunctioned.

466
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:57,280
We had many system failures
and they were in need
of your constant attention.

467
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:01,560
And many days I'd start an experiment
in the morning to get it running,

468
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:08,080
then I'd run over to help hacksaw
through a pipe and plug the ends,
then run back to my experiment.

469
00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:14,440
Most dangerous of all, in the sixth
week of Linenger's stay,

470
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:16,480
a fire broke out.

471
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:24,920
I looked down the passageway
and I could see a very large flame...

472
00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:28,520
..bursting out of the canister,

473
00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:32,320
smoke billowing out,
and I knew we had a big problem.

474
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:37,240
The fire was blocking the exit
to one of the two escape ships.

475
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:43,120
If the crew couldn't put it out,
some of them would be left behind
to die.

476
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:51,440
Cosmonaut Valery Korzun
finally put out the fire,
but smoke continued to fill Mir.

477
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:07,840
Linenger was relieved when
his 19-week stay in orbit was over.

478
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:13,840
Watching the Shuttle coming up
underneath us at 18,000 miles an hour

479
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:17,120
was the most beautiful sight
in the world.

480
00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:28,560
I was ready to go home

481
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:31,680
and for me,
it was a moment of triumph.

482
00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:34,160
The Shuttle's there. I'd made it.

483
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:38,360
And when the Shuttle came and docked,
it was glorious.

484
00:44:54,200 --> 00:45:00,640
Despite its faults, the Russian
collaboration was a turning point
in NASA's plans for a space station.

485
00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:07,000
They now had valuable data
on how humans reacted
to long stays in space.

486
00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:12,120
And it had secured co-operation
for an International Space Station.

487
00:45:13,120 --> 00:45:15,560
'T minus 60 seconds and counting.

488
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:20,920
'Everything looking good for launch
of Space Shuttle Endeavour
from Kennedy Space Center.

489
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:22,880
'T minus 50 seconds.'

490
00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:28,800
Now that the Shuttle had smoothed
the path for the new space station,
it was sent to build it.

491
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:31,200
'Ten, nine, eight,

492
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,920
'seven, six, five,

493
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:36,560
'four, three,

494
00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:39,680
'two, one, zero

495
00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:42,000
'and lift-off of Endeavour,

496
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:46,840
'going where East and West do meet
at the International Space Station.'

497
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:48,880
CHEERING

498
00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:59,320
'Endeavour, Houston. Congratulations
to all the members of the crew.
It's a beautiful sight.'

499
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:10,600
The space station began a new era
in the colonisation of space.

500
00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:14,960
Nations which were sworn enemies
only years before worked together

501
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:18,000
to build a truly
international machine.

502
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:33,200
In the first five years
of construction, the Shuttle made
16 trips to the space station,

503
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:35,240
but it was slow work.

504
00:46:35,240 --> 00:46:39,880
By 2002, NASA was under pressure
to do more with the Shuttle

505
00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:42,920
than just use it as a ferry
to the ISS.

506
00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:47,040
Its answer was to launch
a scientific study mission,

507
00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:52,160
though the lessons learned
would have more grim implications.

508
00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:01,480
Columbia,
the oldest craft in the fleet,

509
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:05,320
was fitted with a state-of-the-art
space laboratory.

510
00:47:10,240 --> 00:47:13,280
This mission would be the first
to use it.

511
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:20,920
It meant that for NASA
and the seven astronauts on board,
there was a lot at stake.

512
00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:32,120
And for 16 days,
everything went according to plan.

513
00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:35,960
The team worked round the clock
on their experiments.

514
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:41,520
If we didn't work 24 hours a day,
we'd be giving up
eight hours of sleep time

515
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:43,640
that could be used for science.

516
00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:47,480
So the intent is to pack
each minute of the 24 hours

517
00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:49,840
that we're on orbit with science.

518
00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:07,200
After two weeks in space,
the science mission
was declared a triumph.

519
00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:11,040
All that was left
was to gather their results,

520
00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:15,200
re-enter the Earth's atmosphere
and come home.

521
00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:19,040
The entries are a bit better
than the launch. It's a bit quieter.

522
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:22,960
It's not quite as violent
and you can enjoy it a little bit.

523
00:48:23,960 --> 00:48:27,720
At the end of 16 days,
we'll come back and land,

524
00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:32,080
slowing from 17,000-plus miles per
hour down to 200-plus miles per hour.

525
00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:37,120
We're hoping our commander
will make a smooth landing
and the mission will be over.

526
00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:52,200
ALL:
Bye-bye!

527
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:05,760
On the 1st of February, 2003,

528
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:09,080
Columbia began its descent
back to Earth.

529
00:49:14,720 --> 00:49:19,200
As the Shuttle raced
over the Pacific towards the US,

530
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:24,240
the crew put on their suits,
preparing themselves
for a routine landing.

531
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:29,480
'Columbia's a beautiful ship,
performing magnificently.'

532
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:34,160
At 8.44am, Columbia re-entered
the Earth's atmosphere.

533
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,800
Still everything appeared normal.

534
00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:48,000
'There might be some plasma now.'

535
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:01,520
GNC, Flight? Flight, GNC.

536
00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:06,480
Everything look good to you? Control
and rates and everything is nominal?

537
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:11,920
Control's been stable.
We have good trims. I don't see
anything out of the ordinary. OK.

538
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:14,320
'It's noisy in there.'

539
00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:21,600
Then, just 22 minutes before
touchdown at 8.54 in the morning,

540
00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:25,800
there was an unusual reading from
one of the Shuttle's many sensors.

541
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:28,240
Flight, MMACS. Go ahead, MMACS.

542
00:50:28,240 --> 00:50:33,560
I've just lost four separate
temperature transducers
on the left side of the vehicle,

543
00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:35,600
hydraulic return temperatures.

544
00:50:36,840 --> 00:50:39,320
Columbia, Houston, comm check.

545
00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:52,000
Columbia, Houston, UHF comm check.

546
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:54,480
TOTAL SILENCE

547
00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:09,200
Columbia, Houston, UHF comm check.

548
00:51:13,440 --> 00:51:16,240
Columbia, Houston, UHF comm check.

549
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:24,720
At 9.16, the truth dawned
on Mission Control.

550
00:51:25,720 --> 00:51:28,480
The Space Shuttle had been lost.

551
00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:34,280
61 kilometres above the ground,

552
00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:38,720
the Shuttle had disintegrated,
killing all seven people on board.

553
00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:43,160
Once again, NASA found itself
asking the terrible question,

554
00:51:43,160 --> 00:51:46,440
"What had gone wrong
with the Shuttle?"

555
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:53,000
Within minutes of the disaster,

556
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:56,000
NASA's investigators
had swung into action.

557
00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:01,120
They began to concentrate
on an event that had happened

558
00:52:01,120 --> 00:52:04,160
at the very beginning
of Columbia's voyage.

559
00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:07,480
It was something to do

560
00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:10,600
with the Shuttle's
large, orange fuel tank.

561
00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:20,280
During this particular launch,

562
00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:25,080
it appears that a large chunk
of this spray-on foam broke off

563
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:30,760
at the place where the Shuttle
attaches to the tank
up by under the nose.

564
00:52:32,760 --> 00:52:38,720
This video shows a piece
of orange insulating foam
falling off the fuel tank

565
00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:41,240
81 seconds into the flight.

566
00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:50,680
The chunk appears to be
about the size of a briefcase,
maybe a little bit bigger,

567
00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:54,440
and weighs somewhere around
two and a half to three pounds.

568
00:52:57,960 --> 00:53:02,280
The foam had struck and damaged
the wing's leading edge,

569
00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:08,440
an area covered by ultra-strong,
grey, carbon-carbon panels
designed to be indestructible.

570
00:53:16,920 --> 00:53:21,960
The leading edge, the reinforced
carbon-carbon, is hard, like a rock.

571
00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:27,440
And for foam to have damaged
the RCC enough

572
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:30,920
to cause an accident
still surprises me.

573
00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:42,440
But tests showed that a foam block
could indeed puncture the tiles,

574
00:53:42,440 --> 00:53:46,760
inevitably leading to a catastrophic
failure of the heat shield.

575
00:53:50,920 --> 00:53:54,960
Some felt that NASA could
have saved Columbia and its crew.

576
00:53:57,440 --> 00:54:01,280
That they could have been brought
back to Earth alive.

577
00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:10,080
NASA knew a chunk of foam had hit
the orbiter during launch.

578
00:54:12,600 --> 00:54:17,600
It could have used
a telescope on Earth
to examine the Shuttle in orbit

579
00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:20,440
to see if any tiles
had been damaged.

580
00:54:22,960 --> 00:54:28,520
Or it could have asked
the astronauts to open a hatch
and take a look.

581
00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:36,480
Once it had discovered the damage,

582
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:42,960
NASA could have asked the crew to
bring the Shuttle in at a different
angle, favouring the undamaged wing.

583
00:54:46,960 --> 00:54:49,480
You might have led sort of sideways,

584
00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:52,520
crabbing the Shuttle in,
scorching the good side,

585
00:54:52,520 --> 00:54:55,080
protecting the damaged side.

586
00:55:00,920 --> 00:55:03,360
But even if this wasn't possible,

587
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:07,720
NASA still had another
much more ambitious option -

588
00:55:07,720 --> 00:55:10,680
a rescue mission.

589
00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:20,280
At the time of the disaster,
the Shuttle Atlantis
was being prepared for launch.

590
00:55:20,280 --> 00:55:24,320
NASA could have sent it up
to rescue the crew within weeks.

591
00:55:30,360 --> 00:55:35,680
A rescue mission like this
would have been a major achievement
for NASA

592
00:55:35,680 --> 00:55:38,120
and a public relations coup,

593
00:55:38,120 --> 00:55:43,280
proof that they had the expertise
and skills to do remarkable things.

594
00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:50,640
The tragedy is none of
these options was even considered.

595
00:55:57,800 --> 00:56:03,320
Columbia was a powerful reminder
that manned space flight
is inherently dangerous.

596
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:08,360
But America was adamant that the
names of the dead should be honoured

597
00:56:08,360 --> 00:56:11,200
and that the programme
must continue.

598
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:16,080
Another re-design began.

599
00:56:16,080 --> 00:56:20,120
The foam insulation
on the fuel tank was improved

600
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:24,360
and systems were put in place
to check for tile damage in orbit.

601
00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:31,520
Two years later, a new crew
prepared to return to space

602
00:56:31,520 --> 00:56:35,760
on the 114th flight
in the Shuttle fleet's career.

603
00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:42,880
But even as the Shuttle orbited,
NASA had already decided
it was time to call it a day.

604
00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:49,840
Its flawed, compromised design
means there are just
too many things that can go wrong.

605
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:56,200
Since 2003, there has been
a collective crossing of fingers
every time a Shuttle has launched

606
00:56:56,200 --> 00:57:00,080
and every time
one has returned safely.

607
00:57:00,080 --> 00:57:03,920
With the end of the programme,
that anxiety is over.

608
00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:09,400
But what a ride the Shuttle
has given us!

609
00:57:10,920 --> 00:57:17,600
The programme has launched more
people into space than all previous
American space missions combined

610
00:57:17,600 --> 00:57:22,560
and allowed humans to continue
to reach out beyond our planet.

611
00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:34,240
The Hubble Space Telescope
has given us a view on the dawn
of time and the birth of stars.

612
00:57:36,640 --> 00:57:42,800
The construction
of the International Space Station
has shown what can be achieved

613
00:57:42,800 --> 00:57:45,800
when once hostile nations
collaborate.

614
00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:55,800
And Earth observations
have given us valuable insights
into the changing face of our home.

615
00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:07,160
But perhaps more than anything,
the Shuttle has shown us
what we are capable of.

616
00:58:07,160 --> 00:58:11,880
It has provided us with a stepping
stone to the missions of the future.

617
00:58:11,880 --> 00:58:15,720
Where that future takes us
will be up to the next generation

618
00:58:15,720 --> 00:58:18,760
of engineers, politicians
and scientists

619
00:58:18,760 --> 00:58:22,680
who take on the great endeavour
of space exploration.

620
00:58:47,200 --> 00:58:51,520
Subtitles by Subtext
for Red Bee Media Ltd 2011

621
00:58:51,520 --> 00:58:54,800
Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk