All language subtitles for Secrets of the Space Shuttle Part 1 1080p EN SUB

Narrator: Conceived half a
century ago, the space shuttles
are a giant leap in man's quest

To conquer space.

Wayne: It absolutely
was revolutionary.

Joan: It looked like
something out of star wars.

Narrator: The world's first
reusable space craft, they ushr
in a new era in space travel.

Bob: Going 17,500 miles
an hour and there's not
another ride like it.

Narrator: But pushing technoloy
to the limit comes at a price.

Dick: And I looked over
and saw the fire ball.

Narrator: Yet the shuttle
program will continue and
leave a lasting legacy.

Michael: We would never have
the international space station
without the space shuttle.

Narrator: But there is
also a secret side to
the shuttle program.

Jeff: We had quite a few
military missions with the
shuttle and I can't tell you

What we did with it.

Narrator: It will give
the united states an edge
over their soviet rivals.

Rowland: The shuttle threatened
to dramatically change

The balance of power
during the cold war.

Narrator: Almost four decades
since they first took flight,

The shuttles remain the most
iconic space ships ever built.

Milt: We can dip into
space and come back and
land like an aeroplane,

That's a heck of
an accomplishment.

(music)

Narrator: Entering service
in 1981, nasa's fleet of five
space shuttles fly into orbit

And come back to earth
again more than 130 times.

Wayne: It was uh, the first
winged vehicle to fly back
from space hypersonically.

It carried more people than
any other space vehicle.

It was revolutionary
in so many ways.

Narrator: Clocking over 537
million miles in space, for
three decades the shuttles

Are the workhorses of the
american space program.

Michael: The shuttle
is so capable of what
it's designed to do.

It really is, it's a
fantastic achievement.

Narrator: The technology behind
the shuttle's return trips to
space is still one of man's

Greatest feats of engineering.

Male: T minus and one
minute and counting.

Narrator: Bolted to a huge
orange fuel tank and two of the
largest solid rocket boosters

Ever built, the shuttle
goes through its final
checks before launch.

Male: Liquid hydrogen tank
is at flight pressure.

Narrator: The only people
within a three mile radius of
the shuttle are the astronauts
inside.

Jeff: There's a lot
of things that can go
wrong during a launch.

If sitting on top of a few
million pounds of high
explosives is gonna cause you

Emotional stress, you're
in the wrong profession.

Narrator: 85 percent of
the shuttle's 4.5 million
pounds at takeoff, is fuel.

And it will use the
explosive power of all
of it to get into space.

Dick: Rocketry is controlled
explosions in a hope

That it keeps you going in
the right direction.

Male: T minus 20
seconds and counting.

Main engines prepare
for ignition.

T minus 10, 9,

Michael: We don't hear a
countdown like you public do,
but we can see on our computer

Monitor, that little clock
going tick, tick, tick.

Male: 8, 7,

Robert: 6.6 seconds before
liftoff, we get ready to
ignite the main engines.

Male: We've gone for
main engines start.

Ken: Out the window you see
this bright yellow glow.

Male: 3, 2, 1.

Ken: And you go "oh here we go."

Male: Lift off of
america's space shuttle.

Michael: All that explosive
power shoves us in the back
and it's a very violent shove.

(music)

Joan: It feels like someone has
kinda taken their foot and
kicked you in the hind quarters.

Narrator: With all its engines
blazing, the shuttle produces
about 37 million horsepower!

Dick: It's a very
visceral experience.

You know you are going somewhere
very, very fast and you have
very little control over it.

Narrator: Two minutes in,
28 miles high, the shuttle
hits 3,000 miles per hour

And its reusable
boosters are jettisoned.

Michael: At the moment we're
going about mach 4, that's 4
times the speed of sound.

Rhea: And the, the sky
goes from the clouds and
blue sky to black sky.

(music)

Narrator: The shuttles main
engines push it even faster

Through the upper reaches
of the atmosphere.

Michael: We're gonna use up all
the fuel to get up to mach 25,
25 times the speed of sound.

And that's the speed we need to
keep going around the earth and
never actually come back to it.

Narrator: Once the shuttle
reaches 17,500 miles per hour,

Explosive bolts detonate and
release the empty fuel tank.

Michael: Pf, that's
it, we're weightless.

Rhea: Your pen floats, dust
particles float, you're sort
of looking around thinking,

Are we there yet? (laughs)

Narrator: It takes just 8
and a half minutes to get
the shuttle into space.

Ken: There's usually a cheer
from the crew about that point.

Because the, the most stressed
part of the, the mission, the,
the ascent, is over.

Narrator: In orbit, the
versatility of the shuttle
will allow it to do more

Than any other space ship
before or since.

Robert: We could fit one
and a half greyhound buses
inside the cargo bay,

That's how big that vehicle is.

It was capable of carrying
huge satellites up into orbit,
constructing the international

Space station and
that's what made it such
a productive program.

Narrator: With room for eight
astronauts, the shuttles can
take more people into space

Than ever before.

Jeff: The shuttle has opened up
space flight to a much wider
variety of people, scientists,

Engineers, medical doctors.

We really learned a lot about
uh, how to do science in space.

Narrator: But what makes the
shuttles truly groundbreaking,
is that they come back to eart.

Male: You are go
for de-orbit burn.

Narrator: Travelling ten times
faster than a bullet, the
shuttle hits earth's atmospher.

Robert: We create a shock wave
that has a temperature of 9,000
degrees and so it makes the air

Look like it's on fire.

You're flying into a blow torch.

Narrator: Friction from the
air generates so much heat,
the shuttle starts to glow.

Ken: You look outside
and it's red, it just a,
a terribly hot surface.

Narrator: The temperature of te
shuttle's heat proof skin
reaches 3000 degrees fahrenhei,

Almost four times the melting
point of its metal air frame.

Ken: You see drips going
along the, the, the windows
and it looks like rain,

It looks like water, but
it's something melting.

Narrator: Relying only on air
friction to slow it down, it
takes the shuttle 30 minutes

Flying time to reach
its landing site.

Male: Columbia you're going
subsonic now, looking good.

Narrator: Having used all its
fuel in space, pilots depend
on the shuttle's wings

To glide it home.

Robert: It was a great
big 115 ton brick that
doesn't have any engines.

And so, you get exactly
one chance to land it.

Male: 5, 4,3,2,1, touchdown.

Narrator: Hitting the runway
at 226 miles per hour,
much faster than any plane,

The shuttle's parachutes are
deployed to bring it to a halt.

Milt: I thought oh holy cow!
We built this thing,

We find a way to get this
into space and come back
and land like

An aeroplane wheels on a
runway, that's a heck
of an accomplishment.

Narrator: But this
accomplishment comes at a pric.

Over their three decades in
service, the shuttles cost
taxpayers $209 billion.

Yet when they are first proposd
in the late 1960's, the space
shuttles are meant to be

A cost effective successor
to the most expensive
space program in history.

Computers and rockets
for an audacious mission.

President kennedy: We choose to
go to the moon in this decade
and do the other things,

Not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.

Narrator: With the cold war
raging, president kennedy has
another motive for sending men

To the moon.

Wayne: Kennedy was not
particularly interested in
space or going to the moon,

He was interested in beating
the russians at something.

Milt: We pretty much had a blank
cheque, you just said this is
what I need to get this job done

And, and you got it.

Narrator: On the July
20th 1969, the us wins
the race to the moon.

Neil armstrong: That's one
small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind.

Narrator: But getting men
to the moon has a huge cost.

The final bill is more
than $25 billion dollars.

Wayne: If you turn that into
today's dollars, you're probably
talking half a trillion.

That was an extremely
expensive programme because
we threw away the rocket
every time we used it.

The only thing that you
got back was this little
capsule on the very top.

Even that was not reusable.

Narrator: Nasa is told it has
to find a more cost effective
way of getting into orbit.

They decide
a revolutionary reusable
space craft is the answer.

Tv announcer: Shuttle born
pay load will be put in orbit

For a tenth of what
it cost in the 60's.

Wayne: The space
shuttle was conceived as a
vehicle, like an airliner,

You would build it once, fly it
many times, and therefore reduce
the cost of getting into space.

Narrator: Nasa gets the go
ahead, but there is a hidden
dimension to the shuttles

Overall mission.

Jeff: We had quite a few
military missions with
the shuttle

And I can't tell you
what we did with it.

Narrator: From the shuttle's
inception,

The pentagon determines
they'll be a cold war asset.

Jeff: The final size and
shape of the shuttle was
determined pretty much

By the military requirements.

Narrator: The shuttle's
distinctive wide body
is designed to deploy

The biggest military
spy satellites.

Jeff: And they had
satellites which were 60
feet long and so that,

That cargo bay had to
be much bigger than nasa
originally was planning.

(music)

Narrator: And they are given
the wings of a jet fighter.

Jeff: Instead of having
little stubby wings like
nasa had originally planned,

That led to the big delta wings.

Narrator: But travelling 13
times faster than the concorde
means the shuttle can't be flon

Like a normal airplane.

Jeff: You hit the atmosphere at,
at 25 times the speed of sound,

There's no way that a human
being can keep up.

Narrator: So to help pilots
fly them, nasa invents a
revolutionary new computer

System, surprisingly basic
compared to today's standards.

Joan: The general purpose
computers had 257 k memory.

Your phone has like a
gazillion times more memory
than the shuttle computer.

Narrator: Next, nasa needs to
see if their new computers wor.

In 1976, a prototype shuttle is
rolled out for testing and the
american public gets to see

One of their new space craft
for the first time.

Jeff: It grabbed the attention
of the american public

And it didn't look like
any other rocket.

It was the future.

Rowland: This is the world's
first real space ship it was
like um, star trek made real.

Narrator: Nasa even
names it enterprise.

But this shuttle won't be
boldly going into space.

To find out if their
flight control computers
are up to the job,

Nasa plans to launch enterprise
from the back of a 747.

Milt: When I first heard
about it, I said, "you got
to be kidding me." (laughs)

No way! What a wonderful
concept. Genius!

Male: Just by the touch
in the physical area.

Narrator: Charles justiz is one
of the nasa pilots who flew the
specially adapted boeing 747.

Charles: As a, a research
pilot that scared me to death.

It's like, somebody I
hope did their math.

Narrator: Even with a 68 ton
spaceship on top, the 747
can still take to the air.

Charles: It was a challenge.

When you're flying, the
whole time, it's shaky.

Narrator: At 24,000 feet,
the shuttle is released.

Male: Ok good job.

We're up and confirm computer
light, it's number 2.

Narrator: Using the
new computer system, the
pilots are able to fly...

And land the shuttle.

Male: Ok the gear is
coming down at 270.

185, roger that.

Ok that was too good a glider.

Charles: It was just amazing.
The fact that it worked as well
as it did,

To me is still one of the
great successes of nasa.

Ngines

That can take the shuttle
into orbit over and over.

Rowland: Nasa never had to
reuse rocket engines before.

They'd always been thrown away.

It was like trying to build a
formula one car that was gonna
last as long as a ford cortina.

Narrator: The shuttles main
engines need to produce the sae
power as 200,000 family cars.

But making them
reliable isn't easy.

Jeff: We saw some explosions
on the test stands because
you get so much power,

You're pushing these
systems to the limit.

Narrator: It takes nasa
nearly 10 years to perfect
the shuttles engines.

But the biggest challenge by
far is making sure the shuttles

Don't melt when they
return to earth.

Tom: The friction is generated
between that space craft and
the earth's atmosphere

Creates a very high temperature,
somewhere around 3,000 degrees.

Narrator: Previously, nasa
protected it's astronauts
by putting them inside

Small capsules with thick heat
shields designed to burn away.

Jeff: It gradually
melts and that carries
away a lot of the heat.

Sort of like when you perspire
and that works just fine.

But it's a one-shot deal.

Narrator: But the shuttle has
totally different requirements.

Wayne: The shuttle needed
something that was light
and reusable

Which those previous
heat shields weren't.

Narrator: So nasa decides to ue
a revolutionary new material.

Tom: This is a silica tile and
let me make it really simple.

Silica is nothing but pure sand.
That's all it is.

It's mostly air.

Narrator: The tiles
are extremely good
at dissipating heat,

Even when baked at 1300 degree,
they can be picked up with bare
hands just seconds later.

But there's one
problem with them, they
are incredibly fragile.

Tom: And I could take my finger
right now and poke a hole in
it, that's how fragile it is.

Narrator: At first, nasa can't
get the delicate tiles to stick
to the shuttle's metal skin.

Wayne: We went through a
process of nearly two years
of trying to confirm that,

That we had properly bonded
those tiles to the surface.

Narrator: In the end, they find
the best way to glue the tiles
is with bathroom sealant.

Tom: We went to the
hardware store and we
bought bath tub caulk.

So that's what we chose
uh, and it worked.

(music)

Narrator: Countless tubes of
bathroom caulk later, the first
of the shuttle fleet is ready.

In early April 1981, shuttle
columbia is rolled out to the
launch pad to be prepped

For its maiden flight.

Commanding the mission is john
young, he is one of nasa's most
experienced astronauts

Who has walked on the moon.
Accompanying him,

Is someone who has never even
been into space, former navy
test pilot, bob crippen.

Bob: I was 40 when uh, I was
asked if I wanted to fly

And to finally know that I
might have a chance to do
it, was uh, uh,

Sort of the pinnacle of my life.
It blew my mind.

I was ready to turn handsprings.

Narrator: The two
astronauts have waited a
long time for this moment.

Bob: We thought we'd be flying
in about a year, but our main
engines kept blowing up

On the test stand and um, the
thermal protection system,
uh, kept falling off.

Narrator: Now with the
problems seemingly fixed,
on April 12th 1981,

Shuttle columbia is
ready for launch.

Thousands show up
to watch the event.

But nasa is taking a big gambl.

No one has ever test flown a
brand new space craft with
astronauts on board before.

Rowland: It was the boldest
test flight in history.

Everything was staked on the
success of that mission.

If something went wrong, that
was the end of the program.

Narrator: Tv cameras are
broadcasting the event live
to millions around the world.

Bob: There's always
gonna be people taking
your picture uh, it um,

It was a little bit surreal,
but you don't really pay
attention to all the cameras.

And my biggest thought
was, don't screw up.

Narrator: In mission control,
the tension is high.

Milt: Everybody was anxious,
the flight control team were
thinking we better be ready

Because we're gonna
have some problems.

Narrator: Even though
the shuttle was fitted
with ejection seats,

If there is a serious
problem, there is little
chance of survival.

Bob: To me they were more of
a placebo than anything else.

If you've ever seen that
tail flame coming out
of the solid rockets,

If you ejected out of that
uh, you'd be very crispy
when you hit the ground.

Male: T minus one minute.

10 seconds. And counting.

Bob: We got inside one minute
and I turned to john and I said,
"I think we might do it."

That's when my heart rate
went up to about 130.

John's only was about 90,
he says he was too old
to go any faster but (laughs)

It was an exciting moment.

Male: 3, 2, 1 lift off of
the first space shuttle.

Rhea: It was really
awesome to see the shuttle
rising above the trees.

The beauty of it as it
climbed higher and higher.

(music)

Narrator: In mission control,
more than 200 people are
monitoring every aspect

Of the shuttles performance.

Male: Columbia, houston,
you're go at throttle up.

Pilot: Roger, go
at throttle up.

Milt: A lot can go
wrong, early on.

Once the solid rocket boosters
separate and the, in about
four minutes and you're just

On the main engines, there's
certain amount of relief there.

Male: Standing by for
solid rocket booster sep.

Pilot: Roger on the sep.

Whoever said that space
was black wasn't kidding.

Bob: It goes from being very
loud and noisy to very quiet.

Pilot: Velocity now
16,400 feet per second.

Standing by now for
main engine cut off.

Columbia now maneuvering
to its orbit

Milt: It is a total uh, big sigh
of relief once the main engines
shut down and you're in orbit.

I don't know how else to say it,
it's just a big sigh of relief.

Bob: 8 and a half
minutes the vehicle was
behaving beautifully.

We knew we were successful going
at 17,500 miles an hour and
there's not another ride like
it.

The vice president
calls in on live tv.

Pilot: Hello mr.
Vice president.

Vice president: Hey
who's that? John?
John: Yes sir.

Vice president: How's it going
up there? Everything rocking
along alright?

Pilot: (inaudible) it's
just on and beautiful.

Vice president: Listen I'm
glad to talk to both of you.

And crip, how's he behaving?

Narrator: Everything is going
according to plan, but when the
cargo bay doors are opened,

The on-board cameras
reveal an alarming sight.

Pilot: We do have an uh,
a few tiles missing off
of the starboard part.

Bob: It was very obvious
to me that we were missing
some of our uh, tiles,

Our thermal protection system on
the rear end of the space craft.

If those are missing, maybe some
were missing off the bottom and
that would have been disastrous.

Narrator: The underside
of the shuttle is subjected
to the highest temperatures

During re-entry.

If a tile is missing, the
shuttle will disintegrate befoe
it even makes it back to earth.

Tom: The concern was we could
lose the entire vehicle.

Male: Columbia, go
for de-orbit burn.

Narrator: Hitting earth's
atmosphere at hypersonic speed,
the shuttle is immediately

Engulfed in a layer of
super-heated plasma.

Mission control temporarily
loses all communication
with the crew.

Wayne: We had loss of signal
for about 30 minutes until
they were to appear uh,

Over the californian coast.

(music)

It was very tense
and very quiet.

Narrator: There is no way for
mission control to know if the
heat shield is holding up.

Tom: That extremely anxious.

There wasn't anything
that we could do.

Male: Columbia this is
houston through yargitty,
we're standing by.

Pilot: Hello houston,
columbia is here.

Male: Hello columbia houston
is here. How do you read?

Bob: And then we came in
contact with the ground and
told them we were coming in.

Pilot: Columbia and we're doing
uh, mach 10.3 and 180 as.

Milt: To hear the voice of the
crew was such a good feeling.

Narrator: Columbia's
fragile heat shield works.

Tom: The real highlight
was when I knew it and all
those tiles did their job.

That was a bigger highlight
in my career than apollo
was, tell you the truth.

Narrator: The last job for
the crew is to fly columbia

To its landing strip in the
mohave desert.

Pilot: Gear down.

Bob: And there were thousands,
thousands of people I think
uh, half the population

Of los angeles had bailed out
to come see us land. And um,

All I said to john was "look
at all those people out there,

Hope they don't get
on the runway." (laughs)

(music)

Narrator: After one
million miles in space,
columbia touches down.

Bob: I have never seen
john that excited before.

And was still excited when he
got outside the space craft.

I felt that way too.

The fact that it had worked
as well as it did, was uh,

Something we were both
extremely proud of.

(applause).

Narrator: With the inaugural
mission a success, the shuttle
program gets the green light

From the president.

President raegan: This
versatility of the columbia and
her sister ships will serve

The american people
well, by establishing a more
permanent presence in space.

Challenger you are
free to take off now.

Narrator: The shuttle fleet
goes to work promising to
take everything and anything

The us wants into space,
and at a much lower price.

Jeff: The promise of the shuttle
in the early days was that the
shuttle would be able to replace

All expendable launches at a
fraction of the cost that people
had been paying previously.

What a deal.

Wayne: It was supposed to
replace all other american
rockets and launch all american

Satellites into orbit
for whatever reason.

Narrator: Nasa is determined te
shuttles will grab the lion's
share of the growing

Commercial satellite market to.

Rowland: But it was in
satellite navigation
and mobile phones uh,

And satellite television, the
seeds of that were sewn by the
constellation of satellites

That the shuttle helped put up.

(music)

Controller: (bleep)
ok stand by. (bleep).

Narrator: Determined the
shuttle program should
reflect modern america,

Nasa opens its
doors to more women.

Rhea seddon is one of the
first to make the grade.

Rhea: I was the
littlest astronaut that
they had ever selected.

I think they just felt
like, well all of the
equipment will fit them.

Well it didn't.

Narrator: Nasa not only has to
order smaller space suits,

They have to find a way to make
them practical for women.

Rhea: How do you pee?

Uh, the men wore condoms that
were attached to a bag that
wasn't gonna work on women,

So they eventually designed
some diapers for us.

Which worked just great.

Narrator: The sight of women
in space, quickly captures
the public's imagination.

Robert: It was just
revolutionary.

The women astronauts
were heroes.

They were much sought after
by the press, much sought
after for interviews.

Rhea: I think we felt very much
in the spotlight and I was just
completely taken aback but

We wanted to really,
really do a good job.

The shuttle astronauts are
leading double lives.

Secretly working
for the us military.

Robert: The space shuttle had a
huge capability to do classified
missions that would let us

Eavesdrop on the russians.

And I was an active
participant in all this.

Narrator: Then in 1983,
president reagan announces his
plans to use the shuttles

To do a lot more than just
spy on the russians.

President raegan: The soviets
have built up a massive arsenal

Of new strategic nuclear
weapons.

Weapons that can strike
directly at the united states.

I call upon the scientific
community to give us the means

Of rendering these nuclear
weapons impotent and obsolete.

Narrator: Immediately dubbed
star wars by the press, reagans
goal is to deploy nasa

To build a missile
defense shield in space.

Tv announcer: Chemical lasers
fire beams that burn through the
shell of the onrushing missile.

Rowland: The star wars
initiative threatened to
dramatically change the balance

Of power during the cold war.

If america repel uh, a
soviet nuclear attack, it can
mean the cold war was over,

It meant america had won.

Narrator: But with so
many military civilian
and scientific missions,

The shuttle fleet is struggling
to keep up with demand.

Robert: This thing
is really complex.

The refurbishment between
missions was far greater than
what we had ever envisioned.

Narrator: After every flight,
740 critical components
have to be replaced.

Jeff: It was reusable, but it
was such a complex vehicle uh,
that they needed thousands

Of people to turn it around.

Narrator: Costing up to $1.5
billion a launch, the shuttles
are a lot more expensive

Than nasa anticipated.

To be cost effective,
they need to fly a
shuttle every two weeks,

But they are only
launching 9 times a year.

Wayne: There were huge questions
on nasa to deliver 24 flights a
year and it wasn't just

The politicians, the media
kept hammering on nasa
to, to achieve this.

Narrator: Worse still
for nasa, the public is getting
bored with the shuttle program.

Robert: A lot of people had
grown kind of uninterested in
watching the space shuttle.

It had become kind ho hum.

Wayne: If you put against the
lunar landings where you know,
you're going to a new world

And planting the flag, what
we're doing in orbit was
not terribly exciting.

Narrator: Nasa knows they have
to win back public support
to keep the cash flowing

From congress.

So they come up with a bold
plan, send a teacher into
space to give a lesson

That will be beamed live into
classrooms across america.

Rhea: Nasa wanted the
other people of the world

To understand that space
was for everyone.

Narrator: 11,000 teachers
apply, 10 are short listed.

New hampshire teacher
christa mcauliffe is the
one picked to go into space.

Krista: When that shuttle goes,
there might be one body mm.

But there's gonna be 10 souls
that I'm taking with me.

Narrator: Runner up barbara
morgan is her back up.

The american public instantly
falls in love with down to
earth mother of two, krista.

Barbara: Krista was really
sweet, really kind, fun.

She was uh, the girl next door.

Narrator: Krista and
barbara undergo four months
of astronaut training.

Krista: It was wonderful,
broke the sound barrier and
he let me fly for a while.

It was great.

Barbara: Every minute was a
learning experience for us.

It was just absolutely
tremendous.

Narrator: One of the highlights
is zero gravity training inside
nasa's specially adapted

Airliner, dubbed,
the vomit comet.

Barbara: Experiencing
weightlessness is very surreal.

We had a lot of fun
playing leap frog.

And the two of us, I don't
think we stopped laughing
the entire flight.

Narrator: But the real focus
for krista is perfecting
her lesson from space.

Barbara: Krista was so excited.

She was going to do
a tour of the shuttle, do
a tour of her crew mates.

Krista: This is christa
mcauliffe, I'm gonna start
out introducing you to

Two very important
members of the crew.

Barbara: I'll always remember
krista with her really cute
little smile saying

"I have never prepared so
well for one single lesson
as I have here at nasa."

Krista: Woops! Oh.

Narrator: On January 28th 1986,
krista is ready for her flight.

Krista: I am so excited and
I just hope everybody tunes
in to watch the teacher,

Teaching from space.

Narrator: The next morning,
challenger will blast off.

Narrator: Overnight, the
temperature drops to the
low 20's.

Ice has formed on
the launch tower.

Jeff: I took look a those
icicles and thought to myself,

Well they're not launching today
that's for sure.

Narrator: The big concern
is the ice might damage the
shuttle's fragile heat shield.

Chief engineer tom and his team
are called in to assess the
risk to the shuttle's

Thermal protection system.

Tom: We did a quick analysis
and we determined that
based on where the ice was,

We were safe to fly.

Narrator: But the shuttle's
fragile heat shield
isn't the only worry.

Robert: There were engineers
for the booster rockets that
were very concerned

With launching at
those temperatures.

Narrator: The worry is that the
cold could cause the shuttle's
solid rocket boosters

To leak highly explosive
fuel during take-off.

If that happens, the shuttle
could blow up like a bomb.

Nasa makes the decision
to launch.

Wayne: We never got together for
a flight readiness review

Where people said well we don't
have anything to talk about

Because everything worked
perfectly, that never happened.

Narrator: 11.30 am, the
world tunes in to watch
christa mcauliffe

Become the first ordinary
citizen to go into space.

Barbara: We were really, really
excited about the launch, so
excited I wanted to be

With the crew and I was
really happy for them.

Narrator: Krista's family are n
florida to see the big event.

And in her home town, her
students are watching live.

Dick covey is the man
charged with talking krista
and the crew through launch.

Dick: I say if anybody sitting
on a rocket and isn't a little
bit concerned or frightened,

Then they don't understand
what's going on.

Male: 10, 9,8,7,6, we
have main engine start.

4,3,2,1 and lift off.

Lift off of the 25th
space shuttle mission and
it has cleared the tower.

Barbara: I had this huge smile
on my face and I remember
thinking that

I wanted to be there. (laughs)

Pilot: Houston
challenger roll program.

Dick: I was sitting watching
my data on my screen uh,
because that was my job.

Male: Roger roll challenger.

Pilot: Good roll flight.
Male: Rog, good roll.

Narrator: The shuttle positions
itself to pick up speed.

Dick: Everything is looking
like it should when we
launch the space shuttle.

(music)

Narrator: 30 seconds
in, challenger is 2
miles above florida.

Dick: The engines throttle back
as they were supposed to as
challenger is just going through

The uh, thickest part
of the atmosphere.

Pilot: Engines throttling
up, three engines
now at 104 percent.

Narrator: The shuttle goes at
maximum power to reach orbit.

Pilot: Three engines are running
normally. Three good fuel cells.

Dick: The guys on the
ground monitor the engines,
look at them and say,

They're in good shape.

And I made a call.

Male: Challenger go
with throttle up.

Pilot: Roger go throttle up.

(dramatic music)

Dick: There was some
noise like static

And I looked over and saw
the video of a fireball.

I had no idea what
I was looking at.

It didn't make any
sense to me at all.

Milt: What I saw were
the solid rocket boosters
still continuing to fly.

I mistakenly, I was hoping I was
seeing the orbiter still flying.

Barbara: When things are flying
everywhere, when you see the
contrails it don't look

Like a normal, normal launch.

You, you know something,
something is going on.

Male: Roger you
getting any inputs?

Standby.

Narrator: The shuttles
data disappears from
everyone's screens.

Male: Flight fido.

Go ahead.

Rso reports vehicle exploded.

Dick: We quickly understood
that we had had an explosion.

Challenger was not flying and
it was then that we realized,

I think individually that
we had lost the crew.

Narrator: The disaster unfolds
in front of krista's parents...

And millions around the
world watching on tv...

Including krista's students.

Male: We're now looking
at the checking with the
recovery forces to see uh,

What we can do at this point.

Jeff: I, I, think,
I, I knew pretty much right
away that, that this was a,

A major catastrophe.

Yeah these were my friends
and, and they're dead.

Barbara: And we lost
seven dear people.

That, that was horrible and,
and it will always be horrible.

It's a terrible,
terrible tragedy.

Milt: I hugged more
than one person.

Uh, I, I wiped tears off
more than one person.

Narrator: The challenger
disaster shakes
the entire nation.

All shuttle flights are groundd
and a presidential inquiry is
launched to figure out why

Six astronauts and a
teacher lost their lives.

The results are damning.

Just as engineers had warned,
the extreme cold caused the
solid rocket boosters to fail

And nasa management at the
marshall space flight center
should have listened.

For the astronauts, grief
quickly turned to anger.

Jeff: If it failed, in a way
that people had been aware
of and had anticipated,

And yet we went ahead, it was
almost in a way like a betrayal.

Robert: It was a huge
mistake, it was a huge error.

We paid very dearly for it.

Our seven crew members
paid everything for it.

Dick: It's certainly
disappointing that it
occurred the way it did.

It, it's hard.

Narrator: The future of the
shuttle program is in doubt.

Rhea: And we realized that
it had become a national
tragedy and um, we began to,

To wonder whether the shuttle
would ever fly again.

Narrator: But the
challenger disaster won't
be the end for the shuttles.

Soon the us is shocked to
discover that the russians
have one of their own.

Tom: When I saw it I
said, "they copied it."

Narrator: And nasa's shuttles
will be needed to defeat them.

Robert: Hey, I'm the person
who ended the cold war.

Narrator: But for all
the triumphs

Mission control: There are
smiles galore down here.

Narrator: Tragedy
is never far away.

Milt: I said john
"what's happened?"

And I'll never forget this,
he said, "we lost them."

Captioned by subtitlepro llc