Rocketmen (2009) - full transcript

Space has beckoned to us
from the dawn of time.

The is the story of our greatest adventure

when humans first stepped off the Earth

into the unknown.

Firing chain is armed.

No unexpected error.

Discovery's computer is now controlling.

Water system is being activated.

T minus 10 seconds,
go for main engine start,

seven, six, five, three
engines up and burning,

three, two, one, and liftoff
of Space Shuttle Discovery.



Beginning America's new journey

to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Rocket Men
The Conquerors of Space

In the beginning...

It's my pleasure to
introduce these seven men

who have been selected to begin training

for orbital space flight.

John H. Glenn.

Virgil I. Grissom.

Alan B. Shepard.

Once upon a time,

almost 50 years ago, a group of men

were called upon to risk their lives

on a mission to the skies as rocketmen.



Walter M. Schirra
They call themselves

star voyagers, astronauts.

These, ladies and gentlemen,

are the nation's Mercury astronauts.

Everything they do to get
into space will be new.

Every step they take a first.

There are no mobile phones.

Testing, testing. Testing, testing.

Computers are the size of station wagons.

And no one knows if a human can survive

beyond the confines of Earth.

It is the height of the Cold War,

a huge arsenal of missiles
points towards the Soviet Union.

The fight is for the hearts of men,

the frontier is not Earth, but space.

To win it, men must
ride a rocket to the skies.

Four, three, two, one, liftoff.

On the last day of January 1961,

America's first rocketman is ready.

The spacecraft is to reach

a maximum altitude of 120 statute miles.

Four and a half minutes of weightlessness,

a velocity of almost 5,000 miles per hour.

The big question is, will
the star voyager survive?

The spacecraft traveled 40 miles higher

and a 120 miles farther than scheduled.

It sustained 18 G instead of the normal 11.

But Ham is fine,

and made the trip into
space and back safely.

Ham, a four-year-old chimpanzee,

is America's first astronaut,

and an instant celebrity.

He is also proof that
you can survive in space

provided the rocket doesn't kill you first.

It's time for man to take his chance.

The first is Alan Shepard.

Better you than me, pal.

Nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,

two, one, ignition.

All right, now, liftoff and
the clock has started.

This is Freedom 7, the fuel is go,

1.2 g, cabin at 14 psi, oxygen is go.

On the periscope, what a beautiful view.

Cabin holding at 5.5.

Just a glimpse at the wonder of space,

but it changes the world.

My condition is still good,

I'm getting ready for impact.

It just hit the water a moment ago,

a cheer went up from the
ship's company watching here

from all decks on the aircraft carrier.

We choose to go to the Moon.

We choose to go to the Moon.

We choose to go to the Moon in this decade,

and the other things.

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

Because that challenge is one
that we're willing to accept,

one we are unwilling to postpone,
and one we intend to win.

To put a man on the moon

and return him safely to Earth
before the decade is out.

It is a dream of ages,
and its time has come.

The clock is running, it will
cost rocketmen their lives.

Liberty Bell 7, Liberty Bell 7,

this is Atlantic Capcom,
do you read me, over?

Astronaut Gus Grissom has
survived a trip to space,

but will he survive the return?

Astronaut is out of the capsule.

After splashdown,

the icy Atlantic has a
grip on his space capsule.

From a helicopter, they
were talking about...

And on him.

This helicopter to go
right over the capsule.

The helicopter has hooked onto the capsule.

Correction, the capsule is
still floating in the water.

Gus Grissom cheats death.

It is the rocketman's gift, sometimes.

It is time to send a
voyager to circle the planet.

This day stands here as a preparation

of research and testing,
of planning and training.

And the purpose of it all is knowledge.

Knowledge that will serve as the basis

for space explorations of the future.

Okay, John.

John Glenn's tiny capsule

waits for him atop the
most powerful missile

so far launched.

If it fails, this surely
will be the last human hand

he touches.

CNS and beacons are on.

We just gotta go, are you ready?

Status check, pressurization.

LOX tanking.

I have a blinking high-level light.

You are go, water systems go,

range operations, Mercury capsule, go.

All pre-start panel lights are correct,

the ready light is on,

Eject Mercury umbilical. All evacuate.

Mercury umbilical clear. Mercury is go.

All recorders to fast,

T minus 18 seconds and
counting, engines start.

The good lord ride all the way up.

Godspeed, John.

Six, five, four, three,
two, one, liftoff.

Roger, the clock is
operating, we're underway.

We're spreading out some now,

getting out of the vibration area.

Sky looking very dark outside.

Roger, zero g and I feel fine.

Capsule is turning around.

Oh, that view is tremendous.

Beautiful.

Roger, 7, you have a go,
at least seven orbits.

Roger, understand go for
at least seven orbits.

Ammeter is indicating 23.

ASCS is 112.

Fans are 112, over.

How does he look, Bermuda?

Looks real good, okay,

but certain to report everything
okay, all systems okay.

Bermuda, Kano, Zanzibar.

Horizon is a brilliant blue.

17,000 miles an hour.

Very good, John, you sound good.

Roger, that was sure a short day.

Alone in space,

Glenn encircles all human
life in just 19 minutes.

Just to my right I can see
a big pattern of light.

Apparently right on the coast,

I can see a, the light of a
town and a very bright light

just to the south of it.

Roger that, it's Perth and Rockingham

that you're seeing there.

Roger, the lights show up very well

and I wanna thank everybody for
turning them on, will you?

Roger, sure will, John, very fine.

Instantly, John Glenn is an American hero.

♫ Going east on 98 highway

♫ The top's down and the air is clear

♫ She smiles and goes my senses

♫ Best place in the world right here

♫ When I look into her eyes

♫ I see the truth that it will last forever

♫ These are the best years of our lives ♫

Earth orbit is one small step,

giant leaps still lie ahead.

Men must fly in larger rockets,

and new rockets are a problem.

One in five Titan rockets fail.

Tough odds if you're a rocketman.

Engineers drive themselves to find a fix.

10, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,

two, one, go.

Men will ride next.

The project is called Gemini, the twin sons

of men and gods who lived
both on Earth and in heaven.

Astronaut John Young will fly first

with the man who cheated
death in the icy Atlantic,

hero Gus Grissom.

Okay, Dan, verify your
station, borders are on.

A simple objective, test
drive the new rocket

and return alive.

Isolated batteries are normal.

Isolated batteries normal, ready now.

Stand by on the ammeter,

electrical blocked out, external fire off.

Roger.

12 off, 18 off, 64 off, internal fire.

This is Gemini Launch Control,

T minus 60 seconds and counting.

The launch vehicle is now
on its own battery power.

All systems still looking
good in the spacecraft

and with the launch vehicle itself.

10, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,

three, two, one, zero.

Ignition.

Liftoff, we have a liftoff

16 minutes left of the hour.

There it goes.

Roger, staging.

No human eyes have ever seen

what these explorers see.

Even as they orbit, another
rocketman is preparing.

In secret, he is getting
ready for a bold step

closer to man's dream of the moon.

Ed White is 34, a father.

Fewer than 40 people on Earth
know what he's training for

and none of them are sure it can be done.

Ed White will fly with his best friend,

rocketman Jim McDivitt.

Unless things go well,
McDivitt will come home alone.

Liftoff.

150 miles high, 17,000 miles an hour.

A simple sounding instruction.

Okay, we're giving you a go

for your EVA at this time.

The start of a great adventure.

Okay.

Roger, flight, let's go.

Okay.

My feet are out.

I think I'm dragging a little bit,

so I don't wanna fire the gun yet.

Okay, I'm separating from the spacecraft.

Okay, I'm out.

Oh hey, there, I can see around now.

Okay, just a sec.

You're right in front,
Ed, you look beautiful.

I feel like a million dollars.

This is the greatest experience,

it's just tremendous.

Looks like a thermal glove, Jim.

I feel like a million dollars.

The flight director says get back in.

Jimmy, get back in.

Okay. Going to come back in now.

Now back in, come on.

One, zero. Ignition.

We will start, we have a liftoff.

Rocketmen can walk in space,

and one day might even walk on the Moon,

but could they come home again?

And you can tell him

that the pad preparation
schedule is going very well.

To find out, two ships must
fly in space together,

and fly close enough to join.

The word from the Cape is, we are go.

The prime pilots for the Gemini 6 flight,

Walter Schirra and Tom Stafford.

Only if they can will men
return from the Moon.

Three, two, one. Ignition.

But will two ships even find each other

in the vastness of space.

Okay, their orbit is 87 by 140.

How are the 7 boys doing?

They go over a while ago?

They sure did,

they're about five minutes ahead of you.

Roger, tell them we'll see them

at the next station.

Roger, read you loud and clear.

Hey, I think I've got them.

Is that space craft 7?

Break, and point four eight nautical miles.

660 feet.

300 feet, we're directly below you.

180 feet.

Ask them what their range is now.

About 20 feet.

Twin ships meet in the heavens

and fly almost close enough to touch.

Gemini 7, are you able
to see in the windows

of 6 very easily, and vice versa?

Roger.

It is proof a moon lander

could meet a mother ship and return.

A giant leap towards the dream of the moon.

And then, it's over.

Coming home, death lurks just
inches from the rocketmen.

A super-heated plasma envelops the craft,

twice as hot as the surface of the sun.

Frank Borman and Jim Lovell

are the most traveled humans in history.

They have voyaged
more than six million miles,

and the sun has risen
and set on them 400 times.

They have shown that men could live

through the long journey to the moon,

and it is their destiny to go there.

The final part of the dream is coming.

Its name, Apollo.

In legend, the god Apollo
flew on the back of a swan

to the land of eternal Spring.

Fire will carry this Apollo,
a million gallons of fuel

in a rocket the size
of a 35 story building.

It is beyond earthly names,
so they call it Saturn,

the most powerful machine the human mind

has ever conceived.

In the first crew,
31-year-old Roger Chaffee

joins the rocketmen elite,

Gus Grissom, the man who cheats death,

and Edward White, spacewalker.

Good luck, John.

The year is 1967,

the last week in January.

It is just after midday.

This is a hard phrase to say,

but I think it's a necessary one,

it would be an instantaneous
death, would it not?

I think that's a fair assumption.

These three men, they were
aware of consequences

of the risky work they
were doing, were they not?

They were, all of our pilots are.

This is an extremely hazardous business,

we've tried to convey that to people,

and I know you newsmen have too.

But, it's a shame that things
like this have to happen

to bring it home to us so dramatically.

Death will only wait so long.

It came for Grissom, White, and Chaffee.

A fire in the sealed capsule.

The cause, a spark from wiring
beneath Gus Grissom's seat.

From the ashes comes a phoenix,

built on the lessons learned
from men who gave their lives.

Almost two years later,

a reborn Apollo is ready to fly.

This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control,

with two hours, 20 minutes and counting,

we appear to have a beautiful morning here

for a flight to the moon,

and countdown's still
going very satisfactory

at this time.

We expect that astronauts
Frank Borman, Jim Lovell,

and Bill Anders will be coming out

in a matter of a few minutes.

400,000 people work for NASA.

Today, just before Christmas 1968,

they will seek to make history.

50 seconds and counting,

we have the power transfer,

we're now on the flight batteries
within the launch vehicle.

45 seconds.

T minus 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.

We have ignition sequence
start, the engines are on.

Four, three, two, one, zero.

We have commit, we have liftoff.

We have cleared the tower.

S2 has ignited, we can confirm,

and the thrust looks good, all engines,

all sources show that the
state is burning perfectly.

The launch of the giant rocket

can be seen for 100 miles.

That was a very exciting ride

on that big Saturn,
but it worked perfectly.

For time beyond time,

men have dreamed of
seeing Earth as a globe,

a single planet.

These rocketmen do so.

These new adventurers are
Earth's most traveled pair,

Frank Borman and Jim Lovell.

And with them, on his first
flight, astronaut Bill Anders.

They are to be the first
men to travel to the Moon,

orbit round it, and return.

NASA rates their chances of living

no more than 50-50.

For almost a quarter of a
million miles they travel

between the Earth on the Moon,

and see it as no one has before.

Point nine by 50.5.

169.1 by 50.5.

This is Houston, roger,

169.1 by 50.5, good to hear your voice.

This is the first sight human eyes

ever have of the far side of the moon.

And then, orbiting the moon,

they discover the Earth.

For all the people back on Earth,

the crew of Apollo 8 has a message

that we would like to send you.

On Christmas Eve 1968,
Apollo 8 calls home.

More people listened than have ever heard

a single human voice before.

In the beginning, god created the heaven

and the Earth, and the
Earth was without form

and void, and darkness was
upon the face of the deep.

And the spirit of god moved
upon the face of the waters.

And god said, "Let there be light."

And there was light.

And god bless all of you,

all of you on the good Earth.

Now we have seen the Moon,

now we must make it ours.

But one vital element is not ready,

the lunar lander, a ship
that can actually set down.

It will be very light, very
fragile, and very hard to fly.

The world's best pilots
will be needed to tame it,

like Neil Armstrong.

The rocketman cheats death,

it is their gift, sometimes.

Liftoff, we have liftoff

at 11am Eastern Standard Time.

And, Apollo 9, it's five minutes,

everybody's happy as a
clam here, looking good.

In the spring of 1969,
rocketmen fly once again.

This time they bring with them
the LEM, the lunar lander,

to fly for the very first time.

Three, two, one, liftoff.

You're good.

It's a nice looking machine.

So is yours.

Orbiting Earth, the men who fly the lander

have no hope their flimsy ship
could ever get them home.

Upside down again.

Yeah, I'm just thinking, one of us

isn't right side up.

It is so fragile,

it would disintegrate in
the Earth's atmosphere,

yet its windows give the best view

a rocketman has ever seen.

Hey, Dave, we're at 49
miles, we can still see you.

Hey, that's pretty good.

Returning to the mother ship in space

will be the final test,

and the only way the
rocketmen will survive.

I think I got a handle on it now.

Good to go, Spider.

Okay, Houston, we're locked up.

The dress rehearsal.

Apollo 10, you can tell the world

that we have arrived.

The complete Apollo flight plan.

Charlie Brown Houston, over.

Everything except the landing.

Houston, Houston, this is Snoopy.

Roger, Snoop, go ahead.

We is go, and we is
down among them, Charlie.

Roger, I hear you weaving
your way up the freeway.

There are no tests left,

no more plans or calculations.

If Buzz Aldrin, Neil
Armstrong, and Mike Collins

are to live, a million
things must go perfectly.

Their labor is the most trying,

and every small step watched by a world

with a dream in its eyes.

The crew design a mission badge,

they alone of all the rocketmen
will fly with no names.

It is not who will make
this voyage, they say,

but that the voyage is made.

They will fly for all of us.

The astronauts then sat down to breakfast.

They had a menu of fillet
mignon, scrambled eggs,

toast, coffee, and tea.

This is Apollo Launch Control,

we're still aiming toward a planned liftoff

at the start of the lunar window,
9:32am Eastern Daylight.

This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control,

T minus three hours, four
minutes, 32 seconds and counting.

Right on time as far as
the astronaut's countdown

is concerned, the flying crew now departing

from their crew quarters here
at the Kennedy Space Center.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins,

and then finally Buzz Aldrin...

The estimate is more than a million persons

are in the immediate area
out to watch the launch.

This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control,

we've passed the six
minute mark in our countdown

for Apollo 11, the flight to
land the first men on the moon.

The swing arm now coming back
as our countdown continues.

Firing command coming in now,
we're on an automatic sequence

as the master computer
supervises hundreds of events

occurring over these last few minutes.

Hey, we're over here.

T minus 15 seconds, guidance is internal.

12, 11, 10, nine,
ignition sequence start.

Liftoff, we have a liftoff
32 minutes past the hour,

liftoff on Apollo 11.

For three days, the world waits,

as Apollo 11 hurtles a
quarter of a million miles

to the Moon.

Capcom, we're go for undocking.

Roger, Eagle's undocked.

Listen, babe, everything's going

just swimmingly, beautiful.

Great.

I think you got a fine
looking flying machine

there, Eagle, despite the
fact you're upside down.

Somebody's upside down.

Houston Eagle, how do you read?

Five by, Eagle, we're standing by

for your burn report, over.

Roger, the burn was on time,

the residuals before nulling...

Houston, we've lost all data with Eagle.

At a critical moment,

all communication with the LEM is lost.

Eagle, do you copy Columbia?

We copy, over.

Can you hear me now, Houston?

Eagle, we got you now,
it's looking good, over.

You're go to continue power descent.

You're go to continue power descent.

Okay, all flight controllers,
gonna go for landing.

Retro. Go.

Fido. Go.

Guidance. Go.

Control. Go.

Deltcom. Go.

GNC Go.

Eecom. Go.

Surgeon. Go.

Capcom, we're go for land.

Houston, you're go for landing, over.

Then a warning from the
LEM's on-board computer.

Program alarm.

Affirmative.

The 1202, 1202.

No one is sure what it means.

Give us the reading on
the 1202 program alarm.

We're go.

Roger, we got you, we're go on that alarm.

It's looking to us,

you're still looking good,
it's coming up three minutes.

Then another problem.

Our position check down range

seems to be a little long.

Roger.

They are long, headed
outside their target area

to a landing zone no one has prepared for.

1201.

1201, 1201.

Roger, 1201 alarm.

And the alarms keep coming in.

We're go, same type, we're go.

Into the AGS 47 degrees.

Roger.

300 feet down, three
and a half, 47 forward.

Then, Armstrong does
what he has prepared for

all his life.

He's taking over manual control.

He overrides the
computer and takes control.

After millennia of dreaming,
it comes to one thing,

a man flying a machine.

60 seconds.

60 seconds fuel remaining.

There are 60 seconds of fuel left to burn.

All the world can do is watch

and count the moments he has remaining.

40 feet down, two and a
half, it's not too bad.

30 feet, two and a half down, the shadow.

Four forward, four forward,

drifting to the right a little.

Down a half.

30 seconds.

30 seconds of fuel remaining.

Okay, engine stop. ACA out of detent.

Mode control, both auto.

Descent engine command override off.

Engine arm off, 413 is in.

We copy you down, Eagle.

Houston, Tranquility Base here.

The Eagle has landed.

Roger, Tranquility, we
copy you on the ground.

You got a bunch of guys who
are about to turn blue,

we're breathing again, thanks a lot.

Houston, this is Neil, radio check.

Neil, this is Houston, loud and clear.

Break, break, Buzz, this is Houston,

radio check and verify
TV circuit breaker in.

Roger, TV circuit breaker is in.

Receive loud and clear.

Okay, Neil, we can see you coming down

the ladder now.

Very, very fine grain
as you get close to it,

it's almost like a powder, it's very fine.

I'm going to step off the LEM now.

That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

The surface is fine and powdery,

I can pick it up loosely with my toe.

Okay, gonna get the
contingency sample there.

Okay, looks good.

I'll try to get a rock in here.

All right, that looks
beautiful from here, Neil.

You're waiting for me to come up?

All set.

You've got three more steps
and then a long one.

There you go.

It has a stark beauty all its own,

it's like much of the high
desert of the United States,

it's different but it's
very pretty out here.

Beautiful view, isn't that something?

Magnificent sight out here.

Magnificent desolation.

Colombia, this is Houston

reading you loud and clear, over.

Houston, this is testing, reading.

I read you loud and clear, how's it going?

60 miles away, on his own in space,

Michael Collins listens to
what is unfolding beneath him.

I guess you're about the only person around

that doesn't have TV coverage of the scene.

That's all right, I don't mind a bit.

They've got the flag up now

and you can see the stars and
stripes on the lunar surface.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

We'll read the plaque

that's on the front
landing gear of this LEM.

It says, here men from the planet Earth

first set foot upon the
Moon, July 1969 AD.

We came in peace for all mankind.

It has the crew member's signatures

and the signature of the
President of the United States.

They came in peace, for all mankind.

Nine, eight, seven, six,

five, abort stage, engine
arm ascent, proceed

26, 36 feet per second up, be
advised for the pitch over.

Very smooth.

Nothing anyone has seen

can prepare the world for
the return of the heroes,

the rocketmen who walked on the moon.

Then, four months later.

257 feet coming down at five.

240 coming down at five.

Apollo 12 makes the drama look routine.

Contact light. Outstanding there.

Hey, I feel great, how
long we been out, Houston?

Two moon walkers becomes four.

Houston, you're go.

And six.

We're on the surface.

Okay, we made it to landing.

And ten.

We landed on a slope,

but other than that, we're in great shape,

right on the landing site.

We even take a car.

This is gonna be a good day, Charlie.

Oh, spectacular, just spectacular.

And here we go.

Woo! Man, I feel great, beats skiing.

Man, you are really bouncing.

Is he on the ground at all?

We're doing, it's quick.

You've got about two wheels on the ground.

Okay, stay as you are.

Yahoo!

Tony, this is so great
you can't believe it!

Oh, I believe it, Charlie.

Did you really see that?

Look at it go, would you, Charlie!

You've got all your steering, it's great!

Four clicks an hour, Tony, and...

Like children, we see the glory

of what we have achieved on another world.

What a ride, what a ride.

In Vietnam, things are relatively quiet

with only a few firefights.

814 men of the third battalion.

Gis north of Saigon
were evacuating villagers.

In the Mekong Delta, the
south Vietnamese force...

But it is what, on our own world,

we have failed to achieve
that means we cannot go on.

Hello, guys.

Less than four years after the small step

that gave us the Moon, it is
time for the dream to end.

Rocketmen must bid the Moon farewell.

We're go for liftoff here, Capcom.

You're looking real
good, right down the line.

DNS 8pm echo.

45 feet, down to two, fuel's good,

20 feet, going down to two, 10 feet.

Got contact.

Okay, Houston, the Challenger has landed.

As I step off at the
surface at Taurus-Littrow,

I'd like to dedicate the
first step of Apollo 17

to all those who made it possible.

♫ I was strolling on the Moon one day

♫ In the merry, merry month of December ♫

No, May, May's the month, that's right.

May is the Earth Month.

We'd like to leave immediately.

Okay. My golly, this time goes fast.

Okay, one minute, Houston,

50 seconds now and we're go.

Once we were kings,
we walked on new worlds.

You're looking good here.

We saw what we had done, and it was good.

Two, one, ignition.

Burn away, Houston.

It looks good.

Good cover.

That's it, we have good thrust.

Then, it is over.

For 27 hours, the camera on the lunar rover

sends pictures of our
last mark on the moon.

A great dream has been
accomplished, a great voyage made.

But what is most clear to us,
is that while we journey,

our eyes turn always towards our home.

When next we venture into space,

it will be in a craft that allows us better

to study ourselves.

30 seconds to the SRT minus one call.

Bogey. Go.

Network. Go.

Echo. Go.

FAL. Go.

Any more?

Houston is go, have a great flight.

Stand by.

Sideways lurch, just like they said.

Okay, she's flying good.

250, 11 alpha, pushing over.

The space shuttle brings to life

the dream of flying from the heavens.

A giant ship, graceful and bold,

that returns from space riding
on the winds of the world.

But if the new rocketmen
glide back on the wind,

like those before them,

they will rocket to space by fire.

And lives will be forfeit if it fails.

Going 40, Capcom.

Colombia, Houston, you're going 40.

You don't understand

when we're going down here,
we got got seven hold points,

you remember where they are?

Seven minutes, we got one in five minutes,

we got one in four, then two more,

and finally the one at 31 seconds.

DPS? We're go.

Guidance? Go.

Fido. Go.

T minus 10, nine,
eight, seven, six,

five, four, main engines start.

Okay, Houston, we have 40 seconds to iOS,

configure iOS, you're looking
good burning over the hill,

we'll see you at Madrid.

And A off.

And B off.

Stopped falling, two of the RMS powers.

We got the next position message

which we think is a power transient.

Go ahead, then.

Houston, and we're passing about 11.

37 times men orbit the Earth.

A million miles they see

and always, there is something new.

The last thing, mark two.

Sync rate, still losing altitude

at the rate about 200 feet per second.

Gear down.

Flight control reports steady braking.

For a second time in our story,

rocketmen make space travel seem routine.

There it goes, very good.

Okay.

Yet, amidst the routine,
there is always magic.

Okay, Bruce, we see you airborne.

That may have been one small step for Neil,

but it's a heck of a big leap for me.

At 17,000 miles an hour,
untethered in space,

this is the new dream of the rocketmen.

Six, five, we have main engines, three.

It is time for others to
join rocketmen in space.

Oh, isn't it beautiful?

Time for those who can bring back stories

of how it is.

Not rocketmen, but writers,

poets, teachers.

I've made nine wonderful friends
over the last two weeks.

When that shuttle goes,
there might be one body,

but there's gonna be 10 souls
that I'm taking with me,

thank you.

It is January 28, 1986,

an icy morning,

Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.

Christa McAuliffe has been handed an apple

by the closeout crew.

And here comes the flight crew now.

T minus seven minutes and counting.

Pilot Mike Smith is given a go

to perform the auxiliary
power unit pre-start.

Ground launch sequence
program has been initiated.

T minus one minute and counting.

Hydrogen burn, igniters
also armed at this time.

Sound suppression system now armed.

10, nine, eight, seven, six,

we have main engines start,

four, three, two, one, and liftoff.

Go, Christa, go!

Re-throttle the engines back up to 100%.

This'll probably go in the
Guiness Book of Records

for the size of the flight crew aboard.

Oh no.

Flight Fido, flight fido.

Go ahead.

RSO reports vehicle exploded.

Copy.

Flight control is here
looking very carefully

at the situation.

Flight, GC, we've had negative contact,

loss of downlink.

Okay, all operators, watch
your data carefully.

19 years ago, almost to the
day, we lost three astronauts

in a terrible accident on the ground.

But we've never lost
an astronaut in flight,

we've never had a tragedy like this.

We mourn seven heroes.

We have a report from the
flight dynamics officer

that the vehicle has exploded.

Okay.

We are looking at checking

with the recovery forces
to see what can be done

at this point.

The future doesn't
belong to the faint-hearted,

it belongs to the brave.

And I want to say something
to the schoolchildren

of America who were
watching the live coverage

of the Shuttle's takeoff.

I know it's hard to understand,

but sometimes painful
things like this happen.

It's all part of the process
of exploration and discovery.

Nothing ends here.

Our hopes and our journeys continue.

Don't reconfigure your console,

take hard copies of all your displays,

make sure you protect
any data source you have.

We will never forget them,

nor the last time we saw them this morning,

as they prepared for their
journey and waved goodbye,

and slipped the surly bonds of Earth

to touch the face of god.

Two years after the loss of their fellows,

rocketmen return to flight.

This time they bring with
them something to take us

further into space than
we have ever journeyed.

An eye to take us to the
very edges of the universe.

Discovery, go and throttle up.

Discovery, Houston. Discovery, Houston.

Morning.

Gonna go for HSD deploy ops.

Discovery go, plus SDM deploy.

Eagle. Go.

FAL. Go.

MMACS. Go.

ERS. Go for it.

Payloads, waiting on you.

Flight payloads, we are go.

Capcom, we have a go for release.

Discovery, go for Hubble release.

For centuries, people
have dreamed of machines

to let them travel through time.

The Hubble Space
Telescope is such a machine.

With it, we can see distant suns

from billions of years ago.

Strange shapes across oceans of time

that reveal the majesty of our universe.

It has allowed the human mind

to voyage to the very beginnings of time,

to see a sun like our own across a distance

beyond imagining.

Every spot of light is a galaxy.

Journeying through
them, our minds must turn

to find our place in this cosmic landscape.

Are we alone in making sense
of what it is to be alive

beyond the yellow sun,

and a small blue planet

with a grey moon of which we dream.

On a winter's morning,
seven astronauts embark

on a routine flight into space.

And our astronauts coming out now.

They will spend 14 days and nights

making observations of our world.

Commander Rick Husband,

and mission specialist, Laurel Clark.

And you can Husband climbing in,

somewhat difficult, cramped vehicle.

Welcome aboard, Rick.

Thank you very much, good morning, Jeff.

10, nine, eight, seven,

we have a go for main engine start,

five, four, three, two, one,

we have booster ignition and liftoff

of space shuttle Colombia

with a multitude of
national and international

space research experiments.

Houston now controlling

the flight of Colombia, the
international research mission,

finally underway.

Roger, Colombia.

Colombia, Houston, you
are go to throttle up.

On staging.

What the star voyagers do not know

is that during launch, something
dreadful has occurred.

A piece of foam insulation from
the rocket's main fuel tank

became dislodged, and
struck the shuttle's wing.

High speed film shows
the telltale plume of debris

from the impact.

Later, people will learn
what no one knows now,

that the astronaut ship
is mortally wounded,

that it can never make it back to Earth.

Without knowing it, the rocketmen
have traded their lives

for the best view in the world.

A view perhaps they judge worth it.

Colombia, Houston, good
burn, no trim required.

This is amazing,

it's really getting
really bright out there.

Yeah, you definitely don't
want to be outside now.

Best go ahead and make sure

you check your suit pressure integrity too.

I don't have my gloves on yet.

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

That's all you gotta do.

Oh, I can see on your mirror.

Oh yeah?

Yeah, yeah, now I can.

Yeah, I can see you too.

Colombia's right on track

toward a landing at the
Kennedy Space Center

at 8:16am Central.

I've got 16 here.

Yeah, 22, 10, 16.

Yeah, 22, 10, 16.

And, Houston, we'll get
the 304 in five minutes.

Rick, we're ready for ops drill four.

Go ahead.

FYI, I just lost four separate

temperature transducers on the
left side of the vehicle,

the hydraulic return temperatures.

And Colombia, Houston,

we see your tire pressure messages,

and we did not copy your last.

Is that instrumentation MMACS?

MMACS. Those are also off scale.

Flight Eecom.

I got four temperature sensors
on the bond line data

that are off scale low.

Colombia, Houston, UHF comm check.

12 and a half minutes to touchdown

according to clocks in mission control.

Colombia, Houston, comm check.

Flight, I'd like to stay where we're at,

see them go erratic for a little bit

before they went away, but I do believe

it's instrumentation.

Okay, Fido, when are
you expecting tracking?

One minute ago, Flight.

Okay.

Perhaps one day, we will leave behind

this great endeavor of space
exploration and move on.

Perhaps we will say, no,
we do not want to discover

what is not yet known.

We no longer wonder what is out there.

We just gotta go, you ready?

Godspeed, John Glenn.

We, the rocketmen, do
not care to go and see.

Liftoff, we have a liftoff

32 minutes past the hour.

Liftoff on Apollo 11.

Perhaps we shall say this.

We choose to go to the Moon,

we choose to go to the Moon.

Houston, tranquility base here,

the Eagle has landed.

But not yet.

That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

The rocketmen fly for adventure.

They fly for knowledge.

It's time for you to return to flight.

Our hopes and prayers
ride with you, godspeed,

and we'll see you in a couple of weeks.

They fly for us.

That is all crew members
on board at this time.

On behalf of many millions of people
who believe so deeply in what we do,

good luck, godspeed, and
have a little fun up there.

The future doesn't belong

to the faint-hearted, it
belongs to the brave.

T minus 10 seconds,
go for main engines start,

seven, six, five, three
engines up and burning,

three, two, one, and liftoff
of Space Shuttle Discovery

beginning America's
new journey to the Moon,

Mars, and beyond.

This film is dedicated to all the men and
women of NASA, who made the dream come true.

And the vehicle has cleared the tower.

Discovery, Houston, go at throttle up.