When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (2008): Season 1, Episode 6 - Home in Space - full transcript

[ Crowd cheering ]

NARRATOR: In 1969, a group
of astronauts changed the world.

They rode the biggest rocket
ever built to the moon.

It was the culmination

of more than 10 years
of space pioneering

and the foundation for exploring
worlds beyond our own.

This is the story
of our greatest adventure.

NASA is in trouble.

The multibillion-dollar Hubble
Space Telescope is out of focus.

Its power and guidance systems
are failing, too.

The public, Congress --
I mean, across the board --



you know, pictures of
''Hubble the techno-turkey, ''

''Hubble, one of history's
great disasters. ''

I had neighbors come up to me
and say,

''You have our sympathy

for having to work
on such a national disaster. ''

NARRATOR: They're under
enormous pressure to fix it.

If they can't, many fear
the agency may not survive.

HEFLIN: At NASA,

if you are unable to meet
mission objectives,

then there's a good chance
that future funding and support

is gonna be very difficult
to come by.

NARRATOR:
The future of the space agency

is riding on one of the most
daring missions ever attempted.

Let's go to work.



NARRATOR: NASA assembles
a highly experienced crew.

Their training is the most
intense for any astronaut

since the Apollo flights.

Story Musgrave leads
the repair team.

MUSGRAVE: My part was
to understand the mechanics

down here on Earth

and translate them into work
up there.

NARRATOR: Musgrave's partner
is EVA specialist Jeff Hoffman.

It was the most complex
spacewalking mission

that NASA had ever undertaken.

NARRATOR:
It will take five extended EVAs

to correct
the space telescope's vision.

THORNTON : We couldn't afford
unexpected events

in the Hubble mission.

It was just too important
and too critical

that it be done right.

HEFLIN: It's hard to hold back
good people.

And I can guarantee you, the
folks that I had on this team --

I mean, there was
no stopping them.

MUSGRAVE:
The expectation was huge.

The repair mission was very,
very high-profile.

MAN:
This is shuttle launch control

at T-minus 3 hours and holding.

We're standing by
for live video

of the crew donning
their flight suits

in the crew quarters,
which is located

in the Operations
and Checkout Building.

NARRATOR: This is Kathy
Thornton's third shuttle flight

and Jeff's Hoffman's fourth.

MAN:
Mission Specialist Jeff Hoffman.

His pilot, Ken Bowersox.

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

NARRATOR: The head of NASA
delivers a personal message

to the crew.

HOFFMAN:
The message we got,

''Guys, NASA's future
is on line,

and you're responsible. ''

[ Chuckling ]
What do you say after that?

''Yes, sir. ''

MAN:
10. . . 9. . .

And we have a go
for main engine start.

. . . 5. . . 4. . .

3. . . 2. . . 1 .

And we have lift-off.

Lift-off of the space shuttle
Endeavour

on an ambitious mission

to service
the Hubble Space Telescope.

HOFFMAN: I was extremely excited
to be able to go up

and be one of the people

who was gonna rescue Hubble
from this disaster.

MAN:
Go and throttle up.

Go with throttle up.

NARRATOR:
To rendezvous with Hubble,

Endeavour will circle the Earth
16 times a day,

raising its altitude
on each orbit.

Hubble is 370 miles
above the Earth.

It's the highest
the space shuttle can fly --

double its normal altitude.

MAN: FIDO, Flight.
Your clock is counting down. . .

NARRATOR: Traveling
at 17,500 miles an hour,

it takes Endeavour two days to
catch up to the space telescope.

-About a minute.
-Okay.

HOFFMAN: The first view
that we get of Hubble

is just a point of light
off in the distance.

And then, every orbit,
it gets brighter and brighter.

I like to use binoculars up
there, so I put the binoculars.

''Oh, wow! I can really pick up
the solar panels. ''

Now it's getting bigger
and bigger.

''Wow!
That is big!''

MAN: . . .the bottom
of the telescope. . .

NARRATOR: Hubble is more than
40 feet long and 14 feet wide,

with a mass of 24,000 pounds.

We copy.

NARRATOR: Mission Specialist
Claude Nicollier

extends the shuttle's
robotic arm

and plucks the massive telescope
out of the sky.

MAN:
Space telescope captured.

COVEY: Houston, Endeavour
has a firm handshake

with Mr. Hubble's telescope.

We copy that, Covey, and there
are smiles galore down here.

COVEY:
It's quite a sight.

Great work up there, you guys.

NARRATOR:
It only gets harder from here.

The repair schedule demands
an extended spacewalk every day

for the next five days.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Hoffman and Musgrave suit up
in the air lock

before venturing out
into the vacuum of space.

HOFFMAN: Getting ready for
a spacewalk takes a lot of time.

Space is a very,
very unforgiving environment.

It's unforgiving
of mechanical failures.

It's unforgiving of human error.

I mean, if your space suit
springs a leak,

you can have a very bad day.

They close the inner
air-lock hatch,

and it's just Story and me
on our own.

And we're ready to go to work.

You know, it's showtime.

MAN:
Okay, it's daylight outside,

so you might want to put
your visors down.

Visors down.

MUSGRAVE: You're walking
out of the tunnel

onto the playing field.

I think that's the best way
I can put it.

You're on the playing field.

HEFLIN: And as I looked around
the team at Mission Control,

there were some locked jaws.

There were some people
kind of tense.

I mean, you could tell.
They had their game face on.

MUSGRAVE: You are expected to do
certain things.

You got requirements put on you.

You're not in the stands.
You're not a spectator.

You're doing it.

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

NARRATOR:
The first spacewalk

targets Hubble's
faulty guidance system.

The telescope
has six gyroscopes.

Four need to be replaced.

HOFFMAN: So we have to open up
these big doors.

And then Story would actually
insert himself

underneath the gyroscopes.

It was a fairly tight space.

MAN: Right now,
the bottom of the telescope. . .

I could not get up under there
and then move.

There was no room.

And Jeff took me by the boots,

and he fed me
up inside the telescope.

You have to be very careful
of debris, contamination.

So there's a lot of constraints
on what we're doing.

HEFLIN: Come hell or high water,
we had to go get this done.

I did not want to do
that first spacewalk

and leave anything undone.

And I was basically
beating the drum.

You know, ''Let's keep it up.
Let's keep going. ''

NARRATOR: Two hours later,
the first repair is a success.

-Endeavour, Houston.
-Go ahead.

Not to get you spun up,

but we have six good gyros
on the telescope.

All that remained
was to close the door.

We had done it I don't know
how many times in the water.

Nobody had ever thought about
having problems with the doors.

I could get either the bottom
or the top latch closed,

but not both.

MAN:
The bottom is engaged. . .

I think we got the door closed.

HOFFMAN: If you can't get
the doors closed,

you've lost the thermal control
and you might have leaks.

You basically run a risk
of losing the telescope.

WEILER: Well, you can't leave
Hubble up there with open doors.

That would've been a disaster.

The very tense moment,

and I think my mind
kind of blanks it out.

-No, don't do it yet.
-Okay.

I'm gonna try to get
on the bottom.

NARRATOR:
On each orbit of the Earth,

Hoffman and Musgrave pass
from daylight into darkness

every 45 minutes.

Working in extremes
of hot and cold,

they wrestle with
a few inexpensive latches

that could ruin
a multimillion-dollar rescue.

HOFFMAN: Finally, Story and I
came up with the idea

that if we took
a ratcheting strap --

basically, to exert the pressure

on his bottom part
of the door --

He could do that with one hand
and hold on

and work the latch
with the other hand.

NARRATOR:
But the ratcheting straps

could do more harm than good.

HOFFMAN:
Problem was,

you can exert
about 2,000 pounds of force

with these things.

Enough to crush Hubble.

HEFLIN: Team on the ground
was conflicted

on whether what Story was gonna
do would be safe or not.

I think they had visions
of Hubble collapsing

like, you know,
an aluminum beer can.

NARRATOR: Mission Control
can abandon the spacewalk

or allow the astronauts

to improvise on the world's
most expensive telescope.

Cycle it back and forth

and it tends to work
the striker plate through.

HEFLIN:
I thought, ''Well, here we go.

We're gonna start talking
about this,

and we're gonna get behind. ''

So I made a decision
to go ahead and say,

''We're gonna do
what Story wants to do. ''

-You are a go to do that, Tom.
-Okay.

MUSGRAVE:
I'm putting the come-along on,

Jeff up top, me on the bottom.

We held the doors in alignment.

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

And then I just moved
the handle.

-All right.
-Whew.

Good job, guys.

Story, if you want to grab
the PRD and get the PA.

MUSGRAVE:
Well, let's leave the PRD. . .

NARRATOR:
There's no letup for the crew.

Kathy Thornton prepares
for the second EVA.

HEFLIN: These were
jam-packed spacewalks.

We had a lot we had to get done.

And they were choreographed
very precisely.

NARRATOR: Hubble's solar panels
need to be upgraded.

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

Thornton has to retract
and remove them,

then install new ones.

MAN:
Velcro strap on the left door.

NARRATOR:
But Hubble isn't cooperating.

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

HEFLIN: One of them did not come
all the way in.

We decided we would take it off
and throw it away.

THORNTON :
I was to hold on to it

on the end of the arm
until sunrise

so after we let it go,
we would see where it went

and be sure we were separating
from it.

NARRATOR:
Once again, they're improvising.

If the release goes wrong,

the massive solar panel
could smash into the telescope

or the orbiter.

THORNTON : When the time came
to jettison it. . .

-You ready?
-Yeah, I'm ready.

Okay, they say you got to go
for release.

THORNTON :
. . . all I did was just let go.

All right, no hands.

Claude pulled me back
on the arm.

MAN:
There it goes.

[ Laughs ]
Bye-bye.

NARRATOR: Pilot Ken Bowersox
fires the shuttle's thrusters

to make sure they're clear
of the solar panel.

And when that happened,

the plume from the orbiter hit
the solar array.

BOWERSO X: The solar array
started flapping.

It's moving.

It's moving and flapping now,
huh?

BOWERSO X: To me,

it was like the wings of
a gigantic prehistoric bird.

I was awestruck.

THORNTON:
It was beautiful.

I had the best view in the world
on that.

NARRATOR:
The old solar panel

will continue to orbit
for years,

slowly dropping toward Earth

until it burns up
in the atmosphere.

Thornton installs
the new solar panels,

completing her EVA.

So far, the decision to perform
back-to-back spacewalks

is working.

As each spacewalk was completed,

little grins began to show up
in Mission Control,

which was kind of cool.

NARRATOR: But the next two EVAs
are the most critical.

The team will install
two huge devices

to correct Hubble's vision.

The first is a new supercamera

the size of a grand piano,
called WFPC.

It can see to the end
of the universe

and is designed to adjust
for Hubble's faulty opticals.

The process of installing WFPC
is very, very delicate.

This is a very sensitive
optical instrument.

You know, I'm holding on to it.

I bang the instrument,
I could misalign the optics.

-It's beautiful.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
Mission Control runs tests

to confirm the camera
is working.

We check all this stuff out
as we repaired it.

We ran what we call
''aliveness check. ''

HOFFMAN:
They just told us,

''You're just gonna have to wait
for a few minutes. ''

NARRATOR:
The first signs are good.

The electronics are responding.

On the next EVA,

Kathy Thornton installs the
most critical optical device,

called COSTAR.

It redirects the light
coming into Hubble

to compensate for the flaw
in its main mirror.

THORNTON :
It just slid right in there,

just as smooth as it could be.

And it was --
It was incredible.

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

WEILER: It was like,
''This can't be happening.

I must be dreaming this.
Nothing's going wrong.

This can't be Hubble. ''

NARRATOR:
The astronauts complete

the most complex repair mission
in history.

HOFFMAN: People have been
wondering for years

whether we could actually do
this mission.

What we had set out to do,
we had accomplished.

And, boy, we. . .

It's an incredible feeling.

NARRATOR: Hubble can now begin
to gaze deep into the universe

in perfect focus.

HEFLIN:
We'd done our part.

Now it's gonna be up to
the astronomers and scientists

to do their part.

WEILER:
I could say unequivocally

that if it weren't
for the human space program,

Hubble would be a piece
of orbiting space junk.

HOFFMAN:
Really hard to imagine

how different the space agency
would probably be now

if we hadn't been able
to fix Hubble.

NARRATOR: Hubble's rescue
has saved NASA's reputation.

Now it has the confidence

to embark on the most ambitious
construction project

ever attempted --
the International Space Station.

HEFLIN:
Hubble showed us

that we can do a number
of spacewalks during a mission.

We can do
more than one at a time.

We can do them back-to-back.

We can do them
with two different crews.

And Hubble
was probably the start

of giving us
that extra confidence

to go assemble
the space station.

And so bring it on.

[ Buzzing ]

NARRATOR: NASA is building
the first city in space.

It lays the foundation for
a base of operations on the moon

and missions to Mars.

Old rivals in the space race
pool their resources

for a project too enormous
for any one country alone.

LINENGER:
The Russians had a long history

of long-duration flight
under their belt.

We did not.

And so we hoped to learn some of
the things from the Russians.

NARRATOR: U.S. astronauts
must learn to fly their rockets

and work with totally different
space technology.

WOLF: I'd look across the table
at one of my classmates,

who was, say, a fighter pilot
in the Russian Air Force.

And we trained,
just several years prior,

to shoot each other down.

NARRATOR: Now the level
of cooperation is unprecedented.

I nterlocking components
are being built

on different sides of the world.

Every measurement requires
extraordinary precision.

It's very difficult to build
pieces of hardware -- modules,

capsules, space shuttles --
in different parts of the world

and have them meet for
the very first time on orbit.

NARRATOR:
In November 1998,

a Russian rocket blasts off

with the first section
of the space station,

weighing 21 tons.

One month later,
the shuttle Endeavour

carries up the first section
built by NASA, called Unity.

MAN:
There goes the needle, rolling.

Houston, Discovery,
roll program.

NARRATOR:
250 miles above the Earth,

Mission Specialist Nancy Currie
uses the shuttle's robotic arm

to bring the two sections
together.

It's the first time
they've ever been connected.

MAN: Houston, Endeavour,
we have capture of Zarya.

NARRATOR: But the space station
has a long way to go.

It's just a 30-ton metal shell.

Pilot Scott Altman's crew

carries up fixtures
for the interior,

to turn it into a home
for astronauts.

First, they have to rendezvous
and dock

with the rapidly expanding
space station.

ALTMAN: It starts out a point
of light in the distance.

And you think,
'' It's another star. ''

It doesn't look any different
than everything else out there.

But as you get closer
and closer,

you start to be able
to break out detail.

And you realize it's a place.

NARRATOR: The space station
is already the size

of a 10-story building.

Docking the shuttle
is too precise a maneuver

for its automatic pilot.

It takes an astronaut's skill.

Everything is going so slow,
it seems like, for a while.

But the gains go up, and it
feels like the speed goes up.

Your heart rate goes up
as you're coming in close,

and critical firings until
you get that final contact.

And the two vehicles
kind of brush into each other.

And you see one of
your crewmates call, ''Contact. ''

MAN: Houston,
we have a capture light.

NARRATOR:
Altman and his crew

outfit the space station's
interior.

We were like the finish
carpenters for a house,

where you go up
and you do all the final work

to make it ready
for human habitation.

We ran electrical lines.
We turned on the lights.

I installed the toilet.

Very glamorous things like that.

NARRATOR: When complete, there
will be 15 pressurized modules

for living and working

and an observation area
with seven large windows.

On the shuttle's next mission,

Mike Lopez-Alegria
test-drives a jetpack

that will enable residents to
work safely outside the station.

LOPEZ-ALEGRIA:
You open the hatch,

and the planet Earth going by
your feet at 5 miles a second.

In the middle of a spacewalk,
flying around

at 17,500 miles an hour,
or 20,000 kilometers an hour,

and let go of the spacecraft
and just fly along with it.

It's beautiful.

NARRATOR: With no sensation
of speed in the vacuum of space,

Mike L-A drifts away
from the shuttle

250 miles above
the Florida Keys.

LOPEZ-ALEGRIA: I think the first
instinct is amazing, massive,

yet fragile thing
that you're flying around,

that's where you just came from.

That's where everything
that you know about

and have ever experienced
all lives,

and you're not there anymore.

NARRATOR:
The jetpack is a success.

It shows how far the art
of spacewalking has come

since Ed White and Gene Cernan

first left
their Gemini capsules.

KRANZ: Today I watch these kids
flying the EVAs.

And they get out there,
that's part of their repertoire.

They'll do it five, six,
seven hours at a time.

I was just glad
to get 20 minutes.

NARRATOR:
Just two weeks

after Mike L-A's
extraordinary spacewalk,

astronaut Bill Shepherd
and two Russian cosmonauts

prepare for the next mission.

They will be the first crew

to live long-term
on the space station.

[ Speaking Russian ]

NARRATOR:
The Soyuz spacecraft

has none of the comforts
of the shuttle.

Unlike the shuttle,
it can only fly once.

Every day in orbit, they fly the
distance of a trip to the moon.

The International Space Station

is starting to take shape
inside and out.

Projected to cost $ 157 billion,

it's the most expensive object
ever built by man.

A new crew takes up residence
every three to four months.

Each brings more building blocks
and more supplies.

PARAZYNSKI :
There's stuff everywhere.

There are experiments
and laptops and tethers

and electrical cords
and Velcro patches.

A wonderful place
to live and work.

NARRATOR:
Throughout 2002,

the pace of construction
speeds up.

Commander Ken Bowersox
and his crew

will install a central truss.

It's the foundation
for all future expansion

of the space station.

BOWERSO X:
Now it's real.

It's not just training anymore.
This is a real mission.

It's a real flight.

MAN:
7. . . 6. . .

Go for main engines.

BOWERSO X:
That's the preliminary signal

that something really great
is about to happen.

But the best one is when
the solid rocket boosters light.

You feel this kick in your back

that the vehicle
has jumped off the pad.

MAN: And lift-off
of space shuttle Endeavour.

Another building block
for the foundation

of the International
Space Station.

And off you go into space.

Welcome to station.

Yeah.
Bolshoi spasiba.

Great job.
Congratulations.

Thank you.

Very nice docking.

MAN:
Beautiful.

Good to see you.

Come in.

BOWERSO X:
All right.

Let's go in!

NARRATOR: Bowersox and his crew
load in their gear and supplies.

The current crew will head home
on the same shuttle.

This is a very important day
in the life of station

and in the lives
of all the crew members here.

The Expedition Five crew
has done tremendous work.

I only hope that my crew --
Don, Nikolai, and I --

will be able to work as well
over the next four

or however many months
we end up living on station.

[ Laughter ]

Hopefully, more than four.

NARRATOR:
When Endeavour leaves,

the Bowersox crew
is alone in space

until the next shuttle arrives
to take them home.

MAN:
Houston, physical separation.

[ Beep ]

Endeavour departing.

We wish you a safe landing.

Endeavour, Houston, you are
on glide slope, on center line.

Main gear touchdown.

We're rolling out on Runway 33
at the Kennedy Space Center,

wrapping up
a 5.7 million-mile mission,

bringing home
the Expedition Five crew

after more than a half year
in space.

NARRATOR: With Ken Bowersox
on the space station,

2003 is scheduled to be
the shuttle's busiest year yet.

But first, Columbia flies
a special science mission.

JON CLARK: Unlike the majority
of space-shuttle missions now,

which are space-station assembly

where they're doing
essentially heavy construction,

Columbia STS-107 mission
was a dedicated science mission.

MAN:
Laurel Clark.

Mission specialist
on her first flight.

I'd seen other shuttle launches,
but it was a personal launch,

'cause my wife was on it.

And there's some TV monitors.

NARRATOR:
A few days before launch,

Laurel Clark makes a home movie
for their son, Ian.

MAN:
Say hi.

Hi, Ian Blair.
I love you.

I'll see you soon.
It won't be that long.

You can actually see ''Columbia''
on the side of the vehicle.

JON CLARK: Laurel's role in this
mission was mission specialist,

and their job is basically
to run the experiments.

Streaming past the commander
and the pilot.

Hi, Ian!

CLARK: So, whoever else
is watching this,

this is the external tank
back here.

Main engines are way down.

You can't see them, but that's
where the lines go into.

Oh, my gosh.

NARRATOR: Columbia's commander
is Rick Husband.

The commander's role is to be
the leader of the crew.

But it's also one
that facilitates

the cohesion of the group.

MAN: And our astronauts
coming out now.

EVELYN HUSBAND:
I talked to him on the phone

the morning of the mission,
and he was very excited.

The weather was absolutely
beautiful and perfect.

MAN: Commander Rick Husband and
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark.

And you can see Husband
climbing in.

Somewhat difficult.
Cramped quarters there.

David Brown and Laurel Clark

as they await their turn
to get on the vehicle.

Welcome aboard, Rick.

Thank you very much.
Good morning, Jim.

MAN:
10. . . 9. . . 8. . . 7. . .

We have a go
for main engine start.

. . . 5. . . 4. . . 3. . . 2. . . 1 .

We have booster ignition
and lift-off

of space shuttle Columbia
with a multitude of national

and international
space-research experiments.

Houston now controlling
the flight of Columbia.

The international research
mission finally under way.

MAN:
Roger. Roll, Columbia.

EVELYN HUSBAND:
I was not nearly as anxious

watching Rick launch into space
the second time

because it was an experience
I had already had.

But I was very keenly aware

of the exact moment
when Challenger broke apart.

MAN: Columbia, Houston,
you're go at throttle up.

MORGAN :
You know, that time frame

is forever embedded
in people's memories.

MAN:
The ''throttle up'' call

acknowledged
by Commander Rick Husband.

And even now,
there's a sense of relief

when you get past that point.

But people need to understand

that space flight
is risky business.

HUSBAND:
That's firm.

MAN:
Got that. Off staging.

I was very excited for Rick

and also knew that he would
orbit the earth at least once

before we would get back
to our hotel.

HUSBAND: We're gonna do 1.50,
the orbiter up.

Dave Brown there on the right.

NARRATOR:
The entire cargo bay

is filled
with one large work area,

outfitted as a laboratory
in space.

STS-107 will conduct
over 30 basic experiments

only possible in space.

JON CLARK: Their mission
was a science mission.

They had the earth science

and the physical science,
and they had life sciences --

growing cells and testing
various things on them.

My wife's involvement
was with cancer-cell growth.

WOMAN: Insert the cartridge
that she has filled. . .

JON CLARK: Each of the crew that
had one of these experiments

to be responsible for --

They were always very excited
about that.

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

I'm in a unique position

because I work both as a
flight surgeon and as a spouse.

One week before the landing,

I worked a shift
on Saturday morning.

And I remember going through
the logbooks

and seeing all those concerns
about a foam strike.

NARRATOR:
It's standard procedure

to film every shuttle launch
with high-speed cameras.

JON CLARK:
Two cameras picked up images

that looked very suspicious.

There was an object
that came off.

The vehicle struck it, and there
was a plume that was generated.

Some people said,
''Oh, it's probably just foam.

And how bad is foam?''

You know, it wouldn't be
that much of a concern.

M uch like you hit a
Styrofoam block on the highway.

NARRATOR:
The crew is told the foam strike

is not a cause for concern.

Life goes on aboard Columbia.

Orbiting 100 miles above them,

Ken Bowersox
is entering his 14th week

living on
the International Space Station.

BOWERSO X: We'd already
been there a couple months.

The atmosphere got very quiet
aboard the station,

because you could tell that the
ground was focusing on Columbia

and not really thinking as much
about the space station.

We knew that as soon
as Columbia was finished,

the spotlight was gonna swing
back to space station

and things were gonna get
very busy

as we prepared
for the next few weeks

for the upcoming shuttle flight

that was supposed to
bring us home.

Hey, batter, batter, batter,
batter, batter, batter.

Zero-G baseball.

Good morning, Ken.
Good morning, Laurel.

BOWERSO X: We did have one chance
to make radio contact

with the Columbia crew,
and that was really great.

We were able to talk with the
crew that was up at the time.

That was Rick Husband
and Laurel Clark.

We were talking business
and science experiments.

Laurel said, ''We don't
want to talk about that.

Let's talk about families.
How are they doing?''

HUSBAND: Yes, we're
showing hills on PJ 1-19.

NARRATOR:
After 16 days in space,

the crew on Columbia
finishes up their experiments

and prepares to come home.

The mission had been
an incredible success.

They had achieved
every experiment,

every task
that had been given them.

Everything went extremely well.

So we were incredibly proud
of them, very excited.

HUSBAND: Yes, we're
showing hills on PJ 1-19.

Once we get done
with the orbit prep.

MAN: Hey, Rick, thanks for that
tagup, and we concur with all.

GIBSON:
It takes a lot of time

to get the space shuttle ready
to come down.

There's a 3-hour time period
after we first wake up

that's just involved
with housekeeping,

cleaning up everything, having
breakfast, having some coffee,

and all of those kinds
of things.

Meanwhile, you're hoping
that the weather

down at your landing site
is going to be suitable

to let you come in
and land that day.

MAN: Come in at Runway 33 end
of the Shuttle Landing Facility

or the Runway 15 end.

MORGAN: For every launch
and every landing,

we fly the 238 and just check
real time with the weather

so that they know, ''Here's what
you can expect for a landing. ''

HUSBAND:
All ready.

The good news about this flight

was that the landing and the
launch were at reasonable times.

MAN:
Columbia, Houston, good burn.

No trim required.

NARRATOR: Leroy Cain
is the flight director

in Mission Control.

-MAN: No problem.
-CLARK: Okay.

MAN: You want the whole thing
or just the catch?

NARRATOR: I nside Columbia,
Laurel Clark films the crew

as the orbiter slows down
for reentry.

So you're gonna hit the air
going 17,500 miles an hour.

CLARK:
Tell me when there's good stuff.

There's nothing to look at
right now.

MUSGRAVE: You cannot believe
the speed out the window.

It's fantastically fast.

You cannot have a bumpy ride
in a shuttle.

It cannot do that.
It'll lose control.

So the shuttle cannot be bumpy.

MAN:
Go ahead and make sure you check

your suit pressure integrity,
too.

CLARK:
I don't have my gloves on yet.

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

GIBSON:
And you can tell

when you start hitting
the Earth's atmosphere,

because you'll start to see
a little bit of a glow

outside your window.

It's white-hot outside.

It's just as bright as day.

And the air outside
is 9,000 degrees.

Well, that's hotter
than the surface of the sun.

HUSBAND:
This is amazing.

It's really getting
fairly bright out there.

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

NARRATOR: Peak temperatures
last about 10 minutes.

Unlike earlier NASA spacecraft,

satellites relay communications
to the ground

so the shuttle doesn't
experience radio blackout

during reentry.

EVELYN HUSBAND: And as the clock
counted down the minutes,

we began to anticipate

what direction
the shuttle was gonna land.

MAN:
Columbia is right on track

toward a landing
at the Kennedy Space Center

at 8:16 a.m. Central.

And there's actually a lot
of just excitement.

And, gosh, we can hardly wait
to be with our loved ones.

HUSBAND:
I've got ''16'' written here.

MAN:
Yeah, 22, 10, 16.

CLARK:
Yeah, 22, 10, 16.

HUSBAND: Houston, we'll get
to 304 in five minutes.

MAN:
Rick, we're ready for ops 304.

[ Radio static ]

NARRATOR:
Everything appears routine

until about 17 minutes
before landing.

EECOM?

HUSBAND:
FYI , I've just lost

four separate
temperature transducers

on the left side
of the vehicle --

the hydraulic return
temperature.

And then, all of a sudden,
you're getting communication

that I'd never heard before.

MAN:
Columbia, Houston.

We see your tire-pressure
messages, and we did not --

ls it instrumentation, Max?

Max, those are also off.

Roger.

JON CLARK:
I knew right away

there was something unusual
about it.

The communication that said
the tire-pressure alarm

had gone off.

-MORGAN : Flight EECOM .
-MAN: EECOM .

I've got four temperature
sensors on the bottom-line data

that are off-scale low.

We train for low tire pressure

over and over again
in the simulators.

We train
for these contingencies.

Columbia, Houston.
UHF com check.

And the Cap Com
trying to call the shuttle,

and all you heard was,
''Com check, com check. ''

Columbia, Houston.
Com check.

-Flight, FIDO.
-Go.

MAN:
12 1/2 minutes to touchdown,

according to clocks
in Mission Control.

And I remember watching
the clock count down to zero.

There was no sonic boom,
no landing.

And we all stood there

in absolute sickening,
surreal silence,

knowing that something
was wrong.

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

See them go erratic for a little
bit before they went away,

so I do believe
it's instrumentation.

Okay.

FIDO, when are you
expecting tracking?

One minute to go, Flight.

I can remember just getting

that kind of shaking,
''Oh, no'' feeling.

But also, the first thing
that went through my mind

was, you know,
a flashback to Challenger.

MAN: We do not have
any valid data at this time.

Okay.

JON CLARK: I had a key
to the flight-surgeon office,

and I turned the TV on.

And, of course,
there was a Dallas TV station

that had video footage,
I mean, almost instantly.

And you can see the streak

and then multiple streaks
and then, like, a starburst.

Okay.
No more false hope.

No more wishful thinking.

This is over.

GC, Flight.

Flight, GC.

-Lock the doors.
-Copy.

No phone calls off-site,
outside of this room.

Our discussions
are on these loops,

on the recorded DVIS loops only.

NARRATOR:
Wreckage from Columbia

is found in Texas, Louisiana,
and Arkansas.

NASA's investigation concludes
the foam strike is the cause.

It knocked a hole in it
as big as a bowling ball.

MUSGRAVE: The only thing
that would've saved Columbia

is someone looking at the strike

and saying,
''Something got hurt. ''

BARBREE: For 16 days,
they stayed in space,

going around and around with
this huge hole in their wing.

These people had no chance.

NARRATOR:
The shuttle is grounded

during NASA's investigation.

Ken Bowersox and his crew
remain on the space station

until the Russians can launch
a rescue mission.

BOWERSO X:
We needed to come home

aboard a Russian Soyuz
space capsule,

rather than coming home
aboard the shuttle.

The hardest thing was
the physical part of grieving.

It just takes a while
to work through everything

that you need to work through.

NARRATOR:
It's 2 1/2 years

before the shuttle
returns to space.

Eileen Collins is the commander
of Discovery for STS-114.

MAN:
This is shuttle launch control,

where we see
the STS-114 astronauts.

COLLI NS: We lost seven
of our dear friends.

Terrible tragedy
that's very hard for me

to go back and relive.

Some people said, ''We don't want
to risk astronauts' lives.

We need to stop doing this. ''

The astronauts
don't feel that way.

MAN: On behalf of
the many millions of people

who believe so deeply
in what we do,

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

COLLINS:
We fly for our country.

We fly for humanity.

We fly for exploration.
We fly for a variety of reasons.

And we don't stop flying
because we have accidents.

MAN: Lift-off
of space shuttle Discovery,

beginning America's new journey
to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

NARRATOR: The Columbia disaster
adds a new procedure

to the shuttle flight plan.

Discovery flips 360 degrees,

allowing the crew
in the space station

to inspect for damaged tiles.

COLLINS: I did think about the
Columbia crew every single day.

We flew their crew picture

on our flight deck
during the mission.

NARRATOR:
With the shuttle flying again,

the space station can fulfill
its original promise --

a city in space.

MORGAN :
I'm really, really excited

about our completing
the International Space Station,

because it's a fabulous place.

And it is a huge stepping-stone

to going back to the moon
for a long duration

and then on to Mars.

COLLI S: We have learned so much
about our space environment

by flying the shuttle.

And now it's time to go farther.

NARRATOR: But those are journeys
for the future.

When we left Earth,
it changed our world.

It's a legacy of small steps
and great adventure.

From the first attempts
to send rockets

beyond the bounds
of Earth's atmosphere

to the selection
of the first astronauts.

MAN:
Ladies and gentlemen,

these are the nation's
Mercury astronauts.

COLLINS:
I think now I really see

how complex their job really was
and how brave they were.

Either that or they were crazy.

NARRATOR: Project Mercury
proves astronauts

can survive riding a rocket
into the vacuum of space.

But those small steps
are only the beginning.

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:
In Project Gemini,

each mission tackles
another critical procedure

from the Apollo flight plan.

Astronauts learn how to fly
to the moon.

KRANZ: By the time we finished
Gemini program,

we had a solid foundation
of technology now

to take the step
to go to the moon.

MAN: T-minus 3 hours, 4 minutes,
32 seconds and counting.

NARRATOR:
To get there,

three men ride a rocket
the size of a skyscraper.

It's the most powerful machine
ever built.

LOVELL:
It had on board

about 5 million pounds
of high explosives.

ANDERS: We just hoped
it wouldn't blow up.

''Okay, guys, it's now time to
get down to business.

We're about ready
to land a man on the moon. ''

MAN:
60 seconds.

The descent
was very tricky business.

COLLI NS: You should
have him now, Houston.

DUKE:
We copy you down, Eagle.

ARMSTRONG :
Houston, Tranquility Base here.

The Eagle has landed.

DUKE: You got a bunch of guys
about to turn blue.

We're breathing again.

ALDRIN :
Oh, spectacular.

Just spectacular.

NARRATOR: Just 12 astronauts
walk on the surface of the moon.

ALDRIN : This is gonna be
a good day, Charlie.

And here we go.

NARRATOR:
From the dawn of the space age,

pioneers on rockets
explore new frontiers

and fulfill the age-old dream
of traveling to other worlds.

Curiosity is the essence
of human existence.

It brings about innovation,
imagination.

It stimulates
the entire society.

MAN:
Roger. Roll, Discovery.

It's something almost inherent
in us, I believe, to explore,

and that's what
the space program is about.

KRANZ: The power of space
was to raise our aspirations

to those things that are
possible if we will commit.

CERNAN:
The most important thing

that we have to pass on
to our younger people

is that the word ''impossible''
doesn't exist.

LOVELL:
Given the desire to do it,

humans can accomplish
almost anything.

KRANZ: We have to continue
to move forward.

To stop in space
is to surrender.