At 80 yrs old I've been privileged to have been witness to the entire quest of man to get into space. I started following all these journey's when I was stationed in Germany in the Army back in 1961.and to this day still watch what's going on. with pride in my country, and in the people who venture to "Go where no man has gone before". yep been a fan of that one since 1965. it just doesn't get any better. ECF
Landing a craft from space on a specific runway is still amazing to me. It's a testament to the skill and professionalism of everyone involved as well as the brilliance of everyone from Democritus to Newton and Gallileo to Einstein. And a reminder of the awesome immutable laws of the universe.
I'm afraid that is a bit too romantic. This vehicle was a catastrophe for American manned space flight. A vast fleet of Saturn Vs could have been built just for the R&D costs - throw in the operational phase and we'd have bases on the Moon and a man on Mars. You cannot use a vehicle like this in any sane way. It has no power of its own, it is incredibly fragile, it has to be rebuilt after every flight - complete overhaul of the engines, C-check of the airframe, time consuming repair of the all-important tiles. There were no abort modes. A serious issue during the boost phase would destroy the orbiter and kill the crew. A serious problem during re-entry would destroy the vehicle and kill the crew. Both things happened. This vehicle was about as reusable as a paper cup. It is much more sensible to put things in orbit with heavy lift rockets and then work with them by astronauts ferried to space in a small, possibly modular partially reusable vehicle used only to shuttle people to orbit. There is a persistent fantasy that reusability is the grail of spaceflight - that is totally false. The rocket is mostly just a can. It might be possible to reuse first-stage engines. Fact - a brand new Falcon rocket launch costs $62 million dollars. Reusing the first stage saves about $8 million - $54 million. That lesson was already learned during the Shuttle program. For that small margin one sacrifices an enormous amount of performance, and spaceflight is all about performance. The entire Shuttle program was a closed, self-congratulatory exercise in narcissism that accomplished almost nothing and set the country back at least 40 years. Even the Hubble telescope and ISS could have been done far more cheaply with the already developed and tested and nearly faultless Saturn V and Saturn 1B.
"Central Florida just got a wake-up call". Can confirm - as an Orlando resident during the shuttle age, I can tell you that sonic booms of dawn landings could make you jump out of bed if you didn't know a landing was planned. If your windows were open, the booms would move the blinds with the compression waves. If the booms didn't wake you up, everyone's car alarms going off at the same time did.
I grew up in Cocoa. Many years later I moved to the UK and one night after we went to bed, we experienced an earthquake. It made the doors of our closet rattle. In my half-asleep state, I thought, "Oh, it's the shuttle landing. Uh, wait a minute...".
The fastest powered airplane speed was the X-15 at Mach 5.93… the Shuttle, a glider at this point, is traveling at nearly Mach 25 when it officially transitions from space!
It's sad watching the tech we grew up with that was considered cutting-edge in our time being phased out in favor of newer stuff😢. It's cool how far space exploration has come with new spacecraft like the SpaceX Starship but it's also very sad watching things like the space shuttle and now the International Space Station being decommissioned, never to be seen in the skies again. I never got to see the shuttles launch or land in person but I always watched them on TV whenever possible which I loved (it got me into HPR rocketry as a hobby which is a real kick in the pants😁), and I'll never forget the time I watched the ISS blast overhead across the sky at Mach 23 right after the sun went down, the skies were dark but there was still sunlight passing over the atmosphere and reflected off the ISS solar panels like a mirror pointed right at me, it was a blazing point of light in the sky. I am incredibly disappointed that I will never get to see that again after 2030. Ever since that first time I saw it I've done my best to be outside and looking at the sky on the rare dates that it is visible at my location and the weather is clear enough, I'm definitely going to savor the remaining viewings I will get of it😔.
I'm 76. I grew up in a tiny town with beautiful starry nights, and can't remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with the idea of space travel. If there was TV coverage of a launch of satellites or manned spacecraft I had to watch. I saw the first steps on the Moon, the first Shuttle launch, the launch and repair missions for the Hubble telescope and the building of the ISS. And aside from the Shuttle disasters loved every second of it. I'm especially pleased that so many nations are so intent on exploring our solar system and beyond. And I have no doubt that we will reach the stars.
Cool video. I had the privilege of testing the on board software driving those displays. This is the first time I have gotten to see them in use in real flight.
This is still just F'ing CRAZY. The calculationsinvolved with re-entering the atmosphere at the right time/place, the incredible speeds (at one point mach 15 was called) and bringing the huge craft to the runway in Florida at the right speed/altitude AND ALL WITHOUT any engine power!!! Amazing. No go around or second chances. Even though I knew the outcome, I was still anxious watching this today.
Cheesas the sink rate is crazy! They count down the thousands as you do in hundreds for a modern passenger jet. Can you imagine the energy they have with this sink rate, which is then transferred into forward speed on landing? Amazing!
@@Zerbey Delta wings require higher landing speeds. Before the Challenger accident they had problems with blowing tires on landing, and I think there was at least one brake fire. During the break in ops after the accident they finally put the drag chutes on the orbiters and that fixed the problem.
I've read the sink rate is 120 mph, same as skydiver in freefall. Chris Kraft said about when he rode in the Gulfstream orbiter landing simulator aircraft the approach angle [about 23 degrees] being steeper than a airliner, "it's scary because it feels like you are pointing straight down." Of course need a very good flight system and the best pilots to flare just at the right time that transfers that descent energy to high lift for a smooth touchdown.
Thanks for this video! In 1994, Houston sent me photos of the crew members of STS 65 and STS 68 with their autographs and a brief information summary of the first decade of Space Shuttle flights from 1981 to 1990. To this day, I am sincerely grateful to the unknown head of the Lyndon Johnson Space Center who responded to my letter in which I told about my passion for the history of the development of space programs of the USSR and the USA. Good luck!
@sergei6572 When I was a kid after the final Apollo mission I write to CBS TV asking if I could have the model behind the desk that they used to demonstrate the different stages, since they wouldn't be using it anymore. CBS must have sent my letter to NASA Public Affairs, because one day a giant envelope arrived, stuffed with photos, pamphlets, charts, and stickers. I decided then to devote myself to becoming an aerospace engineer and an astronaut. Well, that didn't happen at ALL, but it did lead me down a path towards service to the my country, which continues to this day. That little bit of effort from a NASA PAO staffer and a few dollars of printouts bought 40 years of my life, and I've always wished I could let them know what they accomplished at work that day. :)
@@qtrfoil Thank you for your interesting memories.👍I am glad for you that caring people responded to your childish request. In my case, in another letter sent to Houston to John Glenn, the letter was forwarded to Washington. To my delight, he sent me a letter, an autographed photo and a photocopy of an article from LIFE magazine about his flight. At my home in St. Petersburg, autographed photographs of John Young, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride and Norman Thagard are carefully kept. I have a lot of articles from Soviet newspapers of the 60s and 70s about flights under the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, very detailed from launch to landing. By the way, despite the Cold War and the lunar race between the USSR and the USA, all the articles, I emphasize absolutely everything, are written in a respectful tone. And applies to all NASA programs. Neil Armstrong's autograph can be viewed on my channel. Good luck!🤝
I remember this landing. I was at a baseball camp at UCF, walking through a tunnel at a nearby hotel where we stayed, on my way to breakfast. The tunnel amplified the double sonic booms. Scared the ba-jeebus out of me!
I saw the first shuttle take off, in person, fulfillment of a long time dream. The power just in the sound waves miles away is an indescribable feeling.
With all the technology present today I'm absolutely stunned about the whole shuttle program, it was not just a milestone in mankind technology but a brave step to bring all knowledge of that time in one point to achieve such awesome pictures and great leaps forward. It's just unreal.
As far as I am concerned, one of the best commanders in the era of the space shuttle was the calm cool collective Robert Cabana. If he was the commander of my STS spaceflight, I would be put at ease, knowing that our orbiter & mission were truly in the best of hands. It’s obvious that he was the perfect person to command. This particular flight of Columbia and SC is 88 w/ the Space Shuttle Endeavor to be the first ISS assembly mission to mate Unity with the Russian module, Zarya, in which the combination of BOTH led to the FULL creation of the ISS, that we all know of today AS the completed majestic structure that continues to stand the test of time to this day/ beyond and will forever be seen as one of the most incredible/ monumental feats of technological & excellence & precise engineering to be able to build this in space! It's 100% a testament to what mankind is truly capable of when you have the full cooperation/ collaboration/ partnership/ teamwork/ alliance of the whole world, when we all can put our differences aside & work together toward common goals/ and when we all strive toward achieving great things and follow through with this incredible ENDEAVOR of the building the ISS/ so much more!
Thanks for this video! It's presenting a view of the landing that I'd never seen before, and of the Shuttle that some of my work flew on during STS-58. So tragic that it and the crew were lost during the reentry of STS-107.
Knowing the fate of Columbia, it is a bit heartbreaking to watch this, and realize that the window frame featured through much of this video would eventually hang in a museum as a memorial. Hard to fathom that we shut down the shuttle program entirely without a replacement program ready to launch. Gone are the days of the great space race. Sigh.
I've never seen this before and it's fascinating. I worked at NASA occasionally as a telephone person and remember walking into a room with concrete walls and a moat (no kidding - the walls weren't connected to the floor that I could see, the moat was filled with water.), and in that room were some massive work tables and shelves on the walls and laying around all over were shuttle tiles. Never forget that room. The Shuttles were very cool and I kind of miss seeing them go up and land.
@@fallinginthed33p You think? I would imagine that they would have planned on a failure as part of the original design. I would imagine the shuttle being pretty ruined, although I would imagine a gear up landing being survivable.
@@davewestner The shuttle's landing speed is a lot higher than most aircraft and the angle of attack is steep. I don't think it was ever designed to land on its belly. If I recall correctly, the Columbia accident report mentioned contingency steps when landing gear sensor failures were detected, but those were never put into use because the orbiter broke apart soon after.
@@fallinginthed33p Crazy to think they wouldn't have considered a gear up landing survivable. Not doubting what you're saying at all, I'm just surprised by it. I just read that they had a backup for faulty landing gear deployment (explosives) so maybe the designers thought that was a good enough contingency plan. And yeah, if the gear didn't come down, the lack of drag would probably cause them to touch down over 250kts. Glad they never had to find out what a gear up landing mighta looked like.
I've been out at the cape and watched it land. I believe it was Bob Cripton who said it "flies like a brick." He was one hundred percent right. The approach is really steep, and it drops out of the sky fast!
Great video! Beautiful landing! Tech has moved so fast that even the Shuttle cockpit looks a bit antiquated now, compared to the sleek, futuristic look of the inside of the SpaceX Dragon capsule!
After decades I get excited every time I see these landings... it's crazy, from space in controlled glide without engines, no possibility of error and..... perfect landing! speechlessness❤
They were constantly doing aerodynamic testing on the shuttle, and many landings involved specific inputs as an experiment. So, in this case a roll input at 8000 feet was probably called for called for, along with a yaw input. That's why you hear the mission commander warning the crew that there's going to be a roll and a yaw, and not to worry. (Source: I was in the satellite command and control industry with the USAF during the latter half of the shuttle era and this sort of thing came up.)
The amount of brain power to get a brick from all the way up there and pinpoint it back down on a plot of ground with just gravity and some flippers is mind boggling.
To quote the matrix: Doors open, beds made. Welcome home Columbia. To the brave souls of Columbia and Challenger, in search of knowledge and science, and to all who submitted their life in the conquest of space. My deepest respect. Rest easy.
The Shuttle glide angle was a little bit nuts for a hand flown aircraft. The modified business jet they used to train actually deployed thrust reversers *in flight* in order to achieve the same approach path. All other aircraft I'm aware of have interlocks to prevent deploying thrust reversers unless there is weight on at least the main gear.
@@eddieafterburner yeah, it's not entirely dissimilar. Much more characteristic than on Boeing airliners, as far as I can remember (when I fly on rare occasions, it's mostly on Airbus).
No it happened on the return of every mission, where the returning orbiter performed a giant figure of eight using pitch and yaw, to bank and shave off speed in order to make a safe landing at the correct touchdown speed.
I love how the Cmdr is interrupted while briefing the rest of the crew and he just casually confirms. That takes some real split brain concentration there.
Already there is a comment about it : I am always astonished by a Flight Landing in a run way. When the the space shuttle landing in a runway it is like putting a coin in a water bottle from the distance of 100 Feet. It requires an Expert practice. It's a pure talent and God's gift. Beyond that the work Mankind to achieve such an extraordinary event is just make us proud.
Say what you want but for all their weaknesses the Space Shuttle program was nothing short of amazing, especially considering the technology of the day. I think Buran had some advantages over our shuttle but unfortunately, it will likely never fly.
What an incredible landing. I say this because the shuttle's wings were designed primarily for space flight, thus compromising stability within the atmosphere. Both wheel touched at exactly the same time, a perfectly balanced shuttle as it came in with the nose tilted up as expected. Mate they landed that better than most passenger jets land.
@@leftmono1016 It seems Google agrees with you. I heard that the vehicle had one opportunity to land as it wasn't designed to fly at normal atmospheric pressure. I figured wing design was also a consideration. But obviously, the wings like any wings are aways designed to land.
@@C.D.J.Burton yes, just one opportunity to land as it didn’t have any source of power. Amazing really, entering the atmosphere at the perfect moment with only minimal control over descent rate and speed. I remember watching the fist mission land as a kid, at school in the U.K. Shame they had to abandon it, but understandable.
I swear, for the men and women who flew on those "flying bricks", the take offs and landings had to have been the most frightening, must exhilerating, and most FUN parts of being an astronaut. I would be in absolute awe getting to see the Earth from outer space. But for just shear excitement, I can't imagine much beating the take offs and landings.
This footage was taken 13 years after her maiden flight and 9 years before the disaster. The Columbia was an old orbital glider when she disintegrated in 2003.
I thought it might have been the transition from auto-pilot to manual, but after doing a little more reading, it may have been the activation of the auto-land guidance system.
So imagine you are sitting in the pilot's or commander's seat of the Space Shuttle, now going just so slow to be able to recognize all those details of the runway, little cracks and rocks in the tarmac you are passing by, still getting slower and slower and then bam! They stop moving, you are standing still on the runway..wheelstop...and somewhere behind your right shoulder is LC-39A. You began to move there, started slow but then accelerated to 17 400 mph and kept that speed for 14 days and and 18 hours.. What would be your thoughts?
Every once in a while you have a weird correlation of knowledge that makes you go 🧐. I just realized that once the shuttle stops on the runway, it’s FINALLY dissipated all of the energy required to get to orbit from the launch pad next door. All of that explosive propulsion to get there, an inferno of heat and ionizing gas to ditch most of that orbital energy, the brakes then absorb the remainder on the runway, converting it to heat and the shuttle comes to a stop…right next door to its launchpad, relatively speaking.
This was still a mind-boggling accomplishment that is somewhat lost on this current generation. Launch this vehicle as a rocket into space, orbit the Earth for millions of miles, and land it like a glider airplane
reminds me of when i drove a minibus of school children from southampton to coventry for a football match in 1981 and i got it in the parking space first try
I can't even fathom the sheer number of calculations required to determine the precise moment for re-entry into the atmosphere, ensuring a glide path directly to Florida and avoiding any other part of the world-or worse, an ocean. Especially considering they lack engines and have only one shot at it.
At 80 yrs old I've been privileged to have been witness to the entire quest of man to get into space. I started following all these journey's when I was stationed in Germany in the Army back in 1961.and to this day still watch what's going on. with pride in my country, and in the people who venture to "Go where no man has gone before". yep been a fan of that one since 1965. it just doesn't get any better. ECF
Got any good life advice?
@@DamplyDoo Don't get old is a good start, age is all in your mind.
@@raygale4198 Tell that to my back and knees.
💯👍🌎🚀🌕🚀🌎🇺🇸🤝🇷🇺
Ya got me beat..I've watched it all since grade school. I was an expert before middle school 😅
Landing a craft from space on a specific runway is still amazing to me. It's a testament to the skill and professionalism of everyone involved as well as the brilliance of everyone from Democritus to Newton and Gallileo to Einstein. And a reminder of the awesome immutable laws of the universe.
It's ALL math.
@@mrflippant Until the chaotic weather kicks in. Then it's pilot skill.
Everyone always forgets Maxwell.
I'm afraid that is a bit too romantic. This vehicle was a catastrophe for American manned space flight. A vast fleet of Saturn Vs could have been built just for the R&D costs - throw in the operational phase and we'd have bases on the Moon and a man on Mars. You cannot use a vehicle like this in any sane way. It has no power of its own, it is incredibly fragile, it has to be rebuilt after every flight - complete overhaul of the engines, C-check of the airframe, time consuming repair of the all-important tiles. There were no abort modes. A serious issue during the boost phase would destroy the orbiter and kill the crew. A serious problem during re-entry would destroy the vehicle and kill the crew. Both things happened. This vehicle was about as reusable as a paper cup. It is much more sensible to put things in orbit with heavy lift rockets and then work with them by astronauts ferried to space in a small, possibly modular partially reusable vehicle used only to shuttle people to orbit. There is a persistent fantasy that reusability is the grail of spaceflight - that is totally false. The rocket is mostly just a can. It might be possible to reuse first-stage engines. Fact - a brand new Falcon rocket launch costs $62 million dollars. Reusing the first stage saves about $8 million - $54 million. That lesson was already learned during the Shuttle program. For that small margin one sacrifices an enormous amount of performance, and spaceflight is all about performance. The entire Shuttle program was a closed, self-congratulatory exercise in narcissism that accomplished almost nothing and set the country back at least 40 years. Even the Hubble telescope and ISS could have been done far more cheaply with the already developed and tested and nearly faultless Saturn V and Saturn 1B.
@@mrflippant No, it is not all math. It is systems engineering and cost/performance analysis.
"Central Florida just got a wake-up call". Can confirm - as an Orlando resident during the shuttle age, I can tell you that sonic booms of dawn landings could make you jump out of bed if you didn't know a landing was planned. If your windows were open, the booms would move the blinds with the compression waves. If the booms didn't wake you up, everyone's car alarms going off at the same time did.
I grew up in Cocoa. Many years later I moved to the UK and one night after we went to bed, we experienced an earthquake. It made the doors of our closet rattle. In my half-asleep state, I thought, "Oh, it's the shuttle landing. Uh, wait a minute...".
I remember sitting on the floor in my house once (in Kissimmee) when a shuttle returned. The floor is on a concrete slab and I could feel it shake.
"Mach 15." Even though I knew the shuttle reached those speeds, hearing them nonchalantly announce it was mind blowing.
Be aware that Mach number is not the same as a measure of speed. It might have been high just because of very low air density
The fastest powered airplane speed was the X-15 at Mach 5.93… the Shuttle, a glider at this point, is traveling at nearly Mach 25 when it officially transitions from space!
@@dwydd5729 True, but no matter what the air density is - it's still FAST.
Actually, that’s the most important factor.
They proudly wear their “MACH 25” patches
Damn. To hear "welcome home Columbia" just hits a little harder.
I didn't realize how much I missed the Shuttles until just now. ☹️
It's sad watching the tech we grew up with that was considered cutting-edge in our time being phased out in favor of newer stuff😢. It's cool how far space exploration has come with new spacecraft like the SpaceX Starship but it's also very sad watching things like the space shuttle and now the International Space Station being decommissioned, never to be seen in the skies again. I never got to see the shuttles launch or land in person but I always watched them on TV whenever possible which I loved (it got me into HPR rocketry as a hobby which is a real kick in the pants😁), and I'll never forget the time I watched the ISS blast overhead across the sky at Mach 23 right after the sun went down, the skies were dark but there was still sunlight passing over the atmosphere and reflected off the ISS solar panels like a mirror pointed right at me, it was a blazing point of light in the sky. I am incredibly disappointed that I will never get to see that again after 2030. Ever since that first time I saw it I've done my best to be outside and looking at the sky on the rare dates that it is visible at my location and the weather is clear enough, I'm definitely going to savor the remaining viewings I will get of it😔.
Unfortunately they were the least reliable crafts.
@@stevenw.miguel I mean, you're not wrong, but at the time it was what was
@@Cool-TinaI wasnt criticizing you. I’m only stating facts from others that were in the field
I'm 76. I grew up in a tiny town with beautiful starry nights, and can't remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with the idea of space travel. If there was TV coverage of a launch of satellites or manned spacecraft I had to watch. I saw the first steps on the Moon, the first Shuttle launch, the launch and repair missions for the Hubble telescope and the building of the ISS.
And aside from the Shuttle disasters loved every second of it. I'm especially pleased that so many nations are so intent on exploring our solar system and beyond. And I have no doubt that we will reach the stars.
Another high quality shuttle vid! This has to be one of the best if not the best flight deck footage out there Awesome!
Cool video. I had the privilege of testing the on board software driving those displays. This is the first time I have gotten to see them in use in real flight.
This is still just F'ing CRAZY. The calculationsinvolved with re-entering the atmosphere at the right time/place, the incredible speeds (at one point mach 15 was called) and bringing the huge craft to the runway in Florida at the right speed/altitude AND ALL WITHOUT any engine power!!! Amazing.
No go around or second chances.
Even though I knew the outcome, I was still anxious watching this today.
Wow! That was awesome!!! Sad that the Columbia is no longer with us.
I'm not sure you could have a more badass job title than, "Space Shuttle pilot."
The Commander is actually the Pilot, but Co-pilot seemed underrated so that's why the Pilot is titled the Commander.
What about a guy who cooks crystal meth and is on the run from the law?
Yeah, roughneck.
That rare😏
"Space Shuttle Pilot Instructor" :)
Excellent work as always. Many thanks.
Great quality video. The full STS-65 ascent would be cool (hint, hint).
Hail Columbia!
It's possible, if I can improve upon existing videos somehow....
Cheesas the sink rate is crazy! They count down the thousands as you do in hundreds for a modern passenger jet. Can you imagine the energy they have with this sink rate, which is then transferred into forward speed on landing? Amazing!
They called it a flying brick for a reason! The Shuttle was basically in free fall until the last possible second.
They descend to the runway at a speed that would rip the wings off a Cessna.
@@jamesm7649 Even at touchdown they were going over 200 mph, beyond the never exceed speed of a Cessna.
@@Zerbey Delta wings require higher landing speeds. Before the Challenger accident they had problems with blowing tires on landing, and I think there was at least one brake fire. During the break in ops after the accident they finally put the drag chutes on the orbiters and that fixed the problem.
I've read the sink rate is 120 mph, same as skydiver in freefall. Chris Kraft said about when he rode in the Gulfstream orbiter landing simulator aircraft the approach angle [about 23 degrees] being steeper than a airliner, "it's scary because it feels like you are pointing straight down." Of course need a very good flight system and the best pilots to flare just at the right time that transfers that descent energy to high lift for a smooth touchdown.
Thanks for this video! In 1994, Houston sent me photos of the crew members of STS 65 and STS 68 with their autographs and a brief information summary of the first decade of Space Shuttle flights from 1981 to 1990. To this day, I am sincerely grateful to the unknown head of the Lyndon Johnson Space Center who responded to my letter in which I told about my passion for the history of the development of space programs of the USSR and the USA. Good luck!
They were doing Mach 15 at the beginning, and about 240kt on final. Something like 180 at touchdown.
@sergei6572 When I was a kid after the final Apollo mission I write to CBS TV asking if I could have the model behind the desk that they used to demonstrate the different stages, since they wouldn't be using it anymore. CBS must have sent my letter to NASA Public Affairs, because one day a giant envelope arrived, stuffed with photos, pamphlets, charts, and stickers. I decided then to devote myself to becoming an aerospace engineer and an astronaut. Well, that didn't happen at ALL, but it did lead me down a path towards service to the my country, which continues to this day. That little bit of effort from a NASA PAO staffer and a few dollars of printouts bought 40 years of my life, and I've always wished I could let them know what they accomplished at work that day. :)
@@qtrfoil Thank you for your interesting memories.👍I am glad for you that caring people responded to your childish request. In my case, in another letter sent to Houston to John Glenn, the letter was forwarded to Washington. To my delight, he sent me a letter, an autographed photo and a photocopy of an article from LIFE magazine about his flight. At my home in St. Petersburg, autographed photographs of John Young, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride and Norman Thagard are carefully kept. I have a lot of articles from Soviet newspapers of the 60s and 70s about flights under the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, very detailed from launch to landing. By the way, despite the Cold War and the lunar race between the USSR and the USA, all the articles, I emphasize absolutely everything, are written in a respectful tone. And applies to all NASA programs. Neil Armstrong's autograph can be viewed on my channel. Good luck!🤝
@@sergei6572 Cheers to you, best wishes!
Thank you for this.
We should've never given up on the shuttle program:(
I remember this landing. I was at a baseball camp at UCF, walking through a tunnel at a nearby hotel where we stayed, on my way to breakfast. The tunnel amplified the double sonic booms. Scared the ba-jeebus out of me!
I saw the first shuttle take off, in person, fulfillment of a long time dream. The power just in the sound waves miles away is an indescribable feeling.
Did you drop the ball?
I dropped something!
Very awesome to see footage like this!
With all the technology present today I'm absolutely stunned about the whole shuttle program, it was not just a milestone in mankind technology but a brave step to bring all knowledge of that time in one point to achieve such awesome pictures and great leaps forward. It's just unreal.
I saw Columbia land at Edwards (STS-4) on the 4th of July, 1982. When I saw it approach touchdown, and its size, I thought "Holy Cow, it's a house!"
As far as I am concerned, one of the best commanders in the era of the space shuttle was the calm cool collective Robert Cabana. If he was the commander of my STS spaceflight, I would be put at ease, knowing that our orbiter & mission were truly in the best of hands. It’s obvious that he was the perfect person to command. This particular flight of Columbia and SC is 88 w/ the Space Shuttle Endeavor to be the first ISS assembly mission to mate Unity with the Russian module, Zarya, in which the combination of BOTH led to the FULL creation of the ISS, that we all know of today AS the completed majestic structure that continues to stand the test of time to this day/ beyond and will forever be seen as one of the most incredible/ monumental feats of technological & excellence & precise engineering to be able to build this in space! It's 100% a testament to what mankind is truly capable of when you have the full cooperation/ collaboration/ partnership/ teamwork/ alliance of the whole world, when we all can put our differences aside & work together toward common goals/ and when we all strive toward achieving great things and follow through with this incredible ENDEAVOR of the building the ISS/ so much more!
I hate to break it to you, but. The ISS is being decommissioned and there are no plans for another station.
Thanks for this video! It's presenting a view of the landing that I'd never seen before, and of the Shuttle that some of my work flew on during STS-58. So tragic that it and the crew were lost during the reentry of STS-107.
Love the “central Florida got a wake up call” I’ve heard many of those. Just amazing!!! Make it look so easy 😳
🇬🇧A bit like our ❤Concorde❤ sadly missed, sadly gone 😢 never forgotten 🇬🇧
Was just thinking the same!
Absolutely amazing to watch! It's just so sad what happened to Columbia in 2003. RIP to the Astronauts who lost their lives, also those on Challenger
Knowing the fate of Columbia, it is a bit heartbreaking to watch this, and realize that the window frame featured through much of this video would eventually hang in a museum as a memorial. Hard to fathom that we shut down the shuttle program entirely without a replacement program ready to launch. Gone are the days of the great space race. Sigh.
The new space race is just beginning. This time it's China.
That was a treat! Thanks!
Amazing footage man the engineering and the skill of the astronauts is amazing.
I've never seen this before and it's fascinating. I worked at NASA occasionally as a telephone person and remember walking into a room with concrete walls and a moat (no kidding - the walls weren't connected to the floor that I could see, the moat was filled with water.), and in that room were some massive work tables and shelves on the walls and laying around all over were shuttle tiles. Never forget that room. The Shuttles were very cool and I kind of miss seeing them go up and land.
0:18 what was that about? If it would have been after 107 it would have been understandable but this was '94.
Right
Listen to what they’re saying.
Columbia was passing over Louisiana at the time.
@@edcola6671 yes but why put hand on heart for Louisiana?
Yeah, I did a double take when I heard that. Either very prophetic or dubbed audio........
The pilot is from Louisiana.
I've been aware of how fast the approach was in those things, but that shot starting around 3:21 really shows just how quick they're moving.
Damaged landing gear would have resulted in a non-survivable landing.
@@fallinginthed33p You think? I would imagine that they would have planned on a failure as part of the original design.
I would imagine the shuttle being pretty ruined, although I would imagine a gear up landing being survivable.
@@davewestner The shuttle's landing speed is a lot higher than most aircraft and the angle of attack is steep. I don't think it was ever designed to land on its belly. If I recall correctly, the Columbia accident report mentioned contingency steps when landing gear sensor failures were detected, but those were never put into use because the orbiter broke apart soon after.
@@fallinginthed33p Crazy to think they wouldn't have considered a gear up landing survivable. Not doubting what you're saying at all, I'm just surprised by it.
I just read that they had a backup for faulty landing gear deployment (explosives) so maybe the designers thought that was a good enough contingency plan.
And yeah, if the gear didn't come down, the lack of drag would probably cause them to touch down over 250kts.
Glad they never had to find out what a gear up landing mighta looked like.
I've been out at the cape and watched it land. I believe it was Bob Cripton who said it "flies like a brick." He was one hundred percent right. The approach is really steep, and it drops out of the sky fast!
I respect any person who has gone into space. Incredible bravery.
Great video! Beautiful landing!
Tech has moved so fast that even the Shuttle cockpit looks a bit antiquated now, compared to the sleek, futuristic look of the inside of the SpaceX Dragon capsule!
Ok, so this was the Best landing video Ever on youtube that I've seen yet.
Let's hope these videos survive for all future generations to admire.
Yes unlike many of the Apollo moon mission videos which disappeared for no reason.
@@mrradio2187 funny how that never happened, and the only thing that was ever lost from Apollo was a single tape from a single mission.
Everything is archived in terms of film, only thing lost was some slow scan live feed that there's copies of. @@mrradio2187
All without an engine. Energy management at its finest.
Awesome video! Terrific job!
Regardless of your opinions, I think the Space Shuttle was one of the best spacecraft ever created.
Wow! Never before seen cool vid. Cheers!!
The original video sequences are around, but not assembled like this ;-)
Wow coming in from space and guiding and landing the shuttle on a runway with those tiny wings is just incredible.
After decades I get excited every time I see these landings... it's crazy, from space in controlled glide without engines, no possibility of error and..... perfect landing! speechlessness❤
That touchdown was butter-smooth, as if the pilot was doing it every day. Really exceptional skill!
What causes the roll and yaw at 8,000' is it yaw dampers coming on? Or ? some kind of SAS < stab aug sys ?
Same question
They were constantly doing aerodynamic testing on the shuttle, and many landings involved specific inputs as an experiment. So, in this case a roll input at 8000 feet was probably called for called for, along with a yaw input. That's why you hear the mission commander warning the crew that there's going to be a roll and a yaw, and not to worry. (Source: I was in the satellite command and control industry with the USAF during the latter half of the shuttle era and this sort of thing came up.)
Done it again! Awesome video
The amount of brain power to get a brick from all the way up there and pinpoint it back down on a plot of ground with just gravity and some flippers is mind boggling.
To quote the matrix:
Doors open, beds made. Welcome home Columbia.
To the brave souls of Columbia and Challenger, in search of knowledge and science, and to all who submitted their life in the conquest of space. My deepest respect.
Rest easy.
Wow great work very cool!
Cool @2:52 you can see the VAB outside the Starboard window.
That is really pretty when everything works right.
Thanks for the vid ,
Greased it right in there. Perfect landing. This never gets old for me.
Beautiful touchdown landing of space shuttle
Falling from Ionosphere at Mach 22.... Buttery smooth landing
The Shuttle glide angle was a little bit nuts for a hand flown aircraft. The modified business jet they used to train actually deployed thrust reversers *in flight* in order to achieve the same approach path. All other aircraft I'm aware of have interlocks to prevent deploying thrust reversers unless there is weight on at least the main gear.
I enjoyed it, Amazing views.
What was the maneuver Bob was talking about at 2:07 for? First time I‘m hearing about that.
Brilliant the sound track of this flight is on PSVR shuttle commander game and it's awesome
What was the reference to Louisiana about?
The pilot James Halsell was born in Louisiana.
I miss the space shuttles
Starting at around 3:44 what’s that whirring sound in the background?
APU's, hydraulic pumps, HVAC systems, take your pick. It's there earlier during some handheld shots too.
I’ve heard this when I fly on Airbuses too.
@@eddieafterburner yeah, it's not entirely dissimilar. Much more characteristic than on Boeing airliners, as far as I can remember (when I fly on rare occasions, it's mostly on Airbus).
What is the purpose of the roll and yaw @2:05 and @2:40?
Looked like a flying brick, came in very fast too, can't imagine it was a easy chunk to land for one second.
I miss those days. ❤
What was the "roll and yaw" maneuver that was mentioned at 2:10 and executed at 2:44? Was that something unique to this mission?
No it happened on the return of every mission, where the returning orbiter performed a giant figure of eight using pitch and yaw, to bank and shave off speed in order to make a safe landing at the correct touchdown speed.
I love how the Cmdr is interrupted while briefing the rest of the crew and he just casually confirms. That takes some real split brain concentration there.
At what time?
@@ashifimtiajmahmood8374 2:01
Already there is a comment about it :
I am always astonished by a Flight Landing in a run way.
When the the space shuttle landing in a runway it is like putting a coin in a water bottle from the distance of 100 Feet.
It requires an Expert practice. It's a pure talent and God's gift.
Beyond that the work Mankind to achieve such an extraordinary event is just make us proud.
I wonder if there is a space shuttle mod for MSFS? I'd love to use VR to see that view from the pilots seat.
Years ago there was a PC game called "Shuttle" that I played all the time. Took HOURS and had great graphics.
orbiter
x-plane
9 years later this beautiful peace was destroyed
Say what you want but for all their weaknesses the Space Shuttle program was nothing short of amazing, especially considering the technology of the day. I think Buran had some advantages over our shuttle but unfortunately, it will likely never fly.
The crew should feel a sensation of home sweet home when they enter the atmosphere and see the blue sky. Amazing!
What’s the maneuver at 02:45 called?
Oh, I SO want to know that, too! Couldn't find anything yet to answer that.
What was the bang at 01:06 min - sound barrier while re-entry?
Sonic booms
What an incredible landing. I say this because the shuttle's wings were designed primarily for space flight, thus compromising stability within the atmosphere. Both wheel touched at exactly the same time, a perfectly balanced shuttle as it came in with the nose tilted up as expected. Mate they landed that better than most passenger jets land.
The wings were actually designed for landing 👍
@@leftmono1016 It seems Google agrees with you. I heard that the vehicle had one opportunity to land as it wasn't designed to fly at normal atmospheric pressure. I figured wing design was also a consideration. But obviously, the wings like any wings are aways designed to land.
@@C.D.J.Burton yes, just one opportunity to land as it didn’t have any source of power.
Amazing really, entering the atmosphere at the perfect moment with only minimal control over descent rate and speed.
I remember watching the fist mission land as a kid, at school in the U.K. Shame they had to abandon it, but understandable.
I swear, for the men and women who flew on those "flying bricks", the take offs and landings had to have been the most frightening, must exhilerating, and most FUN parts of being an astronaut. I would be in absolute awe getting to see the Earth from outer space. But for just shear excitement, I can't imagine much beating the take offs and landings.
While SpaceX is awesome, I sure miss watching these beauties glide back to earth!
These were special moments in American history 🇺🇸
It never lived up to its promise of cheap space travel, but a damn cool machine nonetheless!
This footage was taken 13 years after her maiden flight and 9 years before the disaster. The Columbia was an old orbital glider when she disintegrated in 2003.
00:22 "Mach 15..."
what a line
What is the reason for the "yaw and roll" at 8000', that the pilot or commander cautioned everyone else about?
I thought it might have been the transition from auto-pilot to manual, but after doing a little more reading, it may have been the activation of the auto-land guidance system.
Beautiful ! 😍
👍
So imagine you are sitting in the pilot's or commander's seat of the Space Shuttle, now going just so slow to be able to recognize all those details of the runway, little cracks and rocks in the tarmac you are passing by, still getting slower and slower and then bam! They stop moving, you are standing still on the runway..wheelstop...and somewhere behind your right shoulder is LC-39A. You began to move there, started slow but then accelerated to 17 400 mph and kept that speed for 14 days and and 18 hours.. What would be your thoughts?
Hermoso! Fantástico!
I was with my father in Tampa when this was recorded. I remember the sonic boom. Wow so sad we ended the STS
Every once in a while you have a weird correlation of knowledge that makes you go 🧐. I just realized that once the shuttle stops on the runway, it’s FINALLY dissipated all of the energy required to get to orbit from the launch pad next door. All of that explosive propulsion to get there, an inferno of heat and ionizing gas to ditch most of that orbital energy, the brakes then absorb the remainder on the runway, converting it to heat and the shuttle comes to a stop…right next door to its launchpad, relatively speaking.
What was the roll and yaw about? Was that the moment they went from auto-pilot to manual? Or was it that when auto-land guidance is initiated?
For all its flaws, that is very cool.
Love the 1958 Atlas launch i send for you.
This was still a mind-boggling accomplishment that is somewhat lost on this current generation. Launch this vehicle as a rocket into space, orbit the Earth for millions of miles, and land it like a glider airplane
How's it 'lost on this current generation' when they're the ones building vertical landing rockets and the like?
I can't imagine the feeling of the pilot touching down after days in space.
Imagine the feelings at wheel stop.
reminds me of when i drove a minibus of school children from southampton to coventry for a football match in 1981 and i got it in the parking space first try
What did you do today??… Not much, just landed the space shuttle 😳😳…👌
No holding patterns to sort things out, no missed approaches, no go arounds. You fly in straight and either you land or you crash.
Legendary beast. Our greatest achievement next to Apollo.
So beautiful.
what is the roll and yaw for? Is that a control surface final check? or a line up correction?
Help slow down I think
I can't even fathom the sheer number of calculations required to determine the precise moment for re-entry into the atmosphere, ensuring a glide path directly to Florida and avoiding any other part of the world-or worse, an ocean. Especially considering they lack engines and have only one shot at it.
Beautiful!
I like the way he says Mach 15 near the beginning! That’s like 11,500 mph!
What was with that roll and yaw manoeuvre
Wondering too
Should have been part of the S-turn braking/heat dissipation maneuvers.
Done to scrub off speed in a hurry.