Atlantis – STS-135 – The FINAL Space Shuttle Flight
It’s hard to imagine that this day has finally arrived.
From Columbia‘s first flight in STS-1 on April 12, 1981, to Atlantis‘s final mission in STS-135 on July 8, 2011, the space shuttle launches and landings have both thrilled viewers and inspired future astronauts for over thirty years.
Thirty years!
Since the early days of childhood I’ve been fascinated by flight and the space program. I remember being in elementary school and receiving word over the P.A. system about the Challenger disaster. I remember looking at newspapers lying on a table talking about the Columbia disaster while helping my brother move between college residences in February of 2003.
And now, sadly, I’m sure I’ll remember where I was as Atlantis took to the skies on the final space shuttle mission.
Launching of STS-135 Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 8, 2011.
As the space shuttle program is now, for the most part, finished, it’s equally hard to believe that right now there is no U.S. manned space program. The Constellation program was looking promising until Congress cut the funding, essentially ending that program. As far as I know, the next manned NASA vehicle is still on the always-changing drawing table. American astronauts will have to catch rides on the Russian Soyuz rockets in the meantime.
30 years of the NASA Space Shuttle program
Fortunately, there is still hope for future U.S. astronauts. It’s exciting following the latest news from SpaceX, and their Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules are looking promising. I can’t wait until it’s time for them to launch their first manned mission!
In the meantime, it’s time to look back at Hollywood movies and documentaries about the space shuttle. Some favorites come to mind.
IMAX – Hail Columbia! – This dated but quite interesting IMAX film takes a thrilling look at space shuttle Columbia‘s maiden flight on STS-1, from preparation to launch to landing.
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IMAX – The Dream Is Alive – For the longest of time, this was the IMAX movie to see. I remember first watching it at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL, a long time ago, loving every minute of it! Narrated by the late Walter Cronkite and filled with some incredible space shuttle footage, this is a MUST-HAVE DVD for any fan of aviation and space flight.
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Space Camp – Step back in time to 1986 and follow along as a group of young teenagers attend space camp at Kennedy Space Center. You’ll probably recognize some familiar 80’s faces as the cadets learn to train together and receive the ultimate experience — sitting in the shuttle on the launch pad during a simple test. That test goes horribly wrong and the young cadets find themselves stuck on a real-life mission, enduring the challenges of liftoff, solving problems in zero-G, and ultimately re-entering the atmosphere and returning home.
Sure, the movie is cheesy at times and obviously wasn’t a major blockbuster, but it’s still fun and a great 80’s movie. And did I mention that it involves the space shuttle Atlantis? If you love the shuttle and family movies, then Space Camp is another must-have for your movie collection.
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Space Cowboys – Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones star in this blockbuster involving retired pilots being given a chance at space flight. Their mission — to repair a faulty Russian satellite left over from the Cold War and holding live nuclear weapons. While the space shuttle isn’t the star of the movie, it still plays a major although simplistic at times role. But the shuttle scenes are still good and the movie as a whole is fairly entertaining.
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Airplane II: The Sequel – This sequel to the highly popular Airplane! features a modified space shuttle (called the “Lunar Shuttle”) that flies passengers from Earth to a base on the Moon. This zany spaceflight adventure brings back most of the cast from Airplane! and recycles many of its jokes, but has enough new material for it to qualify as an entertaining movie.