[BIRDS CHIRPING]
[BOOMING]
MAN 1 [ON RADIO]: Sonic booms just heard at the Kennedy Space Center.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: Yeah; okay; I got a tallyho on the cape.
Looking good; Vance.
You can hear the wind real loud.
NARRATOR: At the end of a 3-million-mile journey. . .
. . .the space shuttle is coming home.
MAN 2: The APU's are looking good; Vance.
NARRATOR: The commander has to make a perfect landing now.
He has no engines to take him around again.
MAN 2: Boy; I tell you; that's a good one.
Yeah; looking good.
MAN 3: Okay.
MAN 2: Okay; get them.
Put on the gear.
MAN 3: Gear is on; got a light.
Four hundred; 300. Gear's coming.
-One hundred; 255. MAN 4: Gear's down.
MAN 3: Fifty feet at 240.
Thirty feet at 235.
Twenty feet at 225.
Eight feet at 250.
Five feet at 21 0. Two feet at 200. One foot.
MAN 4: Touchdown.
MAN 3: One-ninety-five.
One-seventy.
One-sixty-five. One-sixty.
One-fifty.
Ninety at 5.
Seventy at 5.
Fifty knots at 5 deceleration.
Thirty at 5.
NARRATOR: Here, in the middle of a Florida wildlife refuge, the shuttles land.
They are serviced and are launched again.
MAN 3: Okay; Houston; wheels are stopped.
MAN 2: Way to go; guys. MAN 3: Great job!
MAN 4: Magnificent.
NARRATOR: This is Kennedy Space Center, America's spaceport.
[CROWD CHEERING]
NARRATOR: The people we hear about most are the astronauts.
But, actually, there are thousands more working behind the scenes. . .
. . .to keep the shuttles flying.
They inspect and maintain the more than 30,000 tiles...
. . .that protect the orbiter from the heat of re-entry.
WOMAN [OVER PA]: Steve Neihardt. Lockheed Comm.
MAN [OVER PA]: I say again; "Hazardous operations are continuing in the VAB."
NARRATOR: They watch over the mating of the components: the solid rockets. . .
...the massive external tank, and the orbiter.
MAN [OVER PA]: All unofficial personnel clear level 3 in the transfer aisle.
NARRATOR: Two weeks to launch, the shuttle rolls out to the pad.
The flight crew has been training at Johnson Space Center near Houston.
They've come here to Florida. . .
. . .to take part in a dress rehearsal with the launch team.
ln preparation for a potential emergency. . .
. . .they practice rapid egress from the orbiter. . .
. . .and the possible use of an escape basket.
MAN: Okay; baby; let's go.
That's four good HPU's. Four good ones.
All right; I got four. All the pix are up.
[RUMBLING]
Fly; baby; fly.
MAN 1 [ON RADIO]: Thrust tailing off in SRB. Standing by for separation.
Separation confirmed.
Nominal first-stage performance.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: Okay; nominal.
NARRATOR: Now the engines have stopped.
We are in space, 280 miles up.
At last, we can see our magnificent Earth. . .
. . .in all its splendor.
MAN 1 [ON RADIO]: Mission Control to Houston.
Challenger crossing the coast of Baja California.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: LDEF deploy.
NARRATOR: The LDEF satellite weighs 1 0 tons. . .
. . .and is the size of a school bus.
lt carries 57 experiments. . .
. . .the work of more than 200 scientists from eight countries.
LDEF will stay up here for more than a year. . .
. . .exposing various materials to the vacuum of space.
WOMAN: Okay; the VTR's are running.
Next thing's at 30 seconds. I'll delay it a little bit.
MAN 1 : I'll count by tens till I get to 1 5.
-Forty seconds. MAN 2: Don't forget free drift; Mike.
[MAN 1 CLEARS THROAT]
NARRATOR: For us inside the spacecraft, there is a new experience:
Weightlessness.
[RIDE LAUGHING]
RIDE: Whoo!
NARRATOR: A typical crew consists of five to seven people.
Some are career astronauts, others are specialists in a variety of fields. . .
. . .representing various countries.
MAN: Sally? RIDE: Yes.
MAN: We're hooked up. Checking.
NARRATOR: Above is the flight deck, with windows facing up and back. . .
. . .into the payload bay.
[ELECTRIC SHAVER HUMMING]
NARRATOR: Below, the mid deck functions as living room, dining room. . .
. . .bedroom, workshop and study.
MAN [ON RADIO]: Discovery; Houston. You're looking good for deploy.
NARRATOR: Commander Hartsfield and Pilot Coats. . .
. . .navigate the orbiter to a predetermined point in space. . .
. . .so that the communications satellite they are deploying. . .
. . .will be precisely positioned.
[THUMP]
WOMAN: Gee. Look at that!
MAN 1 : That's a big hummer; isn't it?
Look at that! Get some shots of that!
[CAMERAS CLICKING]
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: Syncom's deployed; Houston.
NARRATOR: Much of the time, the orbiter flies with its payload bay facing the Earth.
So, to see our planet's features, the crew uses the overhead windows.
WOMAN: That's pretty.
NARRATOR: As we cross the Alps into ltaly, Genoa is on the left. . .
. . .home of Christopher Columbus.
Eastward, the Po River flows down to the Adriatic. . .
. . .and just north of its mouth, glorious Venice.
This is the ltaly of the Renaissance.
lt was here that Leonardo first said, "We can fly."
And now, we circle the Earth every 90 minutes. . .
...at 1 7,000 miles an hour.
lt's as if we're in a time machine. . .
. . .looking back across the centuries at our own history.
The boot of ltaly.
lslands of the Mediterranean, of Homer's Odyssey.
Now on toward Crete, site of the ancient Minoan culture.
The great city of Alexandria. . .
. . .once the world's center of learning.
Beyond it, the lush delta of the River Nile. . .
. . .spreading down to the Mediterranean from Cairo.
lt is thought that thousands of years ago. . .
. . .everything below us now was fertile. . .
. . .but a change in climate turned North Africa into a desert.
What will future climatic changes do to our Earth and to us?
MAN 1 [ON RADIO]: We're still looking for a deploy; as planned. . .
. . .over the next MILA pass. . . .
RIDE: Okay; how's that? MAN 2: I'll pass you the camera.
NARRATOR: ln search of the answer, Sally Ride deploys a satellite called ERBS.
RIDE: That's a pretty spacecraft.
MAN 3 [ON RADIO]: Challenger; it's Houston. You're "go" for release.
MAN 4: Okay; we'll put it in work.
NARRATOR: ERBS will help us to know. . .
. . .whether there'll be more sandstorms in our future. . .
...or blizzards, or hurricanes...
. . .like Josephine. . .
. . .500 miles in diameter. . .
. . .and packing winds of 90 miles an hour.
MAN 1 : You're only seeing not even half of it; right here.
MAN 2: There's the eye of the storm.
MAN 1 : The East Coast of the U.S. is to your right.
NARRATOR: Now the mid deck has become part gymnasium and part factory.
While Steve Hawley exercises. . .
. . .Charlie Walker operates a compact laboratory on the far bulkhead.
This is a commercial venture.
lt's object: To develop new kinds of medicines. . .
. . .that can only be made in zero gravity.
MAN 1 : Ten seconds.
Nine; eight; seven; six; five.
Got it armed? Three; two; one.
WOMAN: Yay.
MAN 1 : There she goes. The five-string arm is off.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: Congratulations! Three for three.
MAN 1 : I'm going to close the sun shield.
NARRATOR: The communications satellite is deployed by Judy Resnick. . .
. . .and photographed by Mike Mullane.
MAN 1 : Okay; deploy was on time.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: Discovery; it's Houston. Good news; Steve. . .
. . .we're watching it with a lot of smiles down here.
STEVE [ON RADIO]: Yeah; there's a lot of them up here too.
NARRATOR: The crew eats and sleeps pretty much. . .
. . .according to the same schedule as on Earth.
ln the early days of space we sometimes heard complaints about the food. . .
. . .which was mostly squeezed out of toothpaste tubes.
Now the crews get to eat what they want:
Steak, strawberries, shrimp cocktail.
MAN 1 [ON RADIO]: I would say that the extension. . .
. . .was about as nominal as you could expect.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: We copy that; Henry.
NARRATOR: On this flight we have extended an experimental solar array.
MAN 1 : It is not budging one iota. It's solid as a rock.
MAN 2: We're about ready to retract now.
WOMAN: It's folding smoothly.
NARRATOR: ln the future, such a device may tap the sun's energy. . .
. . .to help power the space station.
WOMAN: It's got a little wiggle in it.
NARRATOR: The leaves are so thin. . .
. . .and the mast so ingeniously contrived. . .
. . .that the 1 00-foot-high structure folds into a box. . .
. . .7 inches deep.
While the crew sleeps, flight controllers on the ground. . .
. . .watch over the orbiter.
The Hawaiian lslands.
The Andes Mountains in South America.
Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, our home port.
South Florida and the Keys.
The deep blue of the Gulf Stream. . .
. . .and the turquoise reefs of the Bahamas.
The vast craters of the Galápagos lslands.
An orbital sunrise.
MAN 1 [ON RADIO]: Altitude: 2000 feet.
Range: 1 2;000 feet.
NARRATOR: As this is Discovery's maiden voyage. . .
. . .Commander Hartsfield will land on the long runway. . .
. . .at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
He's got lots of room. . .
. . .but he'd like to touch down on those two black stripes ahead on the runway.
MAN 1 : Touchdown. Discovery safely back on Earth after having traveled. . .
. . .2. 1 7 million nautical miles. . .
. . . in 6 days and 57 minutes.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: Welcome home.
NARRAΤOR: Discovery rides back to Florida atop NASA's 747.
With four orbiters in the fleet, new astronauts are needed.
Thousands of candidates apply.
Few make it.
MAN: Check your body position. "Bail out! Bail out! Bail out!"
MAN 1 : Hook is down. Keep on walking !
MAN 2: Whoo!
NARRATOR: Although some are pilots, many are engineers, medical doctors. . .
. . .and scientists.
MAN: Keep your heels in the water!
Good job!
[MAN 1 YELLING INDISTINCTLY]
MAN 2: Yeehaw!
MAN 1 : Delay canopy for a release.
MAN 3: Release!
MAN 2: Whoo!
MAN 1 : Okay; head on down.
MAN 3: Keep your eyes on the horizon. Get your elbows in tight.
MAN 4: Keep it together. MAN 3: There you go.
MAN 4: Elbows in. MAN 3: Whoa. Whoa!
NARRATOR: Once selected, the new astronaut develops specific skills. . .
. . .leading to an eventual flight assignment.
Then, training for that mission begins.
This is James van Hoften, otherwise known as "Ox."
And this is George Nelson, known as "Pinky."
Together they'll attempt something. . .
. . .which has never been done before:
The capture and repair of a satellite in space.
The satellite, called Solar Max, broke down after its first few months. . .
. . .and is now rotating in orbit, partially crippled.
HART [OVER PA]: Okay; we show a dock.
Okay; Len; how about if I. . .
. . .take Pinky and roll him upside down and get him back here--
NARRATOR: They will be assisted by astronaut T.J. Hart.
And here he goes with a roll. I'll pick him back up again.
NARRATOR: The shuttle's arm plays a vital role in the repair. . .
. . .and "T.J.", as they call him, is an expert.
HART: And back up to the satellite.
Whoops.
NARRATOR: An astronaut, fully dressed in a spacesuit, weighs close to 400 lbs.
ln space, he'll weigh nothing at all.
Pinky and Ox practice the repair in a tank at Johnson Space Center.
lt's the closest one can come on Earth to weightlessness.
MAN 1 : What was that? This must be space.
MAN 2: Isn't that great?
MAN 3 [ON RADIO]: Houston to Challenger. You are unreadable. Big echo; big echo.
MAN 4: Safety divers; take the subjects down. . .
. . .for final ballasting in heads-up position.
MAN 5: Sam; bring the pressure down on eV1 .
MAN 6: Okay; and I'm about ready to jump out of restraints here and do a check flight.
NARRATOR: On Pinky's back is a mock-up of the manned maneuvering unit.
A one-man spacecraft that will propel him away from the shuttle. . .
. . .and over to the ailing satellite.
MAN 3: Roger; Ox. We'd like you to press on with the MEB change out. . .
. . . being careful to keep the stuff out of the inside of the spacecraft.
VAN HOFTEN: It doesn't work.
MAN 3: You've got all day to do it; Ox.
VAN HOFTEN: I'll get it; I promise.
MAN 5: I figured you would; eventually.
VAN HOFTEN: I tell you; it's not as easy as I had thought.
NARRATOR: For one year they've rehearsed this scenario, over and over again.
And now, it's time to go.
MAN 1 [OVER PA]: T minus 20 seconds.
T minus 1 7. . .
. . . 1 6; 1 5. . .
. . . 1 3; 1 2. . .
. . . 1 1 ; 1 0. We are "go" for main-engine start.
Eight; seven; six.
We have main-engine start.
Three; two. . .
. . .one.
Solid motor ignition and liftoff.
MAN 2: Good roll; standing by to throttle down.
Throttles down to 67 percent through its period of maximum dynamic pressure.
Standing by to throttle back up. Passing through the speed of sound.
MAN 1 : "Go" at throttle up.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: This mission is one for the Guinness Book of Records. . .
. . .with the size of flight crew aboard:
3305.
That is five humans and 3300 honey bees.
NARRATOR: The bees are part of a student experiment.
Their efforts to build a zero-gravity honeycomb. . .
. . .soon capture the curiosity of the crew.
MAN 3: There's too many of them to really see a hive. . .
. . . but it sure looks like they're having fun.
NARRATOR: Forty-eight hours into the mission. . .
. . .Commander Bob Crippen and Pilot Dick Scobee. . .
. . .bring the orbiter toward rendezvous with Solar Max.
MAN 1 : Twelve thousand feet; closing at 1 6 feet per second.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: Challenger; Houston. The Solar Max is ready for capture.
MAN 3: Roger; we copy. Ready for capture.
NARRATOR: According to plan, Pinky dons the man-maneuvering unit.
ln Mission Control, the mood is optimistic.
MAN 1 : Looking good; Pinky. NELSON [ON RADIO]: Okay.
This is a pretty good flying machine you got here.
MAN 2: Roger; I can see the smile on your face from here.
NELSON: The satellite looks in excellent condition.
MAN 3 [ON RADIO]: It doesn't work.
[ALL LAUGHING]
NELSON: Picky; picky; picky.
MAN 1 : Pinky; are you reading us?
MAN 2: I don't know if he's docked yet or not.
MAN 3: The jaws didn't fire.
MAN 4: EVA? The jaws didn't fire; do you have a--?
MAN 3: They did it again. They didn't fire again.
MAN 4: Okay; didn't fire again.
MAN 2: Apparently the trunnion-pin adaptor did not latch properly.
No joy there.
NARRATOR: The orbiter backs away.
To make matters worse, the satellite is now tumbling. . .
. . .and losing power.
Throughout the night, the flight team concentrates on finding a solution.
Finally, near dawn, a new plan for the capture is hammered out.
lt will call upon all the skills of Commander Bob Crippen. . .
. . .to bring the orbiter within arm's reach of the wobbling satellite. . .
. . .and on T.J. Hart to try to grapple it.
MAN 1 : Roger. Copy that. We know we're in good hands and use nice; soft gloves.
MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: This is Mission Control; Houston.
Loss of signal at the tracking satellite.
NARRATOR: Crippen's maneuvering fuel is nearing the red line. . .
. . .running low.
There are serious doubts that the operation is possible at all.
MAN 1 : The remote manipulator arm was in motion. . .
. . .at the time of loss of signal. . .
. . .so hopefully; at reacquisition. . .
. . .we should have. . .
. . .confirmation of whether the first grapple attempt was successful.
HART [ON RADIO]: Okay; we've got it. . .
. . .and we're in the process of putting it in the FSS.
MAN 2: Outstanding.
CRIPPEN: That is fantastic; T.J. !
HART: You make it look easy; Crippen; moving it like that.
I'll tell you; when Crip flies like that it makes it so easy.
That's our ticket to a margarita or two now.
NARRATOR: Solar Max, now safe in the cargo bay. . .
. . .is rotated into position for repair.
Even if they can't fix it here. . .
. . .they could take the satellite back to Earth. . .
. . .repair it there, and redeploy it. . .
. . .using another shuttle. But nobody wants to do that.
MAN 1 : This is Mission Control; Houston.
The next step: EVA for both repair functions.
NARRATOR: Ox and Pinky prepare to move outside. . .
. . .to begin their work in the payload bay.
Without their suits they could not survive in the vacuum of space.
The suits provide protection, warmth, and oxygen. . .
. . .and will keep them alive for up to eight and a half hours.
MAN 1 : Lift me up a little?
MAN 2: Mission Control; Houston. The EVA is working along very well.
They've pulled out the old ACS module. . .
. . .endeavoring to take the new one and place it in the Solar Max.
We're about an hour and nine minutes into the Extra Vehicular Activity.
MAN 3: Don't drop anything on us; guys.
MAN 1 : Okay.
Jerry; the hinge is on.
MAN 4: Roger; it's all downhill from here.
MAN 1 : Yeah. Right.
Everything's on. I've double-checked all the little clips. . .
. . .that are over the connectors and I'm gonna get ready to button it up.
MAN 5: Houston; Challenger: Has Ox got a "go"?
NARRATOR: Because Ox finishes the repair faster than anyone expected. . .
. . .he has time to take the man-maneuvering unit for a test flight.
VAN HOFTEN: Hello; Houston !
MAN 1 : Hello; space!
MAN 2: Have we got a "go" for Ox and Pinky to come in?
Is that affirm?
MAN 1 : That's affirm.
It's time for Jimbo and Pinky to come in and get their hands washed for supper.
MAN 2: Sounds like a winner. We got steaks on tonight.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
NARRATOR: Now Solar Max's circuits are checked out. . .
. . .and the Goddard engineers make certain that it works perfectly.
T.J. holds it facing the sun until its batteries are recharged.
Then, gently, he returns it to orbit.
MAN: And we have release.
NARRATOR: As Challenger and her crew pull away...
. . .they leave behind vivid proof that we can work in space.
This repair is only the first step.
Already, people like you and me are beginning to travel into space.
Some of our children will live in space. . .
. . .and their children may even be born there.
Soon, we will use the shuttle...
. . .to build a space station in permanent orbit. . .
. . .operated by international crews.
Pilot John McBride is preparing David Leestma and Kathy Sullivan. . .
. . .for an EVA.
Kathy will be the first American woman to walk in space.
RIDE: I hear somebody kicking the orbiter.
SULLIVAN: Hi; guys.
LEESTMA: Can't believe we're doing this.
SULLIVAN: That makes two of us.
NARRATOR: Floating free, we look back at the majestic panorama of Earth:
Our home.
Like Columbus, "We dream of distant shores we've not yet seen."
Now that we know how to live and work in space. . .
. . .we stand at the threshold of a new age of discovery.
[ENGLISH SDH]