14 August,2011 09:37 AM IST | | Yolande D'Mello
Last Shuttle is a documentary about Atlantis, the shuttle that took 30 years of work before takeoff
It's so much like watching your kid go off to college," says an emotional launch manager of the Atlantis at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Discovery's new documentary, Last Shuttle that will air on August 15.
'We hope that we did everything to prepare them to be on their own. But you always have that slight sense of doubt.'
The hour-long documentary opens with a trademark Hollywood scene of techies scurrying around as a backward countdown builds up, with the space shuttle readying for takeoff. But not without the half a million gallons of rocket fuel causing large white clouds. Teary-eyed aeronautical engineers watch their 23,000 pound baby leave, and pray for the four-person team of astronauts on board, hoping that the high point of their careers are not lost in orbit.u00a0
The NASA is always busy with middle-aged men in safety goggles checking every square inch of the aircraft to avoid a retelling of the tragedy of Columbia (the shuttle that met a fiery end in 2003). There are 22,000 parameters to check before giving the go-ahead, and a team of 100-odd men monitor every step. The deep voice of the narrator guides you through the science of making a shuttle, informing you that the US lost their space-virginity in 1969 with Apollo 11.
The space shuttle is made up of three componentsu00a0-- the core, rocket booster and the orbiter. In all its glory, the shuttle can push a speed of about five miles a second, but one says they aren't really controlling the aircraft manually for more than a couple of minutes.u00a0He provides information on how astronauts live on board. They don't take long showers. 'It's more like a sponge-bath' he informs viewers. Having trained for this job for most of his life, he knows the risks involved. Riding into space with a shuttle driven by a combustion of liquid nitrogen and hydrogen doesn't feature on everyone's nine-to-five job.
Two of every five space-expeditions end in a catastrophe. When he describes zero-gravity and 'swimming in space', one understands why we said 'astronaut' when our aunts asked usu00a0-- "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
As the documentary shows, the mission ended on July 21, 2011 when Atlantis rolled to a stop at its home port, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Last Shuttle will air on Discovery Channel at 9 pm, August 15.u00a0
