The Best of NASA Space Shuttle Videos (1981–2010)

Next year, NASA plans to put an end to its 30 year old space shut­tle pro­gram. Since 1981, the pro­gram has launched five space shut­tles (Colum­bia, Chal­lenger, Dis­cov­ery, Atlantis, Endeav­or) into orbit, or 132 flights in total. Here, Matt Melis, a NASA engi­neer, has com­piled what he calls the “best of the best, state of the art” video pro­duced by the space shut­tle pro­gram. And he has stitched it into a 45 minute trib­ute video, called Ascent, that nar­rates the anato­my of a space launch, from start to fin­ish. A great visu­al way to com­mem­o­rate the space shut­tle pro­gram, and the peo­ple who filmed it… NOTE: The video remains dark for the first nine sec­onds.

via @eugenephoto