Liftoff Videos

Every mission, with the videos that tell it

Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle Discovery lifting off on STS-120, October 2007.

Photo: NASA; edited by jjron (tilt corrected) / Public domain (US government work)

The Space Shuttle was NASA’s winged, partly reusable spacecraft, officially the Space Transportation System. It flew 135 missions from STS-1 in 1981 to 2011 with five orbiters. An orbiter rode into space with two solid rocket boosters and an external tank, then landed like a glider. Shuttles launched the Hubble Space Telescope, serviced it on Hubble Servicing Mission 1 and built much of the International Space Station. Two flights ended in the loss of their crews: Challenger STS-51-L in 1986 and Columbia STS-107 in 2003, with seven people lost on each. It remains the only winged crewed spacecraft to have reached orbit and landed.

Events

Videos on this topic

The videos, in date order

Drag, zoom or press play to watch them on this page.

  1. Hubble Servicing Mission 4: Final Shuttle Repair Plans Explained

    Plasma Ben

  2. Challenger: O-Rings, a Cold Launch Night and NASA’s Decisions

    The New York Times

  3. Fixing Hubble: Cepollina on Five Servicing Missions and COSTAR

    Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

  4. Columbia STS-107: Foam Impact Test Blows Hole in Wing Panel

    AP Archive

  5. Hubble Space Telescope: The Flawed Mirror and Costar Repair

    DCODE by Discovery

  6. Challenger STS-51L: How Cold O-Rings Led to the 1986 Disaster

    Mr. Beat

  7. Challenger 51-L: O-Rings, a Cold Launch and the Decision to Go

    M M

  8. Hubble Space Telescope: Launch, Mirror Flaw and Servicing Fixes

    NASA Goddard

  9. Hubble Servicing Mission 1: Endeavour’s Repair of a Flawed Mirror

    NASA Goddard

  10. STS-82: How Discovery’s Crew Gave Hubble Infrared Vision

    NASA Goddard

  11. STS-109: Columbia’s Hubble Upgrade and the Leaking Spacesuit

    NASA Goddard

  12. Hubble’s Flawed Mirror: How COSTAR Fixed It After Launch

    Primal Space

  13. Hubble Servicing Mission 4: From Cancellation to Final Repair

    NASA Goddard

  14. Mir in 1997: Fire, a Failed Docking System and a Progress Collision

    Calamine Waffles

  15. Columbia STS-107: How Foam Damage Led to Seven Deaths on Reentry

    Weird History

  16. Hubble Servicing Mission: How Endeavour’s Crew Fixed the Mirror

    Aviation & Space

  17. Mir Space Station: Building and Ending a 15-Year Orbital Outpost

    Megaprojects

  18. Challenger: How Cold-Shrunk O-Rings Led to the Booster Leak

    History

  19. Challenger STS-51-L: The 73 Seconds From Liftoff to Breakup

    The Infographics Show

  20. Challenger STS-51-L: The O-Ring Seals, Cold Launch and Rogers Report

    Plainly Difficult

  21. How Shuttle Missions Built the ISS: Unity, Destiny and Canadarm2

    Jared Owen

  22. Columbia Disaster: How ABC News Reported the Shuttle’s Loss

    ABC News

  23. How the ISS Works: Air, Cooling, Power and Debris Defence

    National Geographic

  24. ISS Story: From Zarya’s 1998 Launch to Planned De-Orbit

    DW Documentary

  25. Mir: 15 Years of Modules, Mold, Fire and a Progress Collision

    Classic Aerospace History

  26. Aerojet AJ260: The Giant Solid Motor Behind the Shuttle Boosters

    Curious Droid

  27. Challenger 51-L: From Teacher in Space to the Loss of Seven Crew

    National Geographic

  28. How the ISS Will Be Destroyed at Point Nemo in 2030

    The B1M

  29. Challenger 1986: O-Ring Failure and the Loss of Seven Astronauts

    National Geographic UK

  30. Mir Space Station: Why Its Design Made It a Success

    Alexander the ok

  31. ISS History: Assembly, Crises and the Plan to Deorbit by 2030

    Classic Aerospace History

  32. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike Led to the Shuttle’s Loss

    100% True Docs | Full Documentaries

  33. Challenger: How a Cold-Weather O-Ring Failure Led to the Disaster

    Free Documentary – Space

  34. Challenger STS-51-L: Cold, O-Rings and the Rogers Commission

    DocuReal

  35. Columbia STS-107: From Foam Strike to Breakup on Re-entry

    Documentary Overload

  36. How the ISS Was Assembled: Modules, Gyros, Canadarm2 and Cooling

    Real Engineering

  37. Space Stations from Salyut 1 to Tiangong and Beyond

    Supernova

  38. Challenger STS-51-L: NBC4’s Live Broadcast of the 1986 Launch

    Nbcla

  39. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike Led to Breakup on Re-entry

    3DCrash

  40. Inside the ISS: Building, Training and Science in Orbit

    Free Documentary – Space

  41. Columbia’s Last Mission: Foam Strike to Breakup Over Texas

    The Infographics Show

  42. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike and Missed Imagery Led to Loss

    Andy R Animations

  43. How NASA Recovered Space Shuttle Boosters From the Atlantic

    Scott Manley

  44. Starship’s 33 Raptor Engines: Four Reasons Behind Super Heavy

    Celebrity Files

  45. Challenger STS-51-L: O-Ring Failure, Cold Launch and Return to Flight

    FilmRise Television

  46. Challenger STS-51-L: The Night Engineers Said Don’t Launch

    Margin of Loss

  47. Why Starship’s Heat Shield Uses Hexagonal Tiles and Full Reuse

    Farzad

  48. Challenger: the O-Ring Chart and the Launch-Eve Teleconference

    Failure Point for You

  49. Challenger STS-51-L: The Seals, the Cold and 73 Seconds

    Horror Archive

  50. Challenger’s Wreckage: Why NASA Sealed It in Missile Silos

    Rocketyard

  51. Challenger: How Thiokol’s Engineers Were Overruled the Night Before

    Hubris Engine

  52. Challenger STS-51-L: O-Ring Warnings, Cabin Evidence, Rogers Findings

    Hidden Timeline

  53. Columbia STS-107: Five Failures Behind the Foam Strike on the Wing

    Holes Aligned

  54. Challenger STS-51-L: O-Rings, Cold and the Overruled Warning

    Cindermap

  55. Challenger STS-51-L: The Cold O-Ring and the Launch Call

    Matter & Empire

  56. Challenger STS-51-L: The O-Ring Warning and the 73-Second Flight

    CliphangerEntertainment

  57. Space Shuttle Story in a Card Box: Enterprise, Challenger, Columbia

    The Record Institute
Play video: Space Shuttle Story in a Card Box: Enterprise, Challenger, Columbia

Space Shuttle Story in a Card Box: Enterprise, Challenger, Columbia

The Record Institute

Duration 10:37

Watch video

Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.

All the videos

  1. Challenger 1986: O-Ring Failure and the Loss of Seven Astronauts

    DocumentaryNational Geographic UK · 2:08

    Mission: Challenger STS-51-L (1986)

  2. Columbia Disaster: How ABC News Reported the Shuttle’s Loss

    ABC News · 3:39

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  3. How the ISS Works: Air, Cooling, Power and Debris Defence

    DocumentaryNational Geographic · 44:25

  4. Challenger STS-51L: How Cold O-Rings Led to the 1986 Disaster

    DocumentaryMr. Beat · 6:57

    Mission: Challenger STS-51-L (1986)

  5. Hubble Space Telescope: The Flawed Mirror and Costar Repair

    DocumentaryDCODE by Discovery · 18:33

    Mission: Hubble Space Telescope

  6. Hubble Servicing Mission 1: Endeavour’s Repair of a Flawed Mirror

    Mission explainerNASA Goddard · 5:16

    Mission: Hubble Servicing Mission 1 (1993)

  7. Hubble Space Telescope: Launch, Mirror Flaw and Servicing Fixes

    DocumentaryNASA Goddard · 51:16

    Mission: Hubble Space Telescope

  9. Challenger: O-Rings, a Cold Launch Night and NASA’s Decisions

    DocumentaryThe New York Times · 20:15

    Mission: Challenger STS-51-L (1986)

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