Exclusive: STS-125 Landing HUD Cockpit View, Crew Audio

STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission lasted a total of just under 13 days.
Space Shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. The mission also replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014, a date which was later updated to "possibly until 2018" - a prediction which has fortunately been realized.
The STS-125 crew also installed new thermal blanket insulating panels to provide improved thermal protection to Hubble, and a soft-capture mechanism that would aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan. Additionally, the mission carried an IMAX camera with which the crew documented the progress of the mission for the Hubble IMAX movie.
The crew of STS-125 included three astronauts who had previous experience servicing Hubble. Scott "Scooter" Altman visited Hubble in 2002 as commander of STS-109, the fourth Hubble servicing mission. John Grunsfeld, an astronomer, had serviced Hubble twice, performing a total of five spacewalks on STS-103 in 1999 and STS-109. Michael Massimino had served with both Altman and Grunsfeld on STS-109, and had performed two spacewalks to service the telescope.
After landing, NASA managers and engineers declared the mission a complete success. The completion of all the major objectives, as well as some that were not considered vital, upgraded the Hubble telescope to its most technologically advanced state since its launch nineteen years prior and made it more powerful than ever.
STS-125 was the only visit to the Hubble Space Telescope for Atlantis; the telescope had been previously serviced twice by Discovery and once each by Columbia and Endeavor. The mission was the 30th flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis and also the first by Atlantis in over 14 years not to visit a space station, the last one being STS-66.
Note: the description of this video originally contained an incorrect figure for the runway length.

[@WhatYouHaventSeen]

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[@bobsondugnutt2762]

By "Strong moment of impact" are you referring to the nosewheel slapdown? I hope those astronauts had mouthguards.

[@AshleyPomeroy]

@@bobsondugnutt2762 It's because most of his content is basically snuff videos of air crashes, with LOOK!!! thumbnails and red arrows pointing at circles etc.

[@KingdaToro]

"Atlantis, Houston. Go around."

[@CYHJason2005]

commander:wtf?

[@ALEX_JOTA]

LOOOL

[@5.56mm]

Haha, that made me laugh out loud. 😄

[@LONGIRAFFE]

HAHA!

[@MengLinWu]

"confirm go around the earth"

[@Mr.Deleterious]

Pilots never stop being pilots, " we aren't going to make the center turn off" 🤣

[@cbr900rr6]

Everyone thinks that so funny but don't get that. Can you explain please

[@065Tim]

@@cbr900rr6 Because you have to drive all the way to the end to turn off and get on a taxiway just to drive all the way back. Takes a lot of time. In case a joke cause the STS remains on the runway when the crew debarks.

[@TheOwenMajor]

@@cbr900rr6 In a number of airports if you land well enough you can take an early exit ramp off the runway to save taxi time and gas. He was joking he missed it, it's a pilot joke.

[@JohnKorvell]

@@cbr900rr6 A perfectionist. And he had a mission and, in his mind, failed. No mention that he dead stick landed a 727 size plane from outer space.

[@gerrycollins9409]

The shuttle didn’t turn off the runway anyway. It stopped on runway. Waited for fire trucks and many NASA and base support vehicles. Runway was shut down for quite some time after landing. I was privileged to work at Edwards AFB as a firefighter for 17 years and was there for many recoveries.

[@jamesbutters6256]

London city’s glide slope has been real quiet since this one

[@StringerNews1]

Kai Tak has shut down in shame...

[@sbalak]

LMAO!

[@antonwestergaard5211]

XD

[@aga080]

london glideslope achievement: unlocked

[@srinitaaigaura]

You know the speed at which they come down, it's almost free fall vertically.

[@terryq9966]

Just as a historical note, the female voice you hear (and is thanked at the end of the video by the commander) is Megan McArthur and was a mission specialist and the flight engineer on board. She was sitting in the middle and just behind seats 1 & 2 and was critical in calling out various parameters so that the commander and pilot could concentrate on landing this brick. Also is the wife of Bob Behnken, currently flying on the SpaceX DM-2 mission (6/13/20).

[@adammiller3418]

We get it buddy WoMENnnN

[@bertraminc9412]

Here is a direct quote from the commanding officer of the US Navy Advanced training command regarding a minority female who did not want to continue flight training because she could not get a tactical assignment: “Look what we have here [flight instructor], she’s a female and a minority. Do whatever it takes to keep her in the program”. The only people who care about the fact that she’s a women, are people like you and women. Those of us who know what’s going on in order to put women in these seats know that it has absolutely nothing to do with their performance in their career and everything to do with affirmative action and sexism. That is send down from congress and makes it to the flight instructors via the commanding officers. It’s truly a sad state of affairs in the USA today. Affirmative action will destroy American society as the intelligent and capable are passed over for gender and race.

[@bertraminc9412]

@elliot dobson I did happen. I was there. She tried to DOR at the previous command and they forced her to come over to us. Then she tried to DOR with us and the CO stopped it. Historically, Navy flight training eliminated a substantial number of SNAs that arrived, using a “three strikes and you’re out” policy, where three UNSATs resulted in being attrited from flight school. When women showed up, not only did this standard go away, we actually adopted the Air Force MPTS (Multi Pilot Training Syllabus) which allows multiple UNSATs in each block, thus allowing the incapable to complete training... i.e., you guessed it, women. So we had a high standard of just three UNSATs to be kicked out and then when women arrived you can have many before even being considered for attrition.

[@lifeisbeautiful4981]

Thanks Terry!

[@bertraminc9412]

@elliot dobson Ahhhh, Jesus. You’re pathetic. That’s all you got?

[@kevinhammond2361]

It's crazy to realize that just an hour or so before this, it was traveling at more than 15,000 miles per hour, and surviving a plasma bombardment!

[@srinitaaigaura]

About 25 min actually.

[@herbertnatanael]

and then then landing like a glider as a beginner. I love human engineering.

[@herbertnatanael]

Not like this is easy lol, for sure these pilots are the best the earth could offer in this mission hehe

[@SuperPhunThyme9]

My pot pie just survived a plasma bombardment

[@VEC7ORlt]

Also that glide slope.

[@AdvancedMarketingGro]

The "flying brick" comes in for another successful landing.

[@mattwilliams3456]

That thing could fall with style. I miss hearing the booms as they came in.

[@Surrenitie]

@@mattwilliams3456 And i am Truly sad i never heard them

[@TheProPilot]

They would practice this approach with Gulfstream G2 with the reversers out and the gear down and the speed brakes out. So crazy lol

[@Vasu_Polu]

TheProPilot That gulf stream is heavily modified to mimic the flying characteristics of the shuttle. Your typical airliner comes in at a glide rate of approximately 2.5 Degrees. Compare that to the Shuttle which comes in at 22 degrees glide rate. It’s not called a Flying brick for nothing.

[@CranioUomo]

@@Vasu_Polu it falls like an anvil, its "wings" are truly just command rigged trim tabs for banking & dumping into a roll, falling thru a roll. Ultimately the trims were really only effective for the 500ft too touch mark. Otherwise FBW system takes care of everything else

[@andrewdressler7076]

Atlantis, exit runway as soon as able, contact ground on 123.1

[@sumdog747]

"Traffic short final"

[@janipt]

@@sumdog747 LOL

[@terryq9966]

😂😂😂

[@oubrioko]

"Houston, Atlantis: So, no chance for a touch and go?"

[@JayPattersonTV]

Over to Ground, 123.1, Atlantis. This is a tow in gate, right!?

[@Cory_Springer]

That's such a crazy approach angle! No option for go-arounds either, I'm amazed every time one of these things re-enters.

[@MarsFKA]

I read once upon a time that the only things with a worse glide angle that the Orbiter were a TV set dropped from a hi rise window, or maybe a pair of pliers.

[@raphael7552]

Energy is speed, and speed is life..

[@christophercharles3583]

I did all my approaches like this in my Piper Cherokee

[@bruce2357]

@@MarsFKA The training aircraft was a Gulfstream Jet with the thrust reversers deployed.

[@MarsFKA]

@@bruce2357 Yes. With the main undercarriage extended, but the nosewheel still retracted. Shuttle pilots flew hundreds of hours in the aircraft when training for a mission.

[@steamedturtle]

I was watching the video where Chris Hadfield was reviewing space movies. And one of the things he tore Gravity apart for was the fact that they didn't call each other by their first names, like they had never worked together before. And I couldn't help but notice in this how everyone is referring to each other by their nick names and first names. Also "We're not going to make the center turn off." I'm dead.

[@simonmercier6733]

That's the amazing thing with astronauts. They have to be calm, collected and able to make friends with pretty much everyone. You just can't fuck it up when you're inside a space ship.

[@christopherxie1634]

London City approach: Finally a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary!

[@imagineaworld]

I dont get it

[@kennnnneth]

*Kai Tak has entered the chat

[@benstewart5334]

If they build anymore skyscrapers it will be like air racing

[@GDSlasher]

@@imagineaworld a normal airport has an approach of 3 dagrees but london city has a 7.5 dagree glideslope. 7.5 is very steep.

[@martinw245]

@@GDSlasher Nope. Not 7.5. Its 5.5 degrees at EGLC.

[@zedsdeadbaby]

Those two little arrows telling you where to point the shuttle as it's approaching the runway is genius, whoever programmed that to work deserves a lot of credit

[@pleaseclickunsubscribe]

It’s just simple physics and radio equipment being used.

[@CranioUomo]

The shuttle's computer was very basic. In fact it was so underdeveloped its computer couldnt process more than one Megabyte... that's less than the size of ONE cell phone photo.

[@darksidehero]

If you look closely there is also a physical target on the ground for the pilot time aim at.

[@shaygahweh]

@@CranioUomo You should try doing it, since it's so simple

[@zachthomas7810]

Arabesque Can you stop being an asshole he never said “it’s so easy I can do it” he’s saying relatively speaking it’s simple

[@atxgti4218]

The synergy between the crew might be the best part of this video!

[@zzodr]

Samir I beg you don't break the Shuttle

[@sumerdatta1476]

Genius

[@nerfinator03]

SAMIR TRIPPPLE CAUTION I REPEAT TRIPLE CAUTTION SAMIR SLOW DOWN YOU'RE BREAKING THE CAR SAMIR

[@aimansalman2709]

SHARRRRRP RIGHTTT

[@wll1500]

@@sumerdatta1476 satup dont tell me how drive

[@derrickddub]

Legit snort. Good one

[@bertraminc9412]

OMG... "We're not going to make the center turn-off" I can't stop laughing!

[@JLange642]

NOBODY would make the center turnoff! LOL!

[@yak55x]

Astronaut was immediately fired for not making the center turn off.

[@Cowclops]

Came here to say this, I laughed very loud at that. Also your post has 69 upvotes so thats the only reason I didn't add another. NICE.

[@ckarjala]

When you really gotta pee and need to sprint to the pilot's lounge.

[@rentAscout]

Always one joker

[@groundeffect236]

Nobody will read this but I don't care. The whole reason I moved to the US was the Shuttle Program. I would send letters to NASA when I was a kid, and they would reply and send me back mission patches and stuff. I couldn't afford the shipping on the freeze dried ice cream. Watching moments like these, which now having flown an F-16 I can absolutely see the humour in, bring back the sheer joy of the audacity, tenaciousness, and love of aviation that made all of this possible. A massive thank you to everyone who worked on these things, and made time for an 8 year old kid from the UK.

[@ch47av8r]

The symbology is being displayed on a HUD originally designed for the Bell AH-1S FMC and later the AH-1W attack helicopters by Kaiser Electronics in San Jose, CA. I was hired on to secure funding from the US Army to fund HUD optical fixes to eliminate double imaging and power supply design issues in the signal processor box. Once these fixes were implemented it proved to be a very robust basic HUD to display flight & weapon symbology, even with the vibration/impulses from the 20mm Gatling gunfire bursts.

[@shevetlevi2821]

317 on short final and 255 over the threshold. That's a hot glider.

[@Dylan_Sterling]

Someone should call the FAA, they violated FAR 91.117(a), and were flying faster than 250 knots below 10,000 feet.

[@reiramessi]

Hahahahaaha....

[@antisoda]

Well, too bad FAR 91.117(d) overrides everything in (a) to (c) as minimum safe airspeed of the shuttle is waaay above 250, which means that it may operate at that minimum airspeed. I guess that's about 15,000 knots - The speed of the space shuttle in low earth orbit. ;)

[@kenclark9888]

Antisoda uh no

[@KuostA]

@@kenclark9888 uh yes. he's right you fool. spot on comment antisoda.

[@kenclark9888]

KuostA uh no he’s not when it comes to this type of operation those speed limits under that FAR don’t apply so as the song goes Dream On

[@bittexas7715]

“We’re not gonna make this center turn-off” casually like he’s in a 737

[@matijagaspar2357]

Man... watching it from this perspective, really hammers in how this is not really a plane, but a brick falling from the sky....

[@piloto34HD]

It took 1 minute 25 seconds to go from 10,000ft to touchdown🤯

[@odyseuszkoskiniotis6266]

Almost as fast as RyainAir landings

[@MrEstebanSzucs]

Of course ...what do you espect? It's a flying brick !!

[@clewerhillroad]

@@odyseuszkoskiniotis6266 lol, the shuttle probably lands with more fuel than Ryanair... :)

[@richard--s]

That's efficient, going down from 10.000ft to touchdown in 1 minute 25 seconds ;-) They came in from so much higher with so much more velocity... Why spend some days gliding through the atmosphere when they just want to come back home ;-) But yes, it really was a gliding brick ;-)

[@calgy84]

When you missed TOD in Microsoft Flight Sim and set VS to -6000 on an airliner.

[@Tripplebeem]

"We aren't going to make this center turn off." Can you imagine the balls on any pilot who can say that after managing the energy of a paper weight that was going 17,000 miles per hour not that long ago?

[@Daimo83]

"Jesus christ guys shut up I'm trying to land a spaceship"

[@mudchair16]

Why blaspheme?

[@dixienormous3262]

Exactly! Shut the F up people! We get one shot at this.

[@1JohnBeat]

can't stop laughing...

[@065Tim]

@@mudchair16 because its funny.

[@Ant-ls2pr]

Group support drank Way too much coffee!

[@nasosdelveroudis361]

The vertical rate descent is phenomenal. WIthin seconds they're going from 10000 feet to 7000 as if a flying brick is falling. This is exactly how I do my Cessna 172 landings in MS Flight Simulator 2020. Kamikaze style.

[@GregFliesVR]

I was watching the tape, i couldnt believe the rate of decent.

[@pushing2throttles]

As a civilian commerical pilot and flight instructor, I've gotta say 1.) That's textbook CRM, and excellent airmanship. Great landing scooter!

[@palacio802]

regarding CRM, nothing special.

[@memovilmx6239]

Spacemanship

[@CGChris-]

Greatest Zen EVER to be able to land a shuttle in the middle of a party chat like that!

[@thomasgreen1688]

Now that’s a STEEP approach!

[@tobiaspascher9884]

And a bloody fast one, too

[@MondoRockable]

That aiming point looks like he's going to be short, but nope, plenty of energy left in that flair.

[@richiep1713]

Captain Sajjad Gul........."hold my beer"

[@thomaskositzki9424]

Perfectly normal for a flying brick.

[@RD1R]

@@MondoRockable this always made me wonder, why was the shuttle approach so steep? Surely if the flair could hold for that long, it generally had decent lift?? At least enough for a reasonable speed and approach. It just always seemed faster than it should be with such a big giant delta wing. Idk, maybe was a lot more unstable at slow speeds even if it had the lift. It certainly had the thicccness.

[@deanhirasawa1414]

Thanks for posting. An amazing perspective, especially for those who have landed small private planes. The speed of the descent from 10K to 5K and then the approach from 500 ft all in less than 60 seconds is incredible, especially from a cockpit perspective.

[@pushing2throttles]

Wow. I'm a commerical pilot and I'm telling y'all, that's excellent airmanship! The shuttle is a gliding brick with no thrust and the CRM (crew resource management) is second to none on this approach! Well done STS 12-something (don't know what mission that was). Titusville has an MLS, which I wish existed at all the other civilian airports. Microwave landing system.

[@srinitaaigaura]

I hear they do 3000 landings in the trainee aircraft and simulator to get this right.

[@palacio802]

CRM second to none?? Lol. What kind of planes have you flown???

[@lucabrazi3067]

Look how archaic that HUD is. I fly a G650. Light years ahead

[@Szarella]

That's the crew from Hubble SM4 wow time flies

[@spikester]

Never seen this before, the shuttle truly was like a brick falling through the atmosphere... STEEP. I heard the brick comment many times throughout the years.

[@mjhansford]

No hot air balloon doing a barrel roll at 400 knots. 4/10 needs more realism.

[@Perichron]

​plenty of butter though

[@wildecity_88]

Steam Edition not confirmed

[@hannesjonasson3550]

"You can always go around!" 🎶🎵

[@pigeon7446]

They don't teach that to space shuttle pilots

[@maraflore]

They cant go around because they have no power. At this point the shuttle is a large glider. They have only one opportunity to make a safe landing

[@hannesjonasson3550]

@@maraflore I was ironic but sorry if that was unclear, but thanks anyways, better to say somthing one more time than needed instead of one to few!

[@odyseuszkoskiniotis6266]

Sure, around the Earth

[@blockvfive1196]

*space shuttle proceeds to somehow.. magically... re-ignite the rs-25 engines and starts ascending full power "tower, we're doing a go around"

[@SPYK3O]

That rate of descent is insane

[@user-lp7tx1fe6t]

They don't call it the flying brick for nothing

[@PAS_2020]

Will never forget the space shuttle. A beautiful machine.

[@5.56mm]

Beautiful, dangerous and expensive. All in one package. I'm sad I didn't get to see one launch live.

[@PAS_2020]

Palle Kuling Yes. I still think the optics and opportunities to see exciting aspects of spaceflight are lost with our new computer modulated space capsule. The skills required on the legacy space shuttle were more raw it seems.

[@compmanio36]

@@PAS_2020 Lot more manual involvement required. People forget because it flew for so long but the Shuttle came out of designs of the 70s as the Apollo missions ended. Over 1000 manual switches to memorize. Many cases of accidentally pressing a switch while doing other things. Ultimately the Dragon crew capsule has LESS opportunity for something to go wrong because of how hands off it is. But there's definitely something lost in the move, and I bet the pilots don't like that...pilots are hands-on people by nature.

[@bob15479]

It's definitely cool and beautiful, but I see it as kind of a POS, didn't remotely meet the project goals and killed two crews.

[@vibrolax]

The old-school knob/switch/indicator for everything derives from the test pilot ethos that the automatic systems will fail at some inconvenient time, and the stick and rudder person will have some chance to sort it out before a 'contingency' occurs. They've been proven right several times. The reason the space shuttle did not have automatic/remote deployment of the landing gear was fear of automatic deployment at the wrong time. It would be interesting to know which functions on Crew Dragon retain discrete controls, rather rhan touch screen elements.

[@thomasvleminckx]

That glideslope is about as steep as mine in FS2020, when I fell asleep in the cockpit and almost overshot my destination.

[@newheadstart]

Ok boomer

[@Adhjie]

​@@newheadstartalpha24 can you confirm ur situation? - shadez 2 intro golden age of flash game Banging on a stick - Franku Ea Nasir speech to the UN - bronze age collapse

[@f-xdemers2825]

Twenty some years ago I was in a field, heard a low flying plane and saw the Space Shuttle piggybacked to a 747. WOW ! , I did not know this was done and could not believe my eyes. Seem to me to be a bigger technological challenge than putting it in orbit. Respect to the 747 pilot.

[@Jay91150]

My bladder felt that nose gear touchdown. True Navy pilot!

[@KlausbergerYT]

It was today that I learned, that the Space shuttle did a "Ball Call" optical landing system like a plane landing on a carrier.

[@lexustech48]

Ryanair pilots watching the approach: *heavy breathing*

[@Dome31337]

I warned you, no more Ryanair Jokes!

[@DorogaVAZ]

*"Terrain ahead! Pull UP!"*

[@odyseuszkoskiniotis6266]

Activate the aerodynamic brick mode

[@doc2help]

Wow! What a thrill to ride that shuttle to the ground! Beautiful!

[@jamesmagnum]

Watching it back now that all is a legendary memory...goosebumps

[@ahawk1968]

That's not flying, it's falling with style....

[@1JohnBeat]

and skill...

[@Lyf4rMusic]

definition of "Coming in Hot " !

[@time.5316]

Flying is playing off lift, thrust (none), drag, and kinetic energy (velocity) to make a big hunk of metal do what you want it to do and go where you want it to go, and a real pilot does it with precision, skill and yes, with a certain style. And all those still apply even if the only direction is down, so long as he or she is still in control of the forces in play.

[@ahawk1968]

@@time.5316 Gee... I was just quoting Toy Story... :)

[@ze2004]

@@time.5316 and violins

[@MikeGoesBadaBoom]

I always loved when they’d come to California. From the central coast on down to OC you could hear the sonic booms

[@StringerNews1]

Awesome! I almost passed this one up til I realized that's a landing that can't be rejected!

[@leonardsalt]

My left ear really enjoyed this video.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

Impressive; 18 degree glide slope and flare out at 300 knots and 600 feet AGL.

[@zarith87]

damn.. 300kts on approach final, 200kts on Vapp.. gear down at 500'.. descent rate 7000-8000f/min on a super steep approach.. that was insane..

[@lennymota4973]

Amazing CRM and airmanship!

[@pongokamerat8601]

Yea rite...

[@user-jt5vm3mi1w]

Great team work

[@artcore9886]

That's how Southwest pilots descend on the 737s, probably a littler faster than this.

[@CPS747-8]

Nah. I feel like they do a pretty good job with their landings. But then again, I don't go flying a whole lot.

[@PS3DJ09]

Fun fact: One of their pilots used to be a shuttle pilot.

[@calvinnickel9995]

Haha. “You’re FL200 at the marker.. are you going to make it?”

[@odyseuszkoskiniotis6266]

That's casual RyanAir landing

[@WardenWolf]

Only into places like Ronald Reagan International (DCA). The problem is that the entirety of DC itself is restricted airspace since 9/11, so all airlines have to do some creative flying when landing or taking off there, particularly if the winds are not favorable. This is also why, when I lived in the area, I always tried to fly out of Dulles (IAD); the takeoffs and landings were much more pleasant.

[@ryanm.191]

Atlantis: Houston we have a bird strike and fire shutting off engine 2 Houston: shut up and land the bloody thing

[@SoberMustard]

Shuttles don't use jet engines

[@marconka441]

Chinese Eggman that’s the joke

[@ryanm.191]

Chinese Eggman you must be fun at parties

[@heroknaderi]

Very Cool View.

[@GugilusVugilusMagnus]

That’s a fast beautiful landing.

[@AdamsAppleseed]

Left ear enjoyed the video

[@ednelson9913]

My right ear enjoyed

[@lostmoon77]

The only case of backseat "driving" that actually was beneficial to the "driver".

[@MentaIPatient]

That was awesome... Thank you...

[@jamielancaster01]

Great teamwork

[@don312000]

"Not gonna make the center turnoff." LOL

[@ItsJustMeMusic]

london city: i have a steep approach angle! fear me! space shuttle: cute.

[@germb747]

Very nice job and great CRM too

[@ShuRugal]

Holy shit, a 17 degree glide path? Damn. I knew the thing was a brick, but wow.

[@SuperMagnetizer]

Reminds me of the first time I took a fat guy up in a Cessna 152.

[@dannenp3110]

Weren't within 150ft of the touchdown zone, gonna have a tough time on a checkride with landings like that smh

[@TARS..]

@@MidwestFarmToys The drogue chutes weren't really chutes were they?

[@chrisstromberg6527]

Did not realize the flare guidance cue goes away right during the flare. Pretty cool stuff!

[@Mrstealth93]

Oh its a space shuttle coming in for a landing. That explains the steep dive towards the runway. Pretty awesome to see that from this view.

[@simpleolive]

Man the realism in this flight sim session is insane

[@Charlie-Oooooo]

"We're not gonna make the center turn-off." Gee, really? Oh, and tell the ground grew we"ll be at the gate just a little bit late but please keep my coffee warm. 😎😂😂😂😎 You gotta love the subtle humor :)

[@dennislaux]

These people have skills I haven't even dared dream of.

[@w5cdt]

Hell of an instrument approach!

[@3of11]

“We arent going to make the center turnoff”?

[@Cole.Varial]

they overshot the center runway turnoff, so they will have to taxi to the next turnoff

[@9HighFlyer9]

I thought they always just stopped on the runway.

[@tabaks]

That is what is widely known as a "joke". Look it up sometime.

[@Spec62]

Made me laugh as well. Nice teamwork. Always maintain a sense of humor.

[@perplexedmoth]

Well he flared too early I guess, and he did miss the center turnoff (not that they'll taxi).

[@DJDAVINCI]

Watch your decent rate. bip bip PULL UP ...... "Glideslope"

[@teftaofficial7590]

??? are you trying to say the GPWS callouts?

[@theretep6494]

Tefta Official yes he’s trying.

[@calvinnickel9995]

GS INHIBIT TERRAIN INHIBIT

[@twiittter]

DON'T SINK

[@jzerious4523]

Don't sink don't sink

[@SimplySpace]

My left ear really enjoyed listening to this

[@ManvenSingh]

That flare was smooth.

[@rider_ringz5381]

That angle the come in for a landing at imagine ur airliner landing like this nose down 😂😂

[@rogerb5615]

Smoother than most any Ryan Air landing.

[@FlyerKumar]

“Atlantis, Houston: WAVEOFF! 🙅‍♂️WAVEOFF! 🙅‍♂️ WAVEOFF! 🙅‍♂️”

[@twisterwiper]

Crazy steep approach 😲

[@lesterpenner8786]

Video ends too soon. Wanted to see the rest of the roll out.

[@N221BP]

Quite some angle on touchdown!

[@sstroh08]

They flare really heavily to slow it down.

[@awuma]

As all delta wings ...

[@dixonqwerty]

The math behind it all is amazing. Coming from space to land on a line on earth that is not very wide or long. Not much room for error.

[@skysurferuk]

Wonderful. Thanks.

[@TheZenaMan]

I'm sure he watched the 'timing your flare' video before going into space

[@StardustYT]

Source?

[@WhatYouHaventSeen]

Good one 😛

[@StardustYT]

@@WhatYouHaventSeen serious question, were did you get this footage from?

[@WhatYouHaventSeen]

@@StardustYT Serious answer: I am not in the business of giving away my sources. Sorry that wasn’t clear.

[@sebastian166]

@@WhatYouHaventSeen so u confirm it was a lie?

[@koc988]

@@sebastian166 What lie, u a flat earther?

[@MervynPartin]

It was tremendous watching (from Jetty Park) the launch of Atlantis on this mission. And now to see the landing. Very sad to see the shuttles retired, but at least Atlantis is now in a good home.

[@thomasgibbs5865]

Howdy ex neighbor. I worked the program and built my house on Merritt Island. I was 4 miles from the launchpad. My office closer. I am sort of glad it's over. It was an old ship, with budget constraints, had already flown more than it's life expectancy, with no spare parts left. My system (flight controls) was used both from launch to MEKO. And re-entry to landing. I took a few grey hairs with me when I left the program. I left before Columbia was lost. It came as no surprise for many

[@Tudarc]

I've been next to the runway for one shuttle landing (STS-95). It was more exciting than launches. The shuttle looks like a lawn dart coming in.

[@CalvinCai_Frisbee]

left on delta contact ground

[@charlesfarmer5749]

Does a rock drop that fast?

[@dinostudios6579]

No not quite

[@johnwyoder]

I still miss the shuttles!

[@Roestikrokette]

my left ear really enjoy this

[@prideindian9905]

I really wish STS-107 also to have made it home just like this 😭

[@frostyrobot7689]

ATC : "Your passengers' comfort is not my concern, Captain. Expedite your landing now" STS-125 : "OK then..."

Amazing

[@AveSanctaCrux]

Sweet, very sweet!!!

[@porkyfedwell]

HUD has landed! The ghetto now has one more project!

[@calvinnickel9995]

Pronouncing it what way? How can you tell pronunciation from writing? Why would you even ask? BTW... odds are 10:1 you didn’t know how to pronounce the word meme until you heard it aloud.

[@porkyfedwell]

@@calvinnickel9995southern fun was making a joke. "you're a sad, strange little man" - B. Lightyear.

[@iain8837]

Saw an A320 attempt to land like this recently.

[@terryq9966]

But did he make the center turn-off? 🤣

[@joebitgood6906]

Pretty amazing seeing how they're trying to fly a brick falling out of the sky

[@itabiritomg]

wow! crazy ramp!