Shuttle Atlantis: From the Inside

An unprecedented up close, inside look in high-definition of space shuttle Atlantis as it was readied for "towback" from Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility runway to Orbiter Processing Facility-1 following its May 26 landing on STS-132. After every shuttle landing, about 150 trained workers assist the crew out and prepare the shuttle for towing atop a large diesel-driven tractor to its processing hangar.

[@CSum-em8jg]

No wonder these space x pilots are so chill and happy. This ship looks like the most complicated machine to operate

[@canadianaviation822]

C. Sum its not really complicated some aircrats have more stuff then that

[@BoneCK15]

With it having a couple million moving parts it's safe to say it's the most complicated vehicle ever produced.

[@PritchDringle]

I'm a helicopter

[@PritchDringle]

Couldn't even play mp4s... Not even mpg files!

[@TheSurlySoutherner]

@ALXXX It's true, when you think the smart phone in your pocket is 100,000 times more powerful than Apollo's flight computers!

[@mikewazowski350]

My dad took my brother and I to a limited public viewing of The Enterprise at an airstrip at Cape Canaveral. We got to meet some of the astronauts and engineers. I was around 10 years old. There was a set of stairs leading up to one of the ports of the shuttle. I looked up at one of the astronauts and asked if I could go up the stairs. At the time I didn't know how crazy security was, but the pilot said it was OK and he took me up to peek inside. When we were up there, several security people saw me and got upset. The pilot realized he was in trouble and told me "we better get down before they pop a gasket" and we went down the stairs. My brother was so jealous of me. It was so cool to see the inside of the ship.

[@briansivley2001]

I bet you reminded him of himself when he was your age☺☺☺☺☺☺☺. Kids have that effect on adults.

[@kridadounsattapong1533]

I received news from LHMH , olrd 20 % ,. Twop ISS am are? How's another dimension data rst ⛎

[@JungleYT]

Enterprise was just a Boilerplate or test model... Surprised they would freak out over an unofficial craft. I visited Johnson back in the 1980s after my USAF Basic Training. The gentleman ( family friend ) who showed me around there pointed out the simulator building, but couldn't take me in, because it was off limits. I hadn't obtained my Secret clearance yet. Still, I imagine it would have taken some Extra Uber Secret Top clearance to get in there!

[@rossmcwilliam3284]

When I was six I seen the ship on the launchpad then watched it launch a few days later it was just pure luck because it was the first time I had been to Florida and it just happened to line up with the launch date

[@tonymind308]

Inspiring story. Thabks man

[@mart555rct]

Rockwell: "How many buttons should we put in the space shuttle?" Nasa: "Yes"

[@sakshamsingh6892]

😂😂😂😂

[@DejanIndjevski]

And thats a fact

[@honigson8776]

I d fit in a PS2 controller connector :>

[@ohyeahyeah9199]

Imagine if they don’t even need to press most of the buttons and they’re all there for show or to make the ship look difficult to operate

[@CocoaBeachLiving]

I never get tired of watching these videos. I miss our Space Shuttle program, cost not withstanding.

[@michaelcartwright8570]

So many dials and switches they had to verify and prep work before the shuttle was reprocessed and strapped to the tank for another flight! Mind-blowing.

[@andrewjenery1783]

Was thinking a similar thing, the crews must have gone through so much training just to familiarise themselves with the control panels.

[@guitarrerist698]

@Thinker , what?

[@scaramonga]

@@guitarrerist698 Not a good design. Proven twice, and twice too many, hence, no longer around ;)

[@mishacol]

imagine responsibility.

[@ericksuarezb.5994]

yeah, absolutely mind blowing 👍🏼

[@Holmesy87]

Imagine being the guys who have to test every single switch, and confirm every test of every switch. That is patience beyond what I can imagine.

[@CJK57]

The whole Space Shuttle recovery program is massive, not to mention the pre check ready launch preparation.

[@aivarandressoo6721]

I just adore Space Shuttle!!! One of the best inventions ever!!!

[@aspirerl4807]

Aivar Andressoo Technologically, yes. Economically, hell to the no

[@gamechecktvbauloewe]

Buran would have been better.

[@corneliuscrewe8165]

Woulda coulda shoulda. Buran flew once, then got abandoned and crushed in a hanger collapse. End of story. Sadly, AspireaRL is correct. The Shuttle never delivered on the promise of reliable, routine spaceflight. There is no way it ever could once the Department of Defense got a say in it’s design requirements.

[@EddyKorgo]

The next Space Shuttle must take off to orbit on its own. That will mark new generation of space vehicles.

[@dwood721]

For some reason I am amazed that people wear normal clothing and shoes when working in the shuttle. Always assumed they had to wear some special coveralls to keep it perfectly clean.

[@btrotta]

When readying for launch, the interior was a clean area with all of the precautions you mentioned and more. But when it returned, as in this video, there was no need to worry about FOD, as the interior would be scrubbed and vacuumed prior to the next flight.

[@9000yugioh]

Ilikebeaversandeaglesupyourass Tell that to challenger and Columbia

[@jeepdude7359]

Drink Bleach The Challenger disaster was due to a O-ring seal that was never intended for a cold launch. Columbia was due to heat shield tile damage from a 2 lb. piece of foam that came off the fuel storage tank at liftoff. Both were brought up as concerns and ignored by the “powers that be”, not from clothing lint or dust.

[@JetsetUnited]

Jeep Dude It’s still hard to think of the Challenger disaster being the 34th anniversary today and the Columbia disaster as we approach their 17th anniversary this Saturday. Seems like yesterday when 14 great people lost their lives.

[@philiplettley]

Probably the only place this shuttle was going after this was a museum.

[@chrisburr4160]

That would be me in the Commanders seat on my last recovery with Ron Delaney

[@summerrr1]

What do you work on now?

[@eamesaerospace2805]

summerrr1 bit late don’t you think

[@Cleared_To_Land]

"excuse me sir, would you like some water?" "Verified."

[@cosmiconni6321]

It is mind blowing to think that when the ground crew closed the hatch and locked it that they were completely isolated from the outside environment.

[@kennethxing5380]

I thought this was a museum/airshow staff playing around and preparing it for display...I definitely had to rewind a bunch when I realized this IS REAL PREP for a flight.

[@philiplettley]

This wasn't Preparing for flight. This was Preparing the shuttle to take into the processing building, readying it for a museum

[@masterman1502]

@@philiplettley not for museum, it had 1 more mission after this

[@mycompasstv]

Great to see the interior systems in such detail.

[@ravensrulzaviation]

What a complicated machine. Just amazing really.

[@MikeKobb]

FanTASTIC video! Thank you so much for posting this. Absolutely a space geek's dream.

[@pebmets]

This was an excellent and interesting video. Got a look at at the highly trained people that it took to support the orbiters let alone the whole shuttle system. These are the people that help make the U.S Space program as great as it is. ..Verified!

[@Bluenoser613]

Awesome video. These recent behind the scenes videos are really fun to watch.

[@trentmcgee117]

Wow! What an amazing insight. Thank you!

[@alamkhan97khan66]

Wow its amzing to see a shttle up close.. Although we see helicoptrs airplanes etc but we do not amaze.. But its really pleasure that what we humans did in the last 100 years.. shuttle is the most complex flying object humanity ever made.. Thanx to the person who uploaded this video .. I m eager to watch this video again again and again

[@Tommyr]

That was AWESOME! Thank you!

[@Mike88Actual]

Really cool to watch engineers run post mission checklist and install -21 “REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT” equipment. So my question is were the fuel cells running during the tow or did they have some kind of external ground power for engineers to have A/C? It took an army of guys and gals to put up a Space Shuttle and this video showcases some of those Americans…a real gem of a video!

[@albertchongbiz]

Thank you guys, for a wonderful video!

[@davegoodridge8352]

I would be sitting in the pilot’s seat making rocket sounds.

[@arturocampos9907]

an incredible piece of tec... navigator of the stars, once at the earth atmosphere, another day rolling next to a lake... fantastic carrier of dreams, i love these machines.

[@navajocapi]

The wonder of this is not knowing what every switch does, but to know the procedures on how/when/why to operate them in a beautiful ballet called Flight procedures! I fly an A320. I can only dream of flying this air/space craft.

[@hanshome1982]

Very very , I mean, extremely cool vid. I like these in depth views and details.

[@TheGoogtube]

The more I see, the more inquisitive I become...this is so interesting !

[@tonymind308]

20 000 000 parts in this ship

[@multiio1424]

Kinda weird to see random normal folks in street clothes casually working in a billion dollar vehicle where only hours before famous ASTRONAUTS floated around while the whole thing was in earth orbit.

[@ferditekin7030]

They're trained nasa employees or engineers, these shuttles are heavily used and manned by a ton of astronauts so there's no point wearing fancy pancy white overalls to work inside it (the stuff nasa engineers wear when they're building sattelites and stuff)

[@needleonthevinyl]

Anyone who doesn't miss the shuttle has no soul. Anyone who wants shuttle back has no mind.

[@UnitSe7en]

I don't miss it. It was a horrible hunk of technology. It should have been better and it _could_ have been better. It was fat, heavy and expensive. If the CIA didn't want to have a method to covertly retrieve satellites; If it had only a single mission to perform; If it's countenance wasn't corrupted by back-door politics... She could have been fantastic.

[@akzebraminer]

No. It was an unreliable POS. Awful rocket, the only thing it has going is it looks beautiful and the noise is cool.

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

It's sad to see the end of such an amazing and icon ship. It defined the 80s! I love the attention to detail and overengineering!!!!

[@EddyKorgo]

I wouldnt mind Space Shuttle 2.0. Shuttle that would actually did fulfill its intention of cheap and rapid reusable transportation. Vertically landing rockets are cool but nothing beats a space plane or rather proper looking space ship.

[@Enatbyte]

I've been waiting for a video like this for a long time. Great vid!

[@ramade9040]

Ok

[@cometpowell]

Microsoft Word "word art" in full effect for the flight crew systems lmao

[@Turbojonny5]

i noticed that too. 😂

[@Rictor71]

They should re-release this with commentary about what is happening.

[@masterman1502]

1st part: hooking up towing equipment to tow the orbiter back to OPF (Orbiter Processing Facility) 2nd part: ground team verifying post-landing configuration on various switches and indicators, shutting down the unnecessary systems

[@DDT0C]

Needs more switches

[@nandoduarte]

Man I wish I had that job!!! Amazing!!!!

[@deepdivedisco4779]

Beautifully engineered

[@NCHCITY]

Wow! Very much cool video!

[@drumtracksdirect]

Love those very "Apollo" looking control panels.

[@JS-fh8bs]

Var och tittade på Atlantis i går, fantastiskt häftigt👍

[@exdomicado]

I watching this video in 2024 and for me the space shuttle in terms of shape or look still the best space craft that i've could possibly imagine if i wanna go to travel the space...

[@jeffbaloga4376]

Very cool. Funny to see a few places where duct tape was used. 👍👍 Would love to see more videos like this!

[@groanz5710]

6:45 * REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT * *YoU dOnT SAy?!*

[@Kanibulus]

6:39 - lol

[@warm-corecyclones6430]

Made me laugh too😂

[@RSTI191]

Secret Launch codes just in case. Most valuable piece of doc to boot. HAHAHA

[@mcinty12]

LOL !!!

[@RCMicroAirplanes]

I said lunch not launch!:)

[@mereclander]

Amazing!!!!

[@f5nfb480]

Wonderful !

[@deva3356]

It's amazing how they managed to find a style for their "Flight Crew System" logo from the word art. Kudos, Nasa

[@dark1secret]

woooow Amazing !!

[@ericksuarezb.5994]

i loved it !!!!

[@MrMa1981]

To me external is more interesting than internal, amazing stuff.

[@bigpicturethinking5620]

Apparently half of the weight of the orbiter is buttons, switches and lights.

[@slimj091]

(During the Job interview) Interviewer: Are you able to say the word "Verified"?

[@zlcoolboy]

Probably top class in his field. Probably understands everything he is verifying as well. :)

[@Justin_Martin]

Shuttle Atlantis is awesome 🌏😉👏👑🇺🇸💕

[@troycryder8211]

Hot as heck in there that day. But it was worth it!

[@marcusdamberger]

No climate control after it landed? Didn't they still need fresh cooled air inside even while rolling it back to the processing facility? It looks like it had power, though i wonder if it was ground power or still on the APU's. Also didn't some experiments get offloaded and need to stay at a particular temperature? Was that done on the runway or after it got back to the processing facility? I would think with the Florida humidity those guys would be sweating a ton if the inside of the shuttle was not cooled. I could see sun shades over some of the windows, I assume to keep the heat down, and glare off equipment. Were those put in in orbit, or on ground? Such a cool machine, glass cockpit with switches for everything and not a touch screen in sight! Tactile feedback is what I would think you want flying something like this that shakes with g-forces on the way up, and even on the smoother way down.

[@masterman1502]

@@marcusdamberger it had both cooling and power hooked up all the time during transfer to the OPF (via those 2 vehicles in the back, with arms)

[@AmazingAirshowVideos]

Great Video. it's disgusting that the shuttle program is being closed.

[@Zoomer30]

Threw me when I saw them lift the door up from the floor. Thought it swung to the left. But the only time I have seen them close the door is on the pad when the Shuttle is vertical.

[@realtalk1310]

greatest spacecraft of its time

[@whookey5484]

Amazing how much room they had in the cockpit compared with the sojus.

[@simplyguys]

Thank you O.O

[@baominghacker]

SpaceX is all smart and stuff, but this is the expression of human ambition.

[@tonyfrantz9942]

Beautiful

[@andrewrogers7359]

Im supprised they let people video the inside of the shuttle but what an amazing machine.

[@duswil3934]

7:09 panel held together with duct tape.

[@AloanMoreira1]

wow, I would be lost with so many buttons and switches etc! :O

[@ShubhamKejriwal]

Aloan Moreira the astronauts get a whole guide book for every button on different sections of the cockpit.. of course they have to remember many of these button locations and stuff like that, but still, as far as I know, they don't have to remember like, EACH AND EVERY BUTTON or something...

[@ShubhamKejriwal]

Random Guy hahaha, I swear I am not related to that guy in any way though! XD

[@macieksoft]

I would be so happy to get the simulator in which every switch works as it should, and with emulated GPCs and OFC fully featured orbital physics. It would be nice to have full real space shuttle for orbiter simulator....

[@ma2i485]

Imagine if motor vehicles were designed like this..not many people would be on the road..lol

[@20thFlightRocker]

I cant even solve my rubik's cube

[@realcrashjr]

At 4:01 I noticed an SRB separation MAN/AUTO... I was always under the impression that the SRBs couldn’t be jettisoned manually, is that not the case?

[@generalharness8266]

5:23 high tech ship designed to go into space, wire duct taped to wall. Proves never go anywhere with out duct tape

[@ahuman9864]

Low earth orbit... not exactly space

[@wolfrunner6462]

@@ahuman9864 it's still above the karman line

[@ct92404]

@@ahuman9864 Earth orbit IS space.

[@Hlbrk28650]

I'd like to see the invoice on THAT duct tape... 💲

[@utsubo36]

Ten years ago...(2020/05). It's like a star ⭐✨in Earth. That's a pity they stopped working on this. The most beautiful and wonderful human made thing. Bye Space Shuttles.🤓⭐✨🚀💨

[@oficialcesarleitao]

up ! fantastic

[@ignatiusjk]

How cool it must be to work at NASA.

[@mattjones5987]

This is the kind of video I've been trying to find: what are all the little buttons and switches on most surfaces? Most videos don't actually show them

[@rockyteeproductionstudios3101]

Challenger Endeavour Atlantis Colombia Discovery... Which other??

[@TheFutureIsRightHere]

@hackneysaregreat The space shuttles were primarily built for constructing and developing the ISS. Now when the space station's construction is basically completed, there are no further uses for those space shuttles.

[@gamestv4875]

Best flight deck in the world.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Very interesting video. I supported the Shuttle Mission Simulator complex at JSC for 38 years, so the Shuttle Crew Station environment was very familiar to me. I was a little surprised to see the towback was done with a "live" vehicle, power still on, GPC displays active, etc. I guess I had not really thought about that. Were the fuel cells still active or was external power supplied? Thanks for posting this!

[@polite_as_fuck]

Any chance we could refurbish the shuttles for the sole purpose of launching flat earthers on a one-way trip into low earth orbit? It would be incredibly expensive, but you can’t put a price on the integrity of our gene pool.

[@momentslibrary4095]

Nice!

[@Studio23Media]

That "Flight Crew Systems" logo at the beginning was designed in Microsoft Word with WordArt 😂

[@MikeGoesBadaBoom]

Microsoft office 2000 hehe

[@anthonyglee1710]

The cockpit looks cool. Reminds me of an Airbus

[@pryletoncyo]

The Space Shuttle acted like a high-tech glider after re-entry. It didn't have thrust, because that was the last thing it needed, it needed to slow down for landing.

[@scottmuck]

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess those of us drawn to watching 8+ minutes of post-flight checklist work know the basics of how the shuttle flew ;-)

[@sshrinivasan42]

Is your other name Captain Obvious?

[@jordanwelsh1536]

"High-tech glider", more like flying brick lol.

[@tubehound8]

Old shuttles" never die. They just fade away"

[@R0ACH44]

The amount of velcro everywhere in the shuttle is almost comical.

[@jordans_blog]

2:26: Were locked in now, no turning back.

[@HeliPilotWill]

Very Nice vid :D I bet to get around and shut that door is A LOT more easier to close with no gravity hahaha :)

[@mche7214]

verify aft,on the top,verify grow ,latch,screen is green,b is 83,came offafter open contact you see the full potential of its internals,the video stops here,I guess it is shift.

[@robadams8057]

I wish there were more videos like this of Columbia.

[@realtalk1310]

Today we have the SpaceX crew dragon.

[@BasVer]

So many systems, knobs, displays and : DUCTAPE !!

[@imnotvladimirputin]

I made my play room as a Space Shuttle! I called it Triumph!

[@Beergut222]

Amen, brother, amen.

[@mikebuck3252]

Good thing they got rid of these. It was only a matter of time before another one would have a accident.

[@mdr48371]

Very cool video. Sure it's sad to see the shuttles go, but NASA is trading up for Mars.

[@milolouis]

Wow I never knew It could go that fast

[@cildagout6271]

Sophisticated

[@watkinscopicat]

what are those little blue squares for?

[@F-Man]

Agreed. They could have redesigned some of the electronic systems to make the user interface simpler to expand the range of people who could have flown the shuttle to accomodate commercial crews, maybe they could have upgraded the main engines so they didn't need to be serviced after every flight, and upgraded the SRB's so they could have covered the whole orbiter in RCC instead of using those tiles which caused so many problems.

[@maicod]

don't forget the space shuttle's is run on a computer currently able to compare to a Raspberry Pi

[@RandomNumber141]

All sounds very easy when you can just throw around the word “upgrade.”

[@XavierXonora]

3:07 Yep, that's the right angle...

[@skuzlebut82]

NASA. I love you guys. I have had the privilege of knowing someone who worked for you and he graduated from the same small town high school that I did. Keep fighting the good fight. Please do not invest any money in to debunking the flat Earth people because those of us with sound mind know we live on a beautiful blue marble.

[@spwb2k]

Worthy!

[@jpberube9646]

Technology is advancing at a pace that is sometimes difficult to keep up with however, the conquest of space, ever since the Apollo missions, has evolved to the most beautiful machine ever designed and built by mankind: The Space Shuttle. Now that the Shuttle is retired and stand in a prominent place in history, it is difficult to imagine that other extraordinary spacecrafts such as the Hubble telescope are not ever going to take their proper place (the Smithsonian comes to mind) in the history of mankind conquest of the universe. I think they (Hubble & Shuttle) were the cream of the cream to come out of NASA. Let's see what the future has is store for us to see.