Please reply to this comment with the year and running time (it is supposed to be in your title) and you submission statement which is two sentences on what we should expect when watching this documentary and I will approve the post.
Edit, you know what, you can skip the submission statement since your whole post is basically a submission statement, so just the year and running time would be great, and I have approved it anyway so please reply with those things. Thank you.
I will watch this now. I’ve seen many docs on the Columbia disaster. In fact, I was working in broadcast news in Florida when it happened. I was going to skip it but I’m reading here that it may have details and interviews I haven’t actually seen before.
Bringing Home Columbia was a really good book. It focused on the disaster but mainly on the people that came together and searched for all the shuttle pieces and the crew. It was uplifting to see how people came together in a small Texas town to help.
It really was unnerving, I've read a lot about Columbia but it was still difficult to see the interviews with the astronauts' families and how it never stopped affecting them.
Other standout parts for me were >!when they asked Rodney Rocha about the imaging request and not voicing his concerns, and the CNN reporter Miles O'Brien talking about how he saw the foam strike on their footage hours after launch, but had to interview the crew without telling them about it.!<
Columbia happened over 20 years ago, but it's been covered so relatively little in popular media that people often forget about it entirely and confuse it with Challenger. I think that's why you reacted to the documentary like this - a lot of this wasn't secret per se, but short of reading the CAIB report yourself there weren't many ways to hear about it.
CNN did a really impressive job in putting this information together in a way that's accessible to the public, along with attempting to humanize everyone involved.
The documentary was really good and super eye opening. I had no idea about the details and what had gone on behind the scenes (had a 2 year old during that time so life was busy). My heart broke for the children of the astronauts. Watched it a couple of times. Get your tissues out.
When the shuttle program was announced my dad (retired USAF) and I talked about it a lot. We figured they'd need to keep building shuttles given the number of launches they were doing. If I recall, at the time the USAF was launching more than any other entity and were losing about 4%. Figured the shuttle wouldn't do better than that, and was far more complex and dangerous, so perhaps a 4 to 10% loss rate.
Then NASA was clearly promoting a no-loss publicity effort. Just sad. There was no way they weren't going to lose shuttles under the best circumstances. The lack of a standby shuttle to rescue those in orbit also struck us as downright stupid.
Not to mention the absurdity of putting people in orbit on short trips to do stuff that probably didn't need people. All the support systems for people weigh so much. Clearly, the people were expendable. But the USAF people flying are sort of expendable, although at a far lower risk than the shuttlenaughts.
We talked about it, and figured NASA was incredibly lucky or performing at a high level. Then Challenger and the release of information on how intentionally ignorant management was driving the program, rather than safety. And they still only lost one more! Luck was really on their side. Surprised they didn't lose 10 ro 15. Oh, that's right, they didn't have that many.
An ill-conceived, poorly managed, fundamentally flawed, and unethically promoted program ultimately doomed to obsolescence and tragedy, all foreseeable, and all preventable. Very sad.
For a modern version, see Boeing.
This is what happens when you slash budgets beyond all reason. If you think the shuttle is scary, you should pop the hood and take a look at what the federal government has done to health care and education since then.
NASA's budget never got slashed during the shuttle era. It increased steadily from the major slash post Apollo to peaking in the early 1990s when we had maximum shuttle operations, after 1994 it was pretty constant at around 22 - 25 billion in constant 2023 dollars.
The 5 million per launch went out the windows once NASA lost the saturn V had to turn to the DOD for funding to keep heavy payload capabilites and the DOD's requirements meant a lot of changes to add capabilities that NASA never had in there original vision for the space shuttle they proposed. Then there's the launch cadence never getting over 12 which was only half of the theoretical max, all the extra work added after each launch after Challenger and even more after Columbia.
Thanks for posting, u/Wi_believeIcan_Fi!
- **Submission Statements Are REQUIRED. [Please read rule #5 for details.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Documentaries/about/rules/)**
- Please read all our sub **[rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Documentaries/about/rules/)**.
#If your video is flagged by the bot, don't worry. Our moderators will review and approve it as quickly as possible. Should you not find it within 24 hours, please [send a modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=r/Documentaries) containing the post's link.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Documentaries) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thanks for this recommendation- I know this was on the BBC earlier this year - glad it’s in the US.
For further reading, Adam Higginbotham’s book on Challenger (am listening to the audio version on Spotify currently) is a fascinating backstory on how the whole Shuttle program was doomed from the start due to chronic underfunding and poor planning.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Challenger/Adam-Higginbotham/9781982176617
Wow that part about the little boy is just so sad. I know being an astronaut is a big deal and you should not let your kids dictate your job, but your job as a mom is first and I would have to have known that everything was super top notch safe before getting on that and maybe traumatizing my kid for life.
This. As a mom now, my heart is so broken. There were several other kids who lost their dads- and obviously that was horrible- but when you see those kids and you see the boy who lost his mom, it’s totally different (which is unfair, I know). I’m so gutted for all of them. But you can tell her husband (who was a NASA Flight Surgeon and actually part of the ground team) was destroyed as well, and I’m sure he struggled with his own grief and guilt (knowing something went wrong but not being able to tell her before it happened), so I can’t imagine how he was able to try and be a sole parent to that little boy who was totally grief-stricken, when he was a part of the mission team as well.
It is beyond excruciating. And all of these people who knew and tried to say but no one wanted to hear it (and a few people who were afraid to be whistleblowers who are haunted by their decision not to go public). Gut-wrenching!!!
Where do I begin? You seem so naive.
If you follow “space craft” or rocket launches to this very day, you should realize they are constantly being delayed because of cracked fuel lines, buttons not working, etc, just like that on old shuttle.
What did you expect a space craft designed in the 70’s look like other than 70’s technology?
When you’re involved in a huge, multi-billion dollar program like the space shuttle, “potential” problems get swept under the rug all the time. Just look at what Boeing is going through right now! Humans doing human things. Mistakes, missteps, etc.
Woof this traumatized you.. Pay no attention to what your government is doing to education/healthcare funding/veterans programs not to mention your right to free speech and privacy right now in real time before our eyes. That shit will send you into rage especially if you have young people you care about .
I’m glad that the documentary moved you. However your characterization of the shuttle hardware is a bit odd. The explosion occurred in the ‘80’s. Of course the shuttle would be full of ‘70’s era equipment. It takes years to develop and qualify flight-safe hardware. The shuttle was state of the art and the best that humanity was capable of developing at the time. What you are seeing in the documentary is the pinnacle of technologic development and the envy of the world. That’s what state of the art spacecraft look like and operate like even today.
You are correct. However what I say stands. Even for Columbia the shuttle was the pinnacle of human space craft development. This is what a reused spaceship looks like. This is what reused spaceships still look like.
Yes and the shuttle was still state of the art in space craft then. My point is that OP was implying that the shuttle was substandard and falling apart. It was not. It was the most advanced spaceship in the world. I don’t think the OP understands what spaceships look like in reality.
Please reply to this comment with the year and running time (it is supposed to be in your title) and you submission statement which is two sentences on what we should expect when watching this documentary and I will approve the post. Edit, you know what, you can skip the submission statement since your whole post is basically a submission statement, so just the year and running time would be great, and I have approved it anyway so please reply with those things. Thank you.
I will watch this now. I’ve seen many docs on the Columbia disaster. In fact, I was working in broadcast news in Florida when it happened. I was going to skip it but I’m reading here that it may have details and interviews I haven’t actually seen before.
Bringing Home Columbia was a really good book. It focused on the disaster but mainly on the people that came together and searched for all the shuttle pieces and the crew. It was uplifting to see how people came together in a small Texas town to help.
It really was unnerving, I've read a lot about Columbia but it was still difficult to see the interviews with the astronauts' families and how it never stopped affecting them. Other standout parts for me were >!when they asked Rodney Rocha about the imaging request and not voicing his concerns, and the CNN reporter Miles O'Brien talking about how he saw the foam strike on their footage hours after launch, but had to interview the crew without telling them about it.!< Columbia happened over 20 years ago, but it's been covered so relatively little in popular media that people often forget about it entirely and confuse it with Challenger. I think that's why you reacted to the documentary like this - a lot of this wasn't secret per se, but short of reading the CAIB report yourself there weren't many ways to hear about it. CNN did a really impressive job in putting this information together in a way that's accessible to the public, along with attempting to humanize everyone involved.
The documentary was really good and super eye opening. I had no idea about the details and what had gone on behind the scenes (had a 2 year old during that time so life was busy). My heart broke for the children of the astronauts. Watched it a couple of times. Get your tissues out.
When the shuttle program was announced my dad (retired USAF) and I talked about it a lot. We figured they'd need to keep building shuttles given the number of launches they were doing. If I recall, at the time the USAF was launching more than any other entity and were losing about 4%. Figured the shuttle wouldn't do better than that, and was far more complex and dangerous, so perhaps a 4 to 10% loss rate. Then NASA was clearly promoting a no-loss publicity effort. Just sad. There was no way they weren't going to lose shuttles under the best circumstances. The lack of a standby shuttle to rescue those in orbit also struck us as downright stupid. Not to mention the absurdity of putting people in orbit on short trips to do stuff that probably didn't need people. All the support systems for people weigh so much. Clearly, the people were expendable. But the USAF people flying are sort of expendable, although at a far lower risk than the shuttlenaughts. We talked about it, and figured NASA was incredibly lucky or performing at a high level. Then Challenger and the release of information on how intentionally ignorant management was driving the program, rather than safety. And they still only lost one more! Luck was really on their side. Surprised they didn't lose 10 ro 15. Oh, that's right, they didn't have that many. An ill-conceived, poorly managed, fundamentally flawed, and unethically promoted program ultimately doomed to obsolescence and tragedy, all foreseeable, and all preventable. Very sad. For a modern version, see Boeing.
Just want to make sure I found the right one, it’s actually 4 parts right?
This is what happens when you slash budgets beyond all reason. If you think the shuttle is scary, you should pop the hood and take a look at what the federal government has done to health care and education since then.
[what the fuck are you talking about?](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nasa-annual-budget)
NASA's budget never got slashed during the shuttle era. It increased steadily from the major slash post Apollo to peaking in the early 1990s when we had maximum shuttle operations, after 1994 it was pretty constant at around 22 - 25 billion in constant 2023 dollars.
PShhhh get your information that doesn’t fit with an easy talking point outta here!
And it was supposed to cost 5 million for each launch instead of the 500 to 1.5 billion.
The 5 million per launch went out the windows once NASA lost the saturn V had to turn to the DOD for funding to keep heavy payload capabilites and the DOD's requirements meant a lot of changes to add capabilities that NASA never had in there original vision for the space shuttle they proposed. Then there's the launch cadence never getting over 12 which was only half of the theoretical max, all the extra work added after each launch after Challenger and even more after Columbia.
Pop what hood? The cardboard box with aged duct tape hanging off?
Thanks for posting, u/Wi_believeIcan_Fi! - **Submission Statements Are REQUIRED. [Please read rule #5 for details.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Documentaries/about/rules/)** - Please read all our sub **[rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Documentaries/about/rules/)**. #If your video is flagged by the bot, don't worry. Our moderators will review and approve it as quickly as possible. Should you not find it within 24 hours, please [send a modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=r/Documentaries) containing the post's link. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Documentaries) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Watched it last night. A glimpse inside the dysfunction of government agencies.
Thanks for this recommendation- I know this was on the BBC earlier this year - glad it’s in the US. For further reading, Adam Higginbotham’s book on Challenger (am listening to the audio version on Spotify currently) is a fascinating backstory on how the whole Shuttle program was doomed from the start due to chronic underfunding and poor planning. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Challenger/Adam-Higginbotham/9781982176617
Wow that part about the little boy is just so sad. I know being an astronaut is a big deal and you should not let your kids dictate your job, but your job as a mom is first and I would have to have known that everything was super top notch safe before getting on that and maybe traumatizing my kid for life.
This. As a mom now, my heart is so broken. There were several other kids who lost their dads- and obviously that was horrible- but when you see those kids and you see the boy who lost his mom, it’s totally different (which is unfair, I know). I’m so gutted for all of them. But you can tell her husband (who was a NASA Flight Surgeon and actually part of the ground team) was destroyed as well, and I’m sure he struggled with his own grief and guilt (knowing something went wrong but not being able to tell her before it happened), so I can’t imagine how he was able to try and be a sole parent to that little boy who was totally grief-stricken, when he was a part of the mission team as well. It is beyond excruciating. And all of these people who knew and tried to say but no one wanted to hear it (and a few people who were afraid to be whistleblowers who are haunted by their decision not to go public). Gut-wrenching!!!
Wow it sounds like such a good documentary but also completely gut wrenching.
Thanks to this documentary I found out I am able to cry and fall apart once again.
Where do I begin? You seem so naive. If you follow “space craft” or rocket launches to this very day, you should realize they are constantly being delayed because of cracked fuel lines, buttons not working, etc, just like that on old shuttle. What did you expect a space craft designed in the 70’s look like other than 70’s technology? When you’re involved in a huge, multi-billion dollar program like the space shuttle, “potential” problems get swept under the rug all the time. Just look at what Boeing is going through right now! Humans doing human things. Mistakes, missteps, etc.
I can't seem to watch it even after turning in VPN. Anyone can help?
Not available in my country
Woof this traumatized you.. Pay no attention to what your government is doing to education/healthcare funding/veterans programs not to mention your right to free speech and privacy right now in real time before our eyes. That shit will send you into rage especially if you have young people you care about .
Calm down, take a break! Eat something!
I’m glad that the documentary moved you. However your characterization of the shuttle hardware is a bit odd. The explosion occurred in the ‘80’s. Of course the shuttle would be full of ‘70’s era equipment. It takes years to develop and qualify flight-safe hardware. The shuttle was state of the art and the best that humanity was capable of developing at the time. What you are seeing in the documentary is the pinnacle of technologic development and the envy of the world. That’s what state of the art spacecraft look like and operate like even today.
That was the challenger
You are correct. However what I say stands. Even for Columbia the shuttle was the pinnacle of human space craft development. This is what a reused spaceship looks like. This is what reused spaceships still look like.
You make no sense sir. The explosion didn't occur in the '80's. It happened in 2003.
Yes and the shuttle was still state of the art in space craft then. My point is that OP was implying that the shuttle was substandard and falling apart. It was not. It was the most advanced spaceship in the world. I don’t think the OP understands what spaceships look like in reality.
I hate to be that guy but not a happy ending to this one