The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident Investigation

The last remaining external fuel tank built for the space shuttle program but never flew will depart its factory in New Orleans on Tuesday for a long sea voyage to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Former Johnson Space Center Director Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr., the man who created the iconic role of NASA flight director during the Mercury and Gemini programs and whose no-nonsense, uncompromising management style defined control room operations and discipline through the Apollo years and beyond, died Monday. He was 95.

This video from a camera on Atlantis’ flight deck shows what it’s like to launch into orbit aboard the space shuttle. The footage begins with the final countdown to blastoff and continues through the astronauts getting out of their seats to see the jettisoned fuel tank fall away. (Membership Required)