Columbia’s autonomous journey around the Earth during February 1981 opened a new chapter in space exploration. The advent of a “spaceworthy” vehicle severed our dependence upon “Mission Control,” and placed the emphasis upon the new vistas observed by the astronauts themselves. The Space Shuttle represented the culmination of more than a century’s worth of thought and technological experimentation. This 5-DVD collection features hours of rare archival film and photographs dating back to the pioneering efforts of the 1960s that paved the way for Challenger’s ascent. After placing NASA’s “Space Workhorse” in context, History of the Space Shuttle takes you behind the scenes of every mission the vessels have undertaken during the past three decades. These years have been intensely dramatic ones for the program, as scientists have struggled to cope with new contingencies that the founders of rocket propulsion never dreamed of encountering...