The Space Above Us

Challenger hauls the mail on STS-8, before using a giant dumbbell to flex its remote manipulator system muscles.

Sally Ride becomes America's first female astronaut to fly in space, and teaches Challenger how to say 7 for the camera.

Challenger flies for the first time and the TDRSS constellation gets started.

With five days, four crew members, three.. uhh.. engines, two satellites, and one planned EVA, STS-5 is going to be a busy flight!

Ken Mattingly and Hank Hartsfield were apparently born in a barn, because they can't get the door closed!

Jack Lousma and Gordon Fullerton fly Columbia on its third mission, carrying a whole bunch of shuttle-inspecting experiments with them.

Joe Engle and Dick Truly are ready to take Columbia for a ride and usher in the era of reusable spacecraft.

John Young and Bob Crippen strap in and fly Columbia on its first mission. But how will mission control deal with missing tiles on the heat shield?

This week we discuss three of the biggest challenges to getting the space shuttle off the ground: the engines, the computers, and the tiles. Oh, and we meet 54 new friends.

The Space Shuttle would be NASA's first spacecraft to land on a runway. So it's probably a good idea to make sure it's up to the task.

With our tour of the External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters complete, it's time to take a look at what they're getting into orbit: the Space Shuttle Orbiter.

Now that the Space Shuttle has been approved, it's time to figure out what the vehicle will actually look like. With that in mind, we take a close look at the two major support players of the STS: the External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters.

As Apollo hit its stride, NASA was trying to figure out what it was going to do next. The answer requires a significant amount of historical context, so let's see if we can provide it as we try to answer the question: where did the Space Shuttle come from?

Tom Stafford, Vance Brand, and Deke Slayton (yes, Deke Slayton) take the last Apollo CSM up to meet with some new friends from out of town.

We take a look back at the Skylab program, its fate, its legacy, and how it fits into the broader picture.

Carr, Gibson, and Pogue go the distance and wrap up a remarkable 84 day mission, thus ending the crewed portion of Skylab's life.

Jerry Carr, Ed Gibson, and Bill Pogue have been handed the baton and are ready to start the last leg of the marathon. Skylab 4, the final crew to America's first space station, are GO for launch!

Bean, Garriott, and Lousma still have 50 days left to catch up on their backlog. Let's just hope their two arachnid passengers don't escape!

Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma are ready to become Skylab's second crew. But will an attitude control propellant leak cut their stay short?

Conrad, Kerwin and Weitz have arrived at Skylab, but can they get the stricken space station under control?

We meet the crew of Skylab 2, wonder what happened to Skylab 1, and take a look at how NASA scrambled to fix their crippled space station.

We learn about some of the scientific experiments on Skylab, get it to the launchpad, and send it on its way to orbit. Though it seems to be missing a few parts when it gets there..

We get out first look at NASA's first big project after landing on the moon: Skylab. America's first space station is often overlooked, but we'll dig into the reasons that make it so awesome.

We take a look back at the Apollo Program and how we got there. Then I ramble a bit about my take on the impact of the program and talk about where the upcoming episodes will be going.

We explore the fascinating Taurus-Littrow region and bid a sad farewell to the moon.