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The Space Shuttle is a 2011 documentary about the history of the Space Shuttle, produced by NASA and narrated by William Shatner.

The documentary was released in July 2011 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle program and the program's final mission, the launch of the STS-135.

Background
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system that was operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. In addition to the prototype whose completion was cancelled, five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST); conducted science experiments in orbit; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds.

Synopsis
The documentary covers topics including the Space Shuttle Enterprise test flight, the first launch of the Space Shuttle, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, and the STS-135 final shuttle launch.

NASA said that "This feature-length documentary looks at the history of the most complex machine ever built. For 30 years, NASA's space shuttle carried humans to and from space, launched amazing observatories, and eventually constructed the next stop on the road to space exploration."

Production
The documentary was directed by Guy Noffsinger and narrated by William Shatner. It has a length of 80 minutes.

Release
The documentary premiered on July 1, 2011.

The documentary is available for streaming on Prime Video.

Reception
Jules, writing for Wired, said "This feature-length documentary looks at the history of the most complex machine ever built. [...] What they neglected to tell you is that you better have your handkerchiefs ready. When I was finally able to get around to watching it, I bawled like a baby. [...] I cried a mix of tears of joy, sadness, wonderment and awe at all that goes into the shuttles, including the great dangers these real life heroes, known as astronauts, face in order to help enrich our lives."

Dan Colman, writing for Open Culture, said "The 80 minute documentary takes you through the history of the Space Shuttle program, which first got underway during the Nixon administration. The film spends ample time looking at the design challenges NASA engineers faced in trying to create a reusable shuttle, while also showing early prototypes. Once the design phase was complete, construction began on the first orbiter in June, 1974 and wrapped up two years later. NASA called its first craft Space Shuttle Enterprise, paying homage to the fictional Starship Enterprise. Next, it was time to boldly go where no one had gone before."

The documentary also received coverage from The Rachel Maddow Show of MSNBC.