school takes a lot. target has it all. the space shuttle approaches the final frontier. tonight on a second look, see how pilots practiced how to land it. watch nasa over haul shuttle atlantis in california. revisit one of the shuttles most successful missions. and is this the future? millionaires waiting on the wings to stake on manned space flights -- wings to take on manned space flights.

finally tonight the first american ever to orbit the earth and how decades later he became the oldest person ever to fly into space. all straight tonight on a second look. good evening i'm julie haener and this is a second look. on april 12, 1981 american space travel entered a new era. now that era is ending as atlantis flies its last mission. 37 of those missions have been to travel to and from the international space station. in 2001, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of that flight, ktvu's science editor john fowler took this look at how pilots train to fly it. at a cost of $2 billion each, the shuttle isn't officially national asset. from launch to reentry almost all the flight is computer

directed. >> we got the airport sight. >> reporter: but every approach and landing is flown entirely by hand. and here at nasa's aims research center in mountain vie, astronauts learn how to fly it. >> cockpit ready. >> reporter: astronaut ferguson teaches over pilots. >> a mission that would last two weeks would culminate in two to three minutes of air dynamic flight. so we want to make sure we get it right. >> reporter: the shuttle has no engine, there's no second try. slowing from orbit to a one time landing appears to be a daunting task. >> it is a daunting task. >> reporter: another astronaut instructor pilot greg johnson known as ray j. allowed me a chance to see just how it's done. the cockpit has the same controls and incidents as the actual shuttle. the only difference is what we're wearing. this is a real shuttle reentry

pilots in their space suits while white hot gases flash through the cockpit. they also see navigation, speed and altitude data. altitude 11,500 feet. >> reporter: in the simulator it feels just like flying. >> we're coming into the flair, it's all happening pretty quick. 3,000feet here, right on our aim point. houston runway in sight. >> reporter: real in every day. >> 2,000 feet. okay. a blown tire. and we're correcting back. >> reporter: inside the simulated room, motors sway giving pilots a sense in

motion. the cockpit also has a detailed read out. nasa wants its pilots to land in an exact point, at an exact speed in the center of the runway. >> we want it to come down. the landing is a task, we don't want to damage the shuttle so we need to get it exactly right. >> i'm getting rid of the chute for you. >> oh, boy. >> twice a year every shuttle pilot comes here for what's called sim time. >> we throw them simulated emergencies, blown tires, we put computer malfunctions in which could jeopardize the ability control. and we see how they react. >> reporter: we also got a rare close up visit with if shuttle

and saw another different and s like styrofoam but tough enough to survive 2,200-degree heat. they were developed by nasa aims engineers. including howard goldstein. >> people think of the tiles and blankets as new technology. well they predate apple computer by 10 years. >> reporter: how would you like to go inside space shuttle atlantis. john fowler did that in 2000. what he found was surprising in a lot of ways. here is what he brought us 14 years ago. >> reporter: lift off of space shuttle atlantis. astronauts say it's like a train wreck. flight deck cameras show how surprisingly violent the ride can be. 2,000-tons of controlled high explosives blasts the shuttle into orbit to a speed 10 times

faster than a rifle bullet. at the shuttle maintenance base we got a rare close up look at this $2 billion flying machine. and it may startle you just how fragile it seems. cargo bay doors, the largest moving parts are flimsy if not supported in earth's gravity. workers tie on inhalation with bits of thread. built to be as designers put it just strong enough, it's no more rugged than the average plane. >> it's only able 66 thick. >> reporter: it's the most complex machine ever made. more than a million moving parts and several thousand of those have no back up. and nasa under statement they're called critical items. we've marvels at nasa's pictures in orbit. it seems downright roomy inside. >> it does look big on tv. that's a deception that's created by the cameras. actually they have a very

limited amount of room. >> reporter: inside atlantis reporter dressed in a clean room suit barely has time to stand up straight. everywhere inside you see patches of velcro to keep things put. astronauts are often reminded about leaving things behind. some engineers say a staple left floating was inhaled by an astronaut almost forcing an emergency landing, nasa denies that story. >> it's a very unique toilet. it has started out some manholes and that kind of thing to keep you into place so you don't go floating about. there's a vacuum, when you go

it's a vacuum. it's sucked right down there through a one way valve. >> reporter: overflow dumps into space through this port. once a chunk of well yellow ice broke off and actually damaged the shuttle exterior. in this hall, those fragile heat shield tiles made of puffed glass up to 5 inches thick are simply blued on. 25,000 handmade black tiles must fit precisely to with stand a 17,100-mile an hour reentry. out the window you can see the bright glow of super hot gas. engineers have torn out the flight control panel and plan to install an improved flight system. they call it a glass cockpit the first in a shuttle. the shuttle will also have navigation and communication

gear. you may have noticed all the green plastic wrapping the shuttle atlantis. the world's most advanced flying machine gets bombarded like the paper at the bottom of a bird cage. >> still to come on a second look, how the shuttle saved the hubble space telescope. and a bit later, it looks like a shuttle but it's actually a secret unmanned spacecraft.

during it's 30 year run, one of the most crucial missions ever made by atlantis was to save hubble. just this past monday, hubble made its 1 million scientific observations while looking for water on a plant a thousand

light years from earth. john fowler brought us this report in 2009 at the time of those repairs. >> reporter: it was a spectacular near perfect space grab. 350millionmiles above the earth. shuttle's manipulator armed snabbed the aging unmanned hubble. no one is more eager for a mission's success than astrophysicist albert ruben. >> if you see the screen behind me, this is one of our most recent observations with hubble. >> reporter: the bird's next nibula, 27,000 years away may hold clues to a fundamental

history. four years ago a crucial hubble ultraviolet camera suddenly broke. now over the last few days, astronauts are to install another. >> now, assuming it gets fixed, we have another chance. >> reporter: astronomers can keep looking on the mystery. space walking astronauts spent six hours on their 350-mile today. replacing a camera with a new one, it's 30 times more powerful the first of eight new pieces of research gear for the telescope. after a seven hour space walk today astronauts buttoned up the hubble space telescope. the last time humans will touch it. scientists today were afusive in their praise. >> they are putting their lives on the line to making these instruments work.

clearly it's important to them, it's important to the academic community, the scientific community and it's important to every day person. >> reporter: san francisco state astronomer fisher helped produce pictures of the plot. she says when astronauts prepared it they pulled off the impossible. >> this is an ambitious project with so many tasks to complete. and yet they've gone all of this heroically. to me it's a curiosity for humanity. how would you like to take a vacation in space? we'll tell you who's working on it an how saoápb they might be ready to take off. and a bit later the man who became america's oldest astronaut at 77 years old. 3w4r57

plywood, cement. i, i enjoy the breeze on my tongue. well uh, and every weekend, seems like we're headin' down to the lake. we're pullin' a boat or somethin'. i don't know why. i just do. it's not a problem. i don't mind as long as we always stop at chevron and get that techron stuff. my ears flop around too. check it out. [ male announcer ] your car takes care of you, care for it. chevron with techron. care for your car. it's hard work; i need a nap. care for your car. your kids will each take care of our class hamsters, lewis & clark. then i'll tell them the story of pluto, the sad little planet that was. i'll introduce them to some new friends, the fractions, and some cold blooded ones, the dinosaurs.

[sfx: dinosaur growl] clark! anyway, here's what they'll need: markers, scissors, crayons, pencils, folders, juice boxes, pretzel sticks, glue sticks, tape that sticks, and glitter. so much glitter. school takes a lot. target has it all. with the shuttle program

coming to an end, nasa is shifting its focus to exploration farther into space. reporter john zorela tells us what's in the works. >> reporter: elon musk runs space tech. virgin has galactic. both are using their wealth to try bold attempts to make space travel as routine as boarding an airplane. >> people used to think it was the impossible to build your own spaceship and spaceship company to take people into space. that's the kind of challenge that i like to prove them wrong. >> we want to see a future where we are exploring the stars, where we are going to other plants. where we're doing the great things we read about in science fiction and in the movies. >> there are several companies, some big, some small who see as

nasa moves on to distant plants that weightless region just above the atmosphere. just out of reach right now becoming quite possibly a good investment. >> nasa is still in there, still going to develop a heavy lift rocket. but we've also got this hopefully flowerrering a private spacecraft and that's what's going to get us the hilton and hertz rental cars in outer space. >> we want to make space accessible to everyone. that's a revolutionary change but it's incredibly exciting and it brings the possibility of space travel to all americans which is fantastic. >> next year must hopes to begin carrying cargo into the

international space station, eventually astronauts. >> we want to shuttle astronauts within three years of receiving a nasa contract to do so. >> reporter: but unless it's safe, nasa's administrator says no u.s. astronaut will be on board. >> i cannot allow them to put us in jeopardy by not focusing on crew safety and the like. that's my job. >> reporter: the stakes are high, there is no turning back. >> please welcome the future of space travel. >> reporter: the shuttle retired and astronauts left to riding russian spaceships, nasa is counting on commercial companies to get it right. make it work. and the more we make it work the more affordable it will become. >> that's the end of a particular era, and it's not to individuals like myself if you're in a position to be able to achieve wonderful things,

you know not waste that position. >> lift off of the delta nine. >> it looks like a shuttle but it's not. the x37 is an unmanned robotic spacecraft that belongs to the air force. and as barbara star reported at the start of this launch from california's air force base last year its mission is secret. >> reporter: it's a military mystery, what is this? is it an aircraft? is it the next generation space shuttle? and why is it such a secret? this is the x37b. a classified air force project that's never been fully explained by the pentagon but it hasn't stopped a speculation. some worry this is the beginning of military operations in space. that the plane might some day carry weapons to shoot down enemy satellites. >> there's also concern they might be used as a quick response, sort of vehicle where it could be used to launch very quickly. be spent over the plant to a

danger spot very quickly and then release weapons at that point. >> reporter: in a recent meeting with reporters, a top air force official said no way. >> i don't know how this could be called weaponnization of space. it's an updated version of a space shuttle kind of activities in space. >> reporter: unlike the reusable space shuttle the e37b is unmanned but it's much smaller and it's controlled from ground stations. it can stay in space for 270 days, but the air force won't say how long it's staying up this time or what exactly it will be doing other than testing out it's high tech systems. the air force won't even say how many billions of the dollars it's spending on the program. >> we don't know why it's so classified. you can't find how much it is in the budget. >> reporter: the air force has been interested for years in developing some kind of space vehicle. it can send up into orbit, bring back down into earth and then use over and over again. the air force just doesn't want to say what it's going to use

it for. when we come back on a second look, in the 1960s he was the first american to orbit the earth. and in the 1990, he again made history in space. the story of john glen up next.

in 19622 john glen made history. he did it again in 1990 when he took to space while he was still a governor. >> reporter: even though who may remember john glen's first

space flight, people may not realize how dangerous it was in those days. the u.s. was frantic, glen was america's chance to catch up. he was to ride the atlas a rocket with an unnerving tendency to blow up. john hershall glen jr., one of the original seven astronauts his right stuff was to be tested. after weeks of problem layed delays, glen climbed into the rocket. but problems again, the capsule hatch broke, a fuel pump stuck. three hours, 44 minutes after glen first climbed aboard, things were finally working well enough for controllers to declare the flight of freedom seven a go.

>> you are go. all systems go. capsule, go ahead and start. >> roger the clock is operating. we're under way. >> reporter: america cheered, the world watched and held its breath. >> we've got stage on glen. >> reporter: it was a much more violent rush, glen's heart sored but glen seemed calm. the capsule attitude control started to fail, glen took over manually but his tiny craft gyrated violently. reporters did not tell glen controllers showed his -- was showing it was lose. >> i'm going to have to bring the scope in manually, is that

affirmed? >> that is affirmative. >> during the fiery reentry, parts flew past his window, glen knew there was nothing he could do to save himself from burning up. >> it's a real fire ball outside. >> reporter: but everything held and his parachute opened early to stabilize his decent. glen splashed down 40 miles short of the target area but close enough. inside the capsule it was steamy hot and glen lost 5 pounds in sweat. but john glen circled the earth five times and became an instant hero. his ticker board parade was larger than -- >> one american legend. >> reporter: john glen's first capsule communicator linked the measure today by a issues a line he made famous. >> good luck, have a safe

flight, and to say once again, god speed john glen. >> glen himself touched the nostalgia button recalls what he said as the first american in orbit. >> the best part is do a title tight o statement and i feel fine. first report is great. i don't know what happens down the line. but today is beautiful and great. and the world is, i can't even describe it. >> reporter: today's historic launch brought hundreds of thousands of people to cape canaveral. the first u.s. sitting president to witness a shuttle launch. >> i feel like a kid at his first christmas. i'm very excited about this. >> reporter: nasa says at lift off there was a near heart stopper, an 11-pound almost two square door blew off the tape of the shuttle hitting an engine nozzle.

that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener, thank you for watching. i want to crush more cars. ♪ i want to sell more tea cups. ♪ i need help selling bread. ♪ i want to sell more crabs. [ male announcer ] you know where you want to take your business. i want to design more buildings. [ male announcer ] in here, small business solutions from at&t can get you there. starting with the at&t all for less package --