now let's let george diller take us through the rest of the countdown. >> go ahead. >> we need guys to go do the -- >> just went into a hold here at t-minus 31. in a hold here at t-minus 31. we're not going anywhere. let's see what's going on. >> we're positioning camera 62 right now. >> okay. let us know as soon as 62 has swung over and you can verify. >> we should be hearing from george diller in a moment. any moment, that will tell us what happened here. they're holding at t-minus 31 seconds. >> -- has fully retracted. >> they were having trouble getting something retracted from the space shuttle itself. >> okay. and you can verify that it is fully retracted per the instructions that we're being -- correct? >> that's correct. >> they satisfied the requirements. i am go. >> okay. i copy. >> yes, sir, i heard all that and concur. press on. >> all right. very good. >> clear the hold, please? >> very good. >> and gls? do you have concurrence? go? >> we've still got about four minutes to go in this window. >> jay, this was about checking to see whether the arm had retracted all the way?

if you've ever watched a space shuttle launch, then you know george diller's voice.even by accident. he's the person who counts down the launch and then says "liftoff." now just like the shuttle program itself, he's retiring. wjxx reporter lewis turner has the story. >> reporter: george diller is just as much a part of the shuttle program as the countdown clock. >> this clock has actually been declared a historical artifact. >> reporter: unlike the clock, you won't recognize his face. >> t minus two minutes and counting. >> reporter: that's just flashing lights until george takes over. >> four, three, two -- zero. >> before at i had actually been a reporter, radio reporter from the tampa bay aa. covered the space program over here for about five years. and really fell in love with nasa and the space program. >> reporter: the job opened up for diller in 1978. it was ten years later that he did his first-ever shuttle play by play. >> there's a lot of concentration. you don't have enough time to be nervous about it. t minus 6.6 seconds, the main engines ignite. here i'm

. >> reporter: george diller's top three favorite nasa moments.> hubbell. >> reporter: two. >> very close second would be two planstair flights i had direct involvement with in getting ready to fly which was galileo to jupiter and magellan to venus. >> reporter: number one. >> i'll never forget the first commentary. sts 27 which was "atlantis" and here's the last which will be a good high light. >> reporter: every good high light will be the perfect call. >> everyone wants to know what your lift-off call is. >> lift jaufl, final call, d "endeavour," expanding our knowledge, expanding our space. >>> time now for your "first look" at entertainment news. the strangest entry for baby hollywood names. take a listen to this. people's magazine is reporting that natalie port mann and husband have named their son aleph. it's the first letter of the hebrew alphabet and also means number one. "us weekly" reports that recently split jessica biel and timberlake have rekindled their roman romance. they've decided to give their relationship another shot. >>> thi

let's let george diller take us through the rest of the countdown. >> we need -- >> reporter: just wentre. let's see what's going on. >> using a camera and we're positioning camera 62 right now. >> let us know. >> reporter: we should be hearing from george diller in a moment, any moment that will tell us what happened. they are holding at t minus 31 seconds. >> fully retracted. >> reporter: they were having trouble getting something retracted from the space shuttle itself. >> okay. you can verify that fully retracted per the instructions that we saw. is that correct? >> that's correct. >> reporter: you think it -- >> the requirements of the -- >> okay. >> yes, sir. heard all that and concur. press on. >> all right. very good. >> reporter: okay. >> very good. you have concurrence. go. >> reporter: we still have about four minutes to go in this window. and -- >> jay, this was about checking to see whether the arm had retracted all the way, they were trying to swing cameras around to be sure and we'll get our call here. >> reporter: they are waiting here trying to get the cap all the way b

now let's let george diller take us through the rest of the countdown. >> go ahead. >> we need tactical duty. verification per the ltc please. >> the ltc says we need to verify using a camera. and we're positioning camera 62 right now. >> okay. let us know as soon as 62 is swung over and you can verify l lcc. recheck, please. >> we're holding one second while we wait for verification that the gva has fully retracted. >> we verify retracted. >> okay. and you can verify that it is fully retracted per the instructions. >> they had a bad reading. >> they had a bad reading, but it now appears that they are still on plan to go. we originally heard that they perhaps wanted to check out a problem. but i'm -- >> they're pulling -- >> tom costello's telling me from the information we're receiving from nasa that it was a bad reading. >> well, the possibility of a bad reading on the retractable piece of equipment. but right now it looks like they are go and it looks like they may pick up the count here in a second. we're t minus 31 seconds. >> and we've seen this before. >> absolutely. >> the antic

. >> and you know, george who was doing the commentary for nasa started in 1979, and he was brought on for the build-up of the shuttle program to do commentary and i asked diller and diller's very first shuttle he did commentary for was "atlantis" and he won't tell me the words he says, but they will be historic, and what he says at liftoff before he turns it over to rob navius who is the voice of mission control out in houston who will take over commentary as soon as the shuttle clears the tower. >> you think about the people who have flown aboard this and 850 people have flown 852 times on missions going back to 1961. and 62 countries have been represented with astronauts and people on board this, and 14 people have lost their lives in the two disasters. and of course, on this day, we remember them all. >> i know that lorna onazuka is here and she is watching and has come to every shuttle launch about five years after her husband perished and she believes that he is looking down on them. >> i have no doubt. no doubt. there are only four on this shuttle, but they bring with them the hearts of so many people and it takes so many people to make this work and yo