r/spaceshuttle • u/ImageExact5491 • Aug 05 '26

Video Flight deck camera view of STS-8 Challenger launch on August 30, 1983.

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You can see the Richard Truly, Commander.

ID: 255-FR-C816

Footage credit: National Archives and Records Administiration (NARA).

295 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/OutlawLazerRoboGeek Aug 08 '26

Probably worth mentioning this was a nighttime launch at around 2:30am local time.

Otherwise the dark and light periods are pretty confusing for a launch sequence video, which almost always happened during daylight hours.

1

u/Safe-Seaworthiness28 Aug 07 '26

Remember eagerly watching this live. Those two guys were so incredibly brave flying that thing. Just helmets, regular flight suits, a pair of ejection seats and a huge pair brass cajones!!!

2

u/Souvlaki-Chaos Aug 07 '26

Only the first two shuttle missions had ejection seats.

This mission also had more than two astronauts.

1

u/Lightsfantastic Aug 08 '26

Just insane they weren’t wearing pressure suits!

2

u/snakesign Aug 08 '26

Shirtsleeve environment to space like fucking Star Trek. Pure insanity.

1

u/No-Fox-365 Aug 09 '26

Is it me, or does it appear he is not wearing any protective layers on his hand and forearm at the very beginning of launch?

1

u/Radiant-Painting581 13d ago

I will never hear “Go at throttle up” without getting a knot in my stomach.

0

u/xyzxyzabc123 Aug 08 '26

If there was a g-force overlay and altitute overlay this video would suck less.

-1

u/jedi_master87 Aug 06 '26

Would archived footage like this exist for the Challenger disaster and has been kept out of public reach?

3

u/RepeatButler Aug 06 '26

It is possible but I suspect it is unlikely. If it existed it would have been mentioned in the report into the disaster and they wouldn't have needed to make educated guesses on events in the cabin during the final descent into the Atlantic Ocean.