Kennedy Space Center, May 14, 2010. I had the privilege of traveling to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch of Atlantis, then on the last "scheduled" flight of the orbiter (STS-132).

This video pays homage to the shuttle program through the in-depth experience of launching a single orbiter. I believe we should be grateful to the Atlantis orbiter, to all its astronauts, to the countless NASA personnel who flew it, and to the American people who created a spacecraft of extraordinary power and grace. This image includes multiple footage from the ground, footage I took during the launch, and video and audio from NASA showing the orbital stack itself during takeoff and flight - traveling into space to experience the preparation and the resulting eight-and-a-half-minute exhilarating. In places, the timeline of real events has been slightly extended to allow several different viewpoints to be viewed simultaneously and to better experience the incredible feat of launching a spacecraft into orbit.

Comments: - - Probably one of the most exciting moments of my life was traveling from the UK to Florida and getting the opportunity to watch a shuttle take off with people from all over the world. The vibration in my legs and chest, and the lovely people around me, made it exciting but extremely sad to see one of the last shuttle launches when the shuttle's space program ended.

There are a lot of emotional people at the Cape Canaveral base. Americans have terrible TVs and fast food but oh my god they pulled out the stops back in the 1980s when the first shuttle took off. I've skipped school to watch it on TV since that first launch. I made a pact with myself that I would witness a live launch no matter what. Incredible ..