“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” – Robert Browning

Here’s a wonderful video compilation showing highlights from all the shuttle missions, from STS-1 to STS-135, created by the folks at Nature. It’s a lot of emotions packed into eight minutes, but above all there’s a powerful feeling of awe at what was accomplished through a lot of hard work, talent and bravery by many, many dedicated people.

Watch it. I’m sure you’ll agree.

This is a deeply personal film. Those spaceships have been in my life since as long as I can remember, and I think many feel that shared ownership. I can’t say I recall the very first mission, STS-1 in 1981, but my Dad and I watched Challenger fall from the sky live in 1986. The media became bored with the space shuttle as the missions became more and more routine, which is sad, because each one was a marvel. That astronauts could sit on top of such explosives and for that explosion to be controlled enough to escape Earth’s bonds is truly a feat of design engineering… this is my love letter to the space shuttle.  

– Adam Rutherford, Nature

And yes, sometimes love hurts. But, as they say, ’tis better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.

Read more about this video on the Guardian article.