Tried to do another Forty-Minute story this morning, but I realized halfway through that (for reasons I won’t get into) I wouldn’t be able to use it. My brain is too dead to attempt a twenty-minute story this morning.
Instead, please enjoy this video of the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis. It’s very well-done and one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while.
Brian D. Buckley 
At about 2:15, why I really don’t know, I realised how heavy that shuttle must be. 171,000 lbs (I looked it up) doesn’t really help me understand, but the actual visual seeing of it lifting it’s bulk from the ground, weighted down by the air that normally seems so light, the shaking, really makes me understand a lot better.
Just something small that I’ve never really thought about until now.
Very cool. To be honest I’d never thought much about the total weight of the shuttle either. When I watch it rising slowly like that, I always feel like it should tip over. Give those engineers a promotion.