Whew! now there's a sight. Did you take this? I've only heard stories... my dad saw every launch, and alas, I was not even a thought back then. But man, what a rocket. Beautiful picture.
NASA traded in a known and proven technology for their orbiting school bus (AKA the shuttle) with no possibility for it to do other than it does. NASA once proud with The Right Stuff" How the mighty have fallen.