The shuttle was such an incredible machine IMO. I sometimes wonder how it ever got off the drawing board. Can you imagine some engineer trying to describe it during concept.
'Oh and by the way we'll cover it completely in er um ... bricks and it'll glide in with no engines and land a 375mph.
Also, If we're really careful we can use two great big tubes stuffed to the brim with gunpowder to get it off the ground.
Oh and at the point of takeoff we'll have to pump like half a million gallons of water on to the launch pad to stop the sound of the engines ripping the concrete apart.
What a machine.