My dad worked for Rockwell International in the late 60's and early 70's on the original Space Shuttle project. I remember he took us all out to the facility for an open house of some sort. I think it was 1975 or 1976 or thereabouts. They had a big, full-size mockup and he still tells me to this day that I looked at it, my eyes got all big, and I said "Dad... did YOU BUILD THAT????"