Ferrying the Shuttle – Part One: How Do You Ship A Space Shuttle?
In April of 1972, John Young and Charlie Duke landed Apollo 16, the next to last Apollo lunar mission, in the Descartes highlands. It was during one of the moonwalks that the word came from Mission Control in Houston – Congress had approved the NASA budget for fiscal year 1973...
Ferrying the Shuttle – Part Three: Hitching a Ride
If the shuttle could not fly itself across the country then how do you get a spacecraft that weighs as much as a Boeing 757 from California to Florida? One idea proposed by Lockheed was to “tow” the Orbiter behind a C-5. This method would be used to ferry the vehicle...
Ferrying the Shuttle – Part Four: The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
The bragging rights to carry the Shuttle on its back came down to the Air Force’s C-5 and Boeing’s 747. The C-5 was a potential budget buster for NASA. It was a large and expensive aircraft that entered production in 1968. The initial version of the aircraft had developed problems with...
The Amazing Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit at KSC
Thirty three times the Space Shuttle Atlantis journeyed into space before finally coming to rest and now on permanent display at the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex. I have been down to KSC many times over the years and I have seen Atlantis launch, land, and I walked under...
The Presidents and NASA
With the nominations of former astronaut and retired Marine Corps Major General Charles Bolden and former NASA associate administrator Lori Garver as the next number one and two to lead NASA President Barack Obama has taken the first step in building a space legacy for his administration. To date,...
The Art of Imitating Life
This past weekend I ventured down to the Kennedy Space Center to catch the annual airshow on the grounds of the space center complex. While there I took the time to catch the 3D IMAX film “Magnificent Desolation”. When I had first seen this movie several years ago needless...