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 Two: The Orbiter is the Ferry
It did not take long to figure out that the concept of ferrying the shuttle like an airplane between ground destinations was not going to fly. The numbers just were not adding up, but the risk factors were rising. The idea was to install six airbreathing jet engines beneath...
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...
Perspectives on Challenger
January 28, 2011 marked the 25th anniversary of the Challenger Accident. For those who were of age to remember that fateful day, it is forever etched as one of those unforgettable moments of our lives. In an instant, the shock and surprise, the tragedy and loss...
The Saga of the X-38
It was a chance trip to the Midwest on a cold winter day in December that took me within striking distance of the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska. The museum had been on my list to visit if the opportunity ever afforded itself for me to...