Space Shuttle Enterprise 50 Years

Above, Enterprise in its maintenance hangar at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is hard to believe that the start of construction of the space shuttle test vehicle Enterprise began 50 years ago this month. 

I got to see it and stand under it in its maintenance hangar at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977.

Above, Mitch Geriminsky and I in Enterprise's maintenance hangar.

From NASA's Facebook page:

On June 4, 1974—50 years ago today—construction began on NASA's first space shuttle. Officially designated OV-101, Enterprise received its more common name after a dedicated write-in campaign by fans of the original Star Trek TV series. When Enterprise made its public debut in California on Sept. 17, 1976, several cast members from the show, as well as creator Gene Roddenberry, were on hand to attend.

Enterprise made its first independent flight on Aug. 12, 1977, released from atop a Boeing 747 to test the shuttle's approach and landing capabilities. Built to perform test flights in the atmosphere, Enterprise never reached orbit but paved the way for NASA's next generation of spacecraft. Space shuttle Columbia became the first shuttle to fly into space on April 12, 1981. 

9 Years Ago: Shuttle Endeavor Towed In the Streets of L.A.

Above, Space Shuttle Endeavor on Manchester Blvd. in Inglewood, California. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While attention is on the western part of Texas today as Star Trek actor William Shatner is about to be launched into space, a space milestone of sorts took place on this date nine years ago.

It was nine years ago today that the space shuttle Endeavor was towed through the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles to its permanent home at Exposition Park in Los Angeles.

Above, a view of Endeavor's tail, engines and wing. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I got up around 2:45 am that morning and went to Inglewood to view the shuttle as it was being towed down Manchester Blvd. A sizable crowd was already on hand when I arrived.

This was the second time I saw the shuttle Endeavor in person. I witnessed its landing at Edwards Air Force Base following its maiden flight into space in May 1992

"Enterprise" Rollout 45 Years Ago

The following was posted yesterday on Facebook:

It is hard to believe that the rollout took place 45 years ago.

I was able to see the Enterprise up close in July 1977 when I visited Mitch Geriminsky at Edwards Air Force Base. He was stationed at Edwards and had clearance to different areas on the base. We went to the hangar where the Enterprise was kept and the photo below was taken during our visit.

The shuttle prototype got its Enterprise name from a petition drive of Star Trek fans. They actually should have waited to have an actual space shuttle be named Enterprise instead.

Time-Lapse Video of Space Shuttle Endeavour On The Streets of L.A.

Above, space shuttle Endeavour being transported on Manchester Blvd. in Inglewood, California
to the California Science Center in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

At about 4:00 in the morning on October 13, 2012, I headed down to Inglewood, California to view the space shuttle Endeavour being transported to its permanent home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles's Exposition Park.

Naturally, I brought along my camera took many photographs of the shuttle, including some directly underneath a wing.

The Los Angeles Times posted on YouTube a time-lapse video of the shuttle's journey from a hangar at Los Angeles International Airport to Exposition Park.

For your viewing enjoyment, here's the video:

Places To Celebrate National Space Day

Above, the space shuttle Endeavour being transported to the California Science
Center through the streets of Inglewood, California in 2012. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It has been my contention over the years that the U.S. Space Program is the most worthwhile government program we have. So, if you are a fan of the Space Program like me, we're in luck!

The first Friday in May is National Space Day, where people can visit many venues celebrating the U.S. Space Program. One of them is the California Science Center in Exposition Park in Los Angeles where the space shuttle Endeavour is displayed.

Tripadvisor has a list of nine places in the U.S. where National Space Day celebrants can see actual artifacts from the Space Program.

They begin with:

You don’t have to hop in a spaceship to go intergalactic. Whether practicing your lunar landing on a flight simulator, gazing at a sky full of stars midday at the planetarium, or reliving the glory of NASA’s most important space explorations, you can reach outer space from every corner of the United States. In honor of National Space Day, here are 9 star attractions that promise out-of-this-world experiences.

To read more, go here. 

33 Years Since The Challenger Disaster

Above, the Challenger memorial at Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was one of those events that gets seared into one's memory, the kind that makes people remember exactly what they were doing, where and how they learned the news. The attack on Pearl Harbor, John F. Kennedy's assassination and 9/11/01 are ones that immediately come to mind.

Another was the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986.

I was at my desk at work when my mom called to tell me that the shuttle "blew up". I immediately asked her to pop in a blank tape in my VHS video machine to record all of the news coverage. She did and I still have the tape. It ends with President Reagan's address to the nation that night.

I was, and still am, a big fan of the U.S. space program. I attended two space shuttle landings at Edwards Air Force Base, one was Columbia and the other was Endeavour.

Thirty-three years since the Challenger disaster is a long time, but in many respects it almost seems like yesterday.

Flying Wing and Space Shuttle "Columbia"

After putting the car into the garage for the night, I was rummaging through one moving box and found a metal filing box.

I went through the box when I got back into the house and found a number of things inside, such as my high school diploma, silver dollar proof sets and other stuff.

I saw two large envelopes. I looked in them and found a couple of 8 x 10" photos of the famed Northrop "Flying Wing" in one and several photos of the space shuttle Columbia.

The shuttle photos came from an open house at the Rockwell International plant in Downey, California I attended. It was a "welcome home" event for the most recent shuttle astronauts (it may have been the crew for the second or third shuttle mission in 1981).

I have no idea where the "Flying Wing" photos came from. They could have been from an air show or some other event (I attended a lot of them back in the day). One of the photos had "Northrop" rubber-stamped on the back.

In any case, I scanned both "Flying Wing" photos and a couple of the Columbia photos.

Here they are:

Trump and The Space Program

Above, the shuttle Endeavour being towed in the streets of Inglewood, California in 2012. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since President Obama gutted the space shuttle program before we had a replacement vehicle to service the International Space Station, we've had to rely on the Russians to supply and man the ISS.

While I was pleased with Donald Trump's acceptance speech last night, I was disappointed that he did not mention NASA or the space program.

A few years ago, Trump Tweeted:

Since then, he has expressed that we should put our priorities onto the nation's infrastructure before spending on space. I disagree. I feel that we should be able to do both. I stand with President Kennedy's statement on space: "We mean to be a part of it. We mean to lead it!"

I have always contended that the space program was the only worthwhile government program we have. I still feel that way.

I have Tweeted to Trump that he needs to revive the space program and issue a detailed policy statement.

January 28, 1986

Above, STS-51-L crew: (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair;
(back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik.

Thirty years ago tomorrow morning, I was at my desk at Maryland Casualty Company when my mom called me. She never called me at work before.

She called to tell me that the space shuttle Challenger exploded during launch (mission STS-51) and that all of the crew were lost. 

Above, the Challenger memorial in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

 Yes, tomorrow marks 30 years since the Challenger Disaster. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Columbia Landing, July 4, 1982

Above, space shuttle Columbia with chase planes. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last July, I posted about attended the landing of space shuttle Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base. This was the end of the STS-4 mission on July 4, 1982. There was about half a million spectators there, including President and Mrs. Reagan.

I've located and scanned some photos I took of that event (we got there the night before the landing after attending a Los Angeles Dodgers game).

Here are the photos:

Above, yours truly the night before the landing. 

Above, dawn over Edwards Air Force Base. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Columbia approaching Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Edwards Air Force Base 32 Years Ago

This Independence Day brings to mind another Independence Day that took place 32 years ago.

On July 4, 1982, the end of STS-4 with Space Shuttle Columbia took place at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert in California. This marked the end of the test program for the shuttle and it was declared operational.

This had to be the most memorable Fourth of July in my life as Paul Evans and I joined about a half a million other spectators at Edwards to watch the shuttle landing and the flyover of Space Shuttle Challenger.
President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan also were on hand for the shuttle landing.

Our Fourth of July celebrating began the night before at Dodger Stadium as Paul and I attended that game and saw Fernando Valenzuela pitch a 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros. Following the game, the stadium had a great fireworks display.

Above, the crowd for the Columbia landing. I'm somewhere in there.

After the fireworks show, we drove to Edwards Air Force Base to view the Columbia landing the next morning. Quite a number of people were already at Edwards. At that time, I had a 1980 Toyota pick-up with a camper shell. We were fully stocked with drinks and munchies for the night. It was a party atmosphere at Edwards, so neither of us got much, if any sleep that night even though I had the camper section to myself and Paul had the cab section to himself. There was just too much partying going on around us.

Early the next morning, we found more people had come in to add to the crowd numbers. There were also souvenir and food vendors selling their goods.

Little did we know that the two space shuttles we saw that day, Columbia and Challenger, would both meet tragic fates. But that day at Edwards Air Force Base was a joyous one. President Reagan was right, this event sure did beat firecrackers for the Fourth of July.

Obama's Latest Russia Sanctions Threatens ISS Missions

Above, Endeavour in Inglewood, California en route to its final resting place in Exposition Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The recent annexation of the Crimea by Russia's Vladimir Putin and other moves against Ukraine are reprehensible. Obama's sanctions against Russia have little chance of getting Vlad the Invader to change his ways.

Sanctions have been used on several countries. Iran, North Korea and Syria. They've never worked.

The latest round of sanctions targets certain members of Russia's government. One of which is the overseer of the Russian space program. Herein lies the major problem.

According Investors.com:

Because Obama allowed the U.S. space shuttle program to die in 2011, scores of missions short of the crafts' designed lifespans, the only way for American astronauts to reach space and return now is in Soyuz spacecraft atop Russian rockets. This relinquished America's hard-won space superiority. The U.S. has also withdrawn from future joint Mars missions, its spot taken by Russia. 

Dmitry Rogozin is Putin's Deputy Prime Minister overseeing defense and space programs. He's also among Putin confidantes targeted with asset freezes and travel bans. 

He warned vaguely, but ominously, Tuesday that the latest sanctions on Russia's science industry had the potential for also hurting Americans in space dependent on Russian technology and logistics for survival. "We warned them," he said, "we will reply to statements with statements, to actions with actions." 

Then, a defiant Rogozin added mockingly: “After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the U.S. deliver its astronauts to the ISS with a trampoline."

It costs U.S. taxpayers $60 million for a seat on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. That's money we could have spent on the next generation manned spacecraft. In the meantime, the shuttle could have flown another five years or more, according to NASA estimates, until the new spacecraft was ready. The shuttles are now museum pieces and we're without an operational spacecraft (or even a giant trampoline). We're at the mercy of the Russians in getting to the International Space Station.

Good going, Barry!

To read more, go here.

Space Shuttle Carrier 747 To Be Displayed In Houston

Above, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft parked at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Thanks to Barack Obama, another piece of NASA history will be consigned to being a museum piece as the U.S. manned space program is systematically being dismantled.

According to Canada.com:

HOUSTON — Another piece of history tied to the now retired space shuttle fleet is making its last journey. 

A convoy of giant flatbed trailers slowly began a 13-kilometre trip Monday carrying the biggest disassembled pieces of the old 747 jumbo jet that flew shuttles on cross-country trips for decades. 

Known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, it will be put back together, topped with a shuttle replica about 18 metres off the ground and become a museum piece scheduled to be shown next year just outside NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where centre director Ellen Ochoa will see it from her office window.

I first saw this 747 jet in 1977 parked at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. Then, on July 4, 1982, I saw it again as it ferried shuttle Challenger over the crowd that attended the landing of Columbia earlier. I was one of 500,000 people at that landing.

Above, Challenger flies over the just-landed Columbia in  July 1982. .

The article states that there were two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 747s:

NASA had two of the 747s, known by their tail numbers 905 and 911. The now Houston-based plane was NASA 905 and the first to get the distinctive struts protruding from its fuselage that served as mounts for the shuttle. 

The former American Airlines passenger jet was obtained by NASA in 1974, was renovated and was used first on test flights with shuttle prototype Enterprise.

 To read more, go here.

Today In History: Shuttle "Enterprise" Takes First Free Flight In 1977

Above, Armand with Mitchell Geriminsky pose in front of "Enterprise" in 1977.

Source: Intrepid Museum

Today in history, the first free flight of space shuttle test vehicle Enterprise was flown in 1977 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.

Above, the NASA modified Boeing 747 used to carry "Enterprise" aloft. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Griffith Observatory, the Shuttle and Godzilla

Clamper Gene Dunker sent this photo over via XNGH Glenn Thornhill: