My collection of
space-related
pictures and
other memories
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Over the years, I've acquired a few pictures of items in and around
the U.S. space program.
I've decided to start a page here in
-the trench-
with those images.
Please bear with me as I gather them up for presentation.
I plan on adding narratives to each image to explain why they mean something to me.
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This is an image of the starboard rear strut of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (a
modified Boeing 747).
If you click on the image and look closely, you can see the following
words:
"PLACE ORBITER HERE... BLACK SIDE DOWN"
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I took this picture in the fall of 1995 when Columbia was being transported
to KSC from California.
A friend of mine (thanks Rusty!) was the Landing Support Officer (LSO)
in charge of the ferry flight across the country.
The SCA and Columbia had made an overnight stop at Ellington
Field, just down the road from JSC.
Rusty invited me out for an "upclose and personal" tour of
the SCA.
We went upstairs into the SCA cockpit, he opened the 747 overhead hatch
and I stood on the jump seat, camera ready, and took a few pictures of
Columbia from that vantage point
(those pictures coming later!)
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On the way out the aft section of the SCA, I noticed the above-mentioned
markings and had to get a picture!
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In July 2000, Julian,
a good buddy of mine from England, came over to visit.
We made a point to go back down to JSC for a tour.
It was the first time I had been back there since I had left over
2.5 years earlier!
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My old office mate, Bill (aka "Big Bird") graciously
took an afternoon off to escort us around.
This is a picture of Bill and me in the "new" MCC at the
FDO console (we're holding the FDO sign).
Bill and I were office mates for 7 years, so there are more than
a few stories to tell between us.
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These next two pix are of me at both the "old" MCC FDO
console and the "new" MCC FDO console.
The "old" MCC has been restored back to the Apollo-era
configuration.
Notice, in the "old" MCC shot, the three round-looking objects in the
upper right of the picture (click on it to see better).
Those are actually the ends of pnuematic tube cylinders, very similar, but much heavier,
to the ones you've probably seen at the drive-through lanes of your bank.
These were used to transport hardcopies and other documents between positions in the
"front room" and other areas of the MCC.
The "old" MCC displays were, literally, black-and-white television screens that
could be "tuned" to a particular channel displaying information, in much the same
way that televisions work.
To request a hardcopy, we pushed a button on our console that initiated a "slow scan"
of the screen, a thermal paper hardcopy was produced and then "p-tubed" out
to us in the MCC!
We could always tell when a p-tube was coming, as they made QUITE a bit of noise!
The good news is that, in the "new" MCC, the distributed workstation
concept has a laser printer embedded in each console so that hardcopies are
printed within arms reach of the Flight Controllers!
A much-needed improvement!
I'm fortunate to have been of the generation to span the two
Mission Control Centers, having worked
a good number of flights from each.
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On a humorous note, I was Lead FDO for
STS-70,
a TDRS deploy mission, in 1995.
Prior to launch, local woodpeckers decided that the insulation on Discovery's
External Tank would make excellent nesting material.
These birds caused about six dozen or so physical holes in the ET insulation.
As a result, the entire stack was rolled back to the Vertical Assembly Building, and the insulation
was patched!
Here is a short MPEG (186K) of one of them in action!
In the MCC, we adopted "Woody Woodpecker" as the unofficial mascot for this flight.
We all took turns having our picture made with "Woody". :)
This particular image was taken by a recent AOL acquaintance, Charles Austin, from
his home in Lake Wylie, South Carolina!
It clearly shows the launch plume from STS-98 in the distance.
The STS-98 ascent was notable because launch occurred just *after* local sunset, so the
residual launch plume was still *very much* lit by the Sun at higher altitudes!
Click on the image for a larger view!
Charles included this description:
"AtlantisSC.jpg: A rather dark and grainy shot looking due South from my patio in Lake Wylie,
South Carolina. Time was about 5 minutes after liftoff of Atlantis on Feb 7, 2001. The
cloud (that's the bright smear at center, just above the glaring street light) appeared to be
about 15° off the horizon, and it did appear to be multi-colored . I live in the extreme
upstate (on the border with North Carolina), or approximately 800 miles north of the Cape."
For comparison, Florida Today
published an image (seen to the right) that shows how bright the plume was in the Cape Canaveral area.
Usually, the local conditions are the same as the "at altitude" sky conditions (i.e., either both
are lit or both are dark), so the plume isn't as striking!
This time was a welcome difference!
Click the image above for more pictures of the STS-109 entry over Austin!!!
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