Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 389 (April 7, 2012)
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heng44 Member Posts: 3387 From: Netherlands Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 04-07-2012 01:45 AM
Would like to see some shots of Columbia sitting at White Sands (hint, hint)... — APG85 Two photos of Columbia’s first and only landing at White Sands, New Mexico, at the conclusion of STS-3 in March 1982. Astronauts Lousma and Fullerton were unable to land at Edwards AFB because the lakebed was flooded after heavy rain.Ed Hengeveld |
Fezman92 Member Posts: 1031 From: New Jersey, USA Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 04-07-2012 02:10 AM
She looks very dirty... |
Philip Member Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 04-07-2012 03:05 AM
Nice photo's Ed... I visited White Sands twice and remember the logo which could be found, painted at gas stations in a few cities around the lake bed (Cloudcroft Oteroe county).How made landings did the shuttle program make in total in White Sands? |
Cozmosis22 Member Posts: 968 From: Texas * Earth Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 04-07-2012 03:33 AM
quote: Originally posted by Philip: How made landings did the shuttle program make in total in White Sands?
Only one. |
alanh_7 Member Posts: 1252 From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 04-07-2012 07:11 AM
At the 2008 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation show it was my privilege to sit near Jack Lousma for a bus tour of the Kennedy Space Center and have the pleasure of talking to him during the tour and several times since.He told a funny story about how NASA kept changing the landing zone from White Sands to Edwards and back and his family was told to get ready for a White Sands landing, then told it was Edwards and then finally White Sands (I don't think his family were able to make it in time for the landing at White Sands). He also said conditions were not the best for White Sands landing either but were better than Edwards. I mentioned earlier on another comment of one of Ed's photos Jack Lousma said between the wind and fine sand, it got into everything and resulted in a slower than hoped turn around time for Columbia. Great photos. |
APG85 Member Posts: 306 From: Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 04-07-2012 08:45 AM
Great photos!! Thanks for taking my request/hint. |
OV-105 Member Posts: 816 From: Ridgecrest, CA Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 04-07-2012 09:57 AM
If I remember right, if they could not land at White Sands that day they were going to go to KSC. They did not have the convoy at Edwards; they had sent it by train to White Sands. As for Columbia looking "dirty" the flight did thermal testing so one side of the shuttle faced the sun for a number of hours at a time. |
davidcwagner Member Posts: 799 From: Albuquerque, New Mexico Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 04-07-2012 10:16 AM
My brother and I witnessed the White Sands landing. The thing flew like a brick and lost altitude at an astounding rate. The turns were so extreme that we could look "down" on the top of the shuttle from the ground. |
LM-12 Member Posts: 3208 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 04-07-2012 11:21 AM
Was there a Mate-Demate Device at White Sands, or did they have to build one after STS-3 landed? |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-07-2012 12:04 PM
They used cranes, much like they will to unload Discovery and load and unload Enterprise later this month in Washington, DC and New York. |
mach3valkyrie Member Posts: 719 From: Albany, Oregon Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 04-07-2012 04:31 PM
The mountains surrounding Northrup Strip make for some spectacular background scenery. I especially like this mission because it is unique in the Shuttle program for the landing site. Just think if we'd ever launched from Vandenberg and had to land at Easter Island. Talk about remote! |
astro-nut Member Posts: 946 From: Washington, IL Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-07-2012 06:02 PM
Great photos from both Ed and Robert. Thank you for sharing them.Those early flights of the shuttle seems so long ago. |
Henry Heatherbank Member Posts: 244 From: Adelaide, South Australia Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 04-07-2012 08:14 PM
Regardless of landing site, there must have been mission rules about the need to quickly get the Orbiter out of the open and under cover, once safing was complete (?). As much as sand at White Sands would have been a headache, I can imagine sand/salt at EAFB (mostly the lakebed landings) and torrential rain at KSC being a problem too? |
sfurtaw Member Posts: 104 From: Saginaw, MI USA Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 04-07-2012 09:08 PM
quote: Originally posted by alanh_7: (I don't think his family were able to make it in time for the landing at White Sands).
As I remember Col. Lousma telling the story about six years ago, his family (at least his wife, Gracia) were at White Sands, but the weather was forecast at a high chance of no-go due to wind. NASA was sending a plane to KSC, and told Gracia that she had so much time to decide whether to stay or go. She asked a local gardener for his opinion. He told her that in all his years he had never seen winds that strong three days in a row. This was day two of high winds, with landing the next day. She was one of a very few who opted to stay. The next day, the winds were calmer, and Columbia landed. Col. Lousma said the moral of the story is to always listen to the local gardener. |
APG85 Member Posts: 306 From: Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 04-07-2012 10:49 PM
I'll have to admit, I always secretly hoped for another landing at White Sands. The background and setting made for a unique and breathtaking place for the Shuttle to land. Almost a shame it happened only once... |